Brave Browser is a Chromium-based web browser by Brave Software Inc. It is available for desktop PCs and mobile devices.
While it shares its core with Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers, Brave Browser comes with several useful and even unique features.
The following paragraphs list some of these features.
Tor Integration
Tor promises to anonymize the browsing session. It is started with a click on Menu > New private window with Tor. You may also use the keyboard shortcut Alt-Shift-N instead.
Once Brave establishes the link, it routes the connection through a series of servers. This means, essentially, that the IP address of the user’s device is never revealed to the target website.
This mode includes all the benefits of Incognito Mode, which erases local data accumulated during the browsing session once the mode is terminated.
Performance may be slower than direct browser connections to websites; this is explained by the number of extra servers used while connected to the Tor Network.
Note that there is still a chance that personal data leaks during that browsing mode. You may want to check out this support article for additional information. Use of Tor Browser is recommended if anonymity is of utmost importance.
Force Paste in disabled forms
Some web forms may prohibit the pasting of data, which is a nuisance. Common examples include preventing the pasting into password fields, email fields or other fields that accept sensitive data.
Brave Browser includes an option to force paste content into forms. The feature bypasses the restriction imposed by the website to allow the pasting of any data into the blocked form field.
To use it, simply right-click on the protected form field and select the Force paste option from the context menu. Note that content needs to be in the Clipboard for the paste option to display.
Speedreader: improve readability
Speedreader is a readability feature that turns any article in Brave into a readable copy. This conversion puts the focus on the content by removing everything else, e.g., menus, advertisement, comments and other noise.
You may need to enable Speedreader in the Brave Settings (brave://settings/appearance). The option is located near the bottom of the page.
Brave displays the Speedreader icon in the address bar from that moment on. A click displays the active website in the mode.
Note that this feature may not detect all sites correctly. It does not work on this site, for example.
Speedreader supports two options, which you may configure while in the mode:
- Change font and appearance related settings, e.g., make the font size larger or change the background color.
- Configure Speedreader to always load articles of the active site or all compatible articles in the mode.
Vertical Tabs
Browser tabs are displayed in a horizontal bar by default. Only a few browsers support vertical tabs, and Brave Browser is one of them.
Open the Appearance settings in Brave (brave://settings/appearance) and toggle “Use vertical tabs” there to switch to the display mode.
Two additional options, “show title bar” and “expland vertical tabs panel on mouseover when collapsed”, are enabled by default. You can turn these off individually, if you like.
Vertical Tabs may display more open tabs at the same time and free up horizontal space for websites. It is an excellent option on widescreen displays.
Integrated Content Blocker
Brave Browser includes an integrated content blocker. It works well out of the box, but it contains options to add more filter lists to it.
A click on the Shield icon displays information about the active webpage. Brave lists the number of ads, trackers and other contents that it blocked.
A click on Advanced Controls displays additional information and the settings that the browser applied to the site. Here you may make changes right away, such as blocking scripts.
Filter lists are linked here as well, which leads to this page, brave://settings/shields/filters, in the Settings.
New filters from a preset list of filters may be enabled there with a single click. Options to add custom filters are also available.
Delete data automatically when closing a site
Another useful feature of Brave’s Shield feature, which powers the content blocker, is that you may configure the browser to delete site data once you leave a website.
Activate the Shield icon on the site that you want to configure this way and toggle “Forget me when I close this site” to enable the feature.
Brave deletes site data automatically once the site is closed.