If you use Brave, you'll want to know about these 10 hacks: Use these options to get rid of Brave’s own adsBrave Browser's business model includes pushing its own services, including a VPN service and a search engine. The browser's default settings push ads for these services on the home page, and you can easily get rid of most of them while, at the same time, customizing the overall look and function of the browser.Open a new tab in Brave and click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the page. This will reveal customization options.

You can start by disabling Show new tab page ads, which removes ads from the Brave Rewards program, where you earn small amounts of cryptocurrency for watching ads. (On the same page, you can upload your own image to use as a wallpaper, if you like.) Go to the Cards option in the left pane and disable Brave stats, Brave VPN, Brave Rewards, Brave Talk, and Brave News. This should clean up the new tab page, but to complete a minimalist look, go to the Top sites option, and turn off Show top sites too.Now, click Search in the left pane of this settings window, and select the search engine of your choice.

Uncheck Brave to replace the default search engine on the new tab page. Note that this doesn't replace Brave as the default search engine in the address bar. To do that, click the three-lines button in the top-right corner of the browser's window, and go to Settings > Search engine.

You can click the Change buttons on this page to replace Brave Search with other options in the normal and private windows of the app.Use Shields' content filters to block annoying website elements Credit: Pranay Parab While uBlock Origin remains my favorite ad blocker, you may not need to install it in Brave Browser, which has a competent ad blocker of its own called Brave Shields. Shields blocks ads, hides cookie notices, and removes a bunch of YouTube-specific annoyances, too. Shields is enabled by default, but it can do so much more if you enable additional features in settings.

Go to Brave settings first (three-lines button > Settings), and open the Shields tab from the left pane. Go to Content filters > Show full list. Go through this list and enable all the options that appeal to you.

I recommend the following:Cookie notice blockerAnnoying distractions blockerAI suggestions blockerNewsletter popup blockerYouTube Shorts blockerYouTube thumbnail image blockerTracking URL blockerPaywall blocker (a way to bypass some paywalls)Turn off AI featuresBrave ships with a built-in AI bot called Leo. While the company claims it's a privacy-first AI service, I'd personally rather disable the features altogether. If you feel the same way, you can go to Brave settings > Leo, and disable all the options on this page.

While you're at it, you can also remove a bunch of these features from the address bar. Right-click the icons in the toolbar, and hide the following:Brave Rewards (this icon is in the address bar)Brave WalletLeo AIBrave VPNThis will disable unwanted features and leave you with a clean address bar. You should also go to Brave settings > Appearance, and disable Leo AI assistant under "Show autocomplete suggestions in address bar."Use "Memory Saver" to improve performanceBrave has a feature called Memory Saver to improve performance by suspending inactive tabs.

You can enable this if you frequently open a lot of tabs and find your computer slowing down as a result. Go to Brave settings > System, and enable Memory Saver. Click the Add button below this feature to keep certain websites from being suspended in Brave.Use Vertical Tabs to free up screen real estateI prefer stacking the list of tabs vertically in most browsers, particularly when I'm using a larger display.

This leaves more room for content, with a single toolbar up top and a vertical tab bar on the left. You can enable vertical tabs in Brave by going to Brave settings > Appearance > Tabs, and enabling Use vertical tabs. Once you do that, you should disable Show title bar to remove the extra horizontal bar from the top menu.

This option merges the minimize, maximize, and close buttons with the toolbar for a streamlined look. Don't forget to click the minimize tabs button at the top of the tab bar to reduce the tab bar to a slim vertical column.Use Brave’s task manager to hunt down power-hungry tabs Credit: Pranay Parab If your browser is being slowed down by rogue tabs, you can use Brave's built-in task manager to sort things out. Press Shift-Esc with Brave open to access it and weed out resource-hungry tabs. If the keyboard shortcut doesn't work, click the three-lines button in the top