5 Hidden Brave Browser Features You Should Use

Extend your battery life, read without distractions, and get around copy-paste blocking.

The Brave Browser is a good choice instead of Chrome, as it comes with helpful features like an ad blocker and Tor browsing with enhanced privacy. During my tests, it performed nearly as quickly as Chrome, and with a few adjustments to settings, you can enhance Brave’s privacy even further.

However, Brave also offers some concealed features that can greatly enhance your browsing experience. When enabled, these features allow you to paste content in blocked fields, conserve your laptop’s battery, and access a reader mode. Here are five hidden Brave features you should definitely learn how to utilize.

Remove tracking information from URLs

When you copy links online, you may notice that many URLs include additional tracking information after the actual link. This jumbled text is used by websites to determine how you accessed the link (via a desktop browser, Android app, etc.) and to track the path you took to reach the intended page. While some websites may require this tracking data, there is no reason for you to carry it along when you simply copy a URL.

Brave has a useful feature that removes these tracking parameters when you copy links. To use this feature, right-click on any link in Brave and select “Copy Clean Link.” Unfortunately, this feature cannot remove tracking from shortened URLs, such as bit.ly links.

Paste in forms that disable it

Some websites are notorious for blocking copy and paste in their forms. This is promoted as a security feature, but in reality, it only gets in the way of usability. If you find such a form, you can right-click it in Brave and select Force Paste to get around that restriction.

In some cases, sites will disable right-clicking too. You can install an extension like Enable right-click to get past those annoying right-click blocks.

Easier access to archived web pages

When you open a dead link in Brave, you will see a helpful message asking if you would like to visit the Wayback Machine to check for an archived version of the page instead. You can also do this manually, but the prompt in Brave simplifies it into a one-click operation.

Save your laptop’s battery life

Brave has a feature designed to extend your laptop’s battery life, which is sure to please travelers and remote workers. This feature is called Energy Saver, and you can configure it to activate automatically when your laptop’s battery falls below a specific threshold. Energy Saver reduces background activity in the browser and minimizes visual effects like smooth scrolling.

To activate Energy Saver, follow these steps:
1. Click on the three-line menu icon located in the top-right corner of the Brave browser.
2. Select “Settings” from the dropdown menu.
3. In the left pane, click on the “Settings” tab.
4. Under the “Power” section, enable Energy Saver.
5. You’ll have the option to set Energy Saver to activate automatically when your battery level reaches 20%, or you can choose to trigger it as soon as your laptop is unplugged. Select the option that suits your preferences, and the browser will handle the rest.

Read articles without distractions

When you open any article in Brave, you can read it without distractions using the Speedreader feature. This is the equivalent of a reader mode and makes it easy to focus on text. To use this, go to Brave Settings > Appearance, scroll to the bottom and enable Speedreader.