Bend the web to your will with this page-transforming power tool

Modern web pages aren’t exactly what you’d call “minimal.” All text aside, they’re almost always overflowing with images, ads, and other extraneous elements.

Whether you want to print a page, archive it as a PDF for future reference, or even just read it without getting an instant migraine, that can sometimes create an awkward challenge.

But there’s a solution to those cluttered web page woes. It’ll reshape the way you experience the web—and it won’t cost you a single dime to use.

Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. You’ll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures!

Your web-washing power-tool

Regardless of your reason for needing a web page purifier, a handy little gem called ​PrintFriendly​ is up to the task. It’s a free web-based tool that works on both computers and smartphones. It also offers a convenient browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge that keeps it close at hand while you browse.

If you’re using a computer, the easiest way to use PrintFriendly is to install the extension for whichever web browser you prefer:

• ​Google Chrome​
• Mozilla Firefox​
• ​Microsoft Edge​
• ​Apple Safari​

With the extension installed, all you have to do is open a web page you want to clean up and click the PrintFriendly icon on your browser’s toolbar. (Note that the icon may be tucked into a puzzle-shaped extension icon with your toolbar; if so, you can either click that icon to find PrintFriendly every time you need it—or click it once and then look for the option to pin PrintFriendly directly to your toolbar for even easier ongoing access.)

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The PrintFriendly extension makes it easy to transform any page with a single quick click.
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You can also use PrintFriendly on either a computer or smartphone by heading directly to ​PrintFriendly.com​, pasting a web page address into the box on the site, and clicking or tapping “Preview.”

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PrintFriendly’s web interface can clean up web pages in a jiff—from a computer and from a phone.
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Either way, you’ll get an immediately improved reading experience. PrintFriendly handles most of the heavy lifting automatically, too, without any active effort or settings selections required.

But it can do even more for you, if you want to take the time to play around with some of its advanced options—for instance:

• You can scroll through any page you’re viewing and manually click or tap on individual elements to remove them. That’ll let you eliminate images, navigation elements, paragraphs, and other things you don’t want to see that PrintFriendly didn’t already zap away on its own.
• You can use the controls at the top of the PrintFriendly interface to adjust a page’s text size and image size for maximum printability or readability.

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Customize any page to your heart’s content with PrintFriendly’s easy-to-use options.
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Once you’re satisfied with what PrintFriendly’s given you, you can choose to:

• Simply read the page, right then and there, in its cleaned-up view
• Use the PrintFriendly print button to print a clutter-free document ready for the physical page
• Click the PrintFriendly PDF button to create a ready-to-save PDF without all the junk

The choice is yours. But whatever you do, with this Cool Tool at your disposal, you’ll never have to suffer through an overloaded reading experience again.

• PrintFriendly is available ​on the web​ on any device as well as directly integrated into your desktop browser via its ​Chrome​, ​Firefox​, ​Edge​, and ​Safari​ extensions.
• The tool is completely free to use. (The company makes its money by selling advanced services to businesses.)
• PrintFriendly has a standard-looking ​privacy policy​ without any huge surprises. It doesn’t require an account to be used, and it doesn’t collect much personal information.

Want even more sanity-saving tech treasures? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an AI-powered supertool that transcribes your brain—and another off-the-beaten-path gem every Wednesday!

https://www.fastcompany.com/91234996/printfriendly-browser-extension?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss