How to remove ads from Brave’s new tab page
Brave’s new tab shows two kinds of ads: sponsored background images and sponsored sites in the top sites row. Both have a switch in the new tab’s Customize panel.
Turn off sponsored images
Sponsored images are full-page background pictures from advertisers or from Brave itself. Brave’s help center says they appear on every fourth new tab when switched on.
- Open a new tab.
- Click the Customize gear at the top right.
- Under Background Image, turn off Show new tab page ads (labelled Sponsored images in some versions).
Brave notes that sponsored images keep appearing whichever background you choose while that switch is on, so uploading your own picture alone doesn’t stop them.
Turn off sponsored sites
Sponsored sites are ads for partner websites placed among your top sites. Brave says it may show one when it matches a site already in your Favorites or Frequently Visited, and that the matching happens on your computer.
- Open a new tab and click the Customize gear.
- Select Top sites.
- Turn off Show sponsored sites.
If you use Brave Rewards
New tab ads are part of Brave Rewards, where viewing them can earn BAT. If you’ve joined Rewards, also open brave://rewards and check the ad settings there, where new tab page ads have their own switch.
The quickest way: a blank new tab
Go to brave://settings/getStarted and set New tab page shows to Blank page. No images, no top sites, no ads. You lose the dashboard’s shortcuts, so pair it with the bookmarks bar (Appearance, Show bookmarks bar).
Promos and cards
The dashboard can also show cards for Brave’s own products and Brave News. In the Customize panel, turn off Cards and Brave News if you don’t want them.
Or replace the dashboard with your bookmarks
Brave installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store, including ones that take over the new tab page. Stackboard is one: it turns every new tab into a board of your own bookmarks, in spaces and stacks, with themes and no ads, and it saves everything as ordinary bookmarks in Brave. To go back to Brave’s dashboard later, turn the extension off at brave://extensions.
Questions
Does Brave show ads on the new tab by default?
Sponsored images can appear on new tabs until you switch them off in the Customize panel. Brave’s help center describes them as appearing on every fourth new tab.
Do Brave’s new tab ads track me?
Brave says ad reporting is anonymous: reports are sent through an independent relay so Brave doesn’t receive your IP address, and advertisers only get totals.
I uploaded my own background and still see ads. Why?
The sponsored image switch works separately from your background choice. Turn off Show new tab page ads in the Background Image section.
Try Stackboard
A free Chrome extension that turns your new tab into a board of your own bookmarks. No account, nothing leaves your browser.
Add to Chrome, it’s free