HOW TO block font, CSS & JavaScript files so as to view plain text web pages

If you're a fan of minimalism and want the web pages your frequently visit without the bells and whistles that make use of large CSS & JavaScript files sucking up the bandwidth that you pay for, the are a few ways to block those CSS & JavaScript files:

1. Use Google Mobilizer to let it show you just the text of a web page with or without images. To make it easier to use, you can configure Google Mobilizer to work like a search provider in Chrome. You can then assign a letter like M to this app, so that you can type M in the Chrome address bar/omnibox & then the type the URL you would like to see via Google Mobilizer.

2. Use the browser's Developer Tools to disable CSS and JavaScript. This has to be done each time you visit a website and it is not quite convenient unless you're a developer who likes tinkering with the dependent files that the original web page needs.

On Firefox, the simplest way is via the menu command View > Page Style > No Style.

3. Use AdBlock or Adblock Plus, both are free browser Extensions. By default AdBlock (which works in Chrome & Safari.) blocks ads but it you can have it block any other resources that are part of web page like CSS or JavaScript files.

To block a specific CSS or JavaScript file, click on the AdBlock icon between the address bar and the wrench in Chrome. In the page that lists all the resources needed by the web page, block the files that you don't want to be downloaded when the web page loads for that domain as well as for all domains (if is is a third-party external file that are commonly used)

When you install the AdBlock Chrome Extension there is an alert that it will access your data and browsing activity.


The AdBlock documentation informs that "the notice you see about having access to your history and website data is automatically generated because AdBlock runs on every tab.  Rest assured it doesn't look at your private data!"  

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