How to Print a Webpage in Google Chrome Without Ads

Printing an article or a recipe from a website can be a nightmare. Webpages are heavily optimized for screens, not paper. If you simply press “Print,” you will often end up wasting expensive ink on massive header images, sidebar advertisements, navigation menus, and blank spaces.

Fortunately, you don’t need to copy and paste the text into a Word document to get a clean printout. Google Chrome has a hidden feature called “Reading Mode” that strips away all the junk and lets you print exactly what you need.

How to Enable Reading Mode in Chrome

To print without ads, we must first activate Chrome’s built-in Reading Mode feature, which extracts the main text and hides everything else.

1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
2. Navigate to the article, recipe, or blog post you want to print.
3. Click the Side Panel icon in the top-right corner of the window (it looks like a square with a darkened right edge, located next to your profile picture).
4. Click the drop-down menu at the top of the side panel and select Reading Mode.

The right side of your screen will instantly transform. Chrome will strip out all the ads, videos, and complex formatting, leaving only the pure text and essential images of the article in a clean, highly readable column.

How to Print the Clean Webpage

Once Reading Mode is active, you can print that clean version directly.

1. Right-click anywhere inside the text of the Reading Mode side panel. (It is crucial that you click inside the clean text area, not on the original messy webpage on the left).
2. Select Print… from the pop-up menu. (Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + P on Windows or Cmd + P on Mac).
3. The standard Chrome print preview window will open.
4. Look at the preview pane. You should see a perfectly clean, ad-free document ready for your printer.
5. Select your printer and click Print.

Alternative Method: Using a Browser Extension

If you print web pages frequently and want an even faster solution that provides more control over what gets deleted, you can use a free Chrome extension.

1. Go to the Chrome Web Store and search for an extension like Print Friendly & PDF.
2. Click Add to Chrome.
3. When you are on a messy webpage you want to print, click the green Print Friendly icon in your extension bar.
4. The extension will open a preview window showing a stripped-down version of the site.
5. Hover your mouse over any remaining element you don’t want (like an image or a specific paragraph) and click the trash can icon to delete it before printing.
6. Click the Print button at the top, saving both ink and paper.