Browser extension · free
Ads stay.
Their sound doesn't.
Silens mutes YouTube ads from the first second, and restores your sound exactly as it was the moment they end.
No account. No settings.
Here's what you'll see
The ad displays normally. Only the sound is cut — and you can see it.
Silens prevents nothing from displaying and blocks no request. It acts only on the volume of the tab concerned.
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No more jumpscare
Ads are routinely mixed louder than videos. Silens removes that gap.
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Your sound comes back intact
Your volume is remembered, then restored identically. Touch it during the ad and Silens steps aside.
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Nothing leaves your browser
No account, no data sent, no network request. Silens knows nothing about what you watch.
Three seconds of attention, then never again
- 1You install SilensOnce. No account to create.
- 2You watch YouTube normallyNothing changes in your habits.
- 3Silens handles the restThe sound cuts, then returns. You stop thinking about it.
Silens or YouTube Premium?
They solve different problems. Here's what you need to choose knowingly.
| Silens | YouTube Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | €12.99/month€7.99 Lite or student · €29.99 family |
| Ads displayed | Yes, they stay visible | No, they disappear |
| Ad sound | Muted automatically | Not applicable — there are no ads |
| Video length | Unchanged: the ad runs | Shorter: no interruption |
| Offline videos | No | Yes |
| Background play · YouTube Music | No | Yes |
| How it works | Browser extension, on this computer | Google account, on all your devices |
| Account required | None | Yes, with a payment method |
| Pays creators | Yes — the ad is served and counted | Yes — through a share of the subscription |
What about time saved?
Silens saves no time: the ad runs anyway. What it removes is the noise — not the duration.
As a rough indication, one hour of YouTube a day with about four twenty-second breaks means close to eight minutes of ad sound avoided per day. That is an estimate built on those assumptions, not a measurement: real frequency depends on the videos, the country and your account.
If ads bother you mainly in your ears, Silens is enough. If you want them gone entirely and offline playback, Premium is the right choice.
The questions we get
Does it block ads?
No. Silens blocks nothing and hides nothing: the ad displays, runs and is counted normally. Only its volume is set to zero, exactly as if you pressed mute yourself.
Will YouTube detect it like an ad blocker?
No, and that is the whole point. Anti-adblock detection looks for ads that fail to load or get removed from the page. With Silens the ad loads, plays and counts — there is nothing to detect. If you were hit by the "ad blockers are not allowed" wall, Silens works.
Does it mute my other tabs?
Never. Silens acts only on the player of the YouTube tab concerned. A call, music or a video in another tab is untouched.
What if I want to hear an ad?
Just turn the sound up. Silens detects that you took over and stops muting until that ad ends. At the next one, it resumes.
What data is collected?
None. Silens makes no outgoing request and asks for a single permission, local storage, to remember whether you enabled it and to count muted ads. That counter stays on your machine.
Will Silens become paid?
What exists today is free and will stay free. If a paid tier ever appears, it will add new platforms — it will never take away what you already have.
Silence, only when it's needed.
Soon on the Chrome Web StoreNo account. No settings.