Looking for a flexible way to block distracting sites without the need for the Freedom desktop client? We have a dedicated browser extension for this, Pause!

Pause by Freedom is a simple browser extension that challenges you to momentarily pause and reflect before visiting a distracting website. These "pauses" are not tied to our desktop Freedom app, so you can use Pause to add some flexibility to your blocking and boost your focus outside of your scheduled sessions.

We've built Pause to be privacy-conscious.  All of the tracking data is stored locally and not sent anywhere (the cloud, our servers, etc).  You can also disable tracking and hide sites, if you want to.
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1. You can find the Pause extension on our downloads page.

2. Click Install Pause, which will take you to the extension page for whichever browser you are using (Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Opera).

3. On this page, you should see an Add to Browser button. Click that to install.

Pause comes pre-loaded with a list of 50 top distracting websites, with a default pause time of 5 seconds. 

For more customization, you can add or remove sites from your Pause list. You can also configure the amount of time you'd like to be Paused. To customize Pause, simply click on the extension icon (usually located at the top right of your browser window) and click Open Settings:

From Settings, you can:

We hope you find Pause to be a simple and useful tool for developing healthier online habits and routines.

Pause is designed to be as lightweight as possible, but if you want more features, let us know and we'll consider!

Q: What's the difference between Freedom Lab extensions (Insight, Limit, Pause) and the main Freedom Extension?

A: Freedom Lab extensions work to add additional features that our users have requested. Since these are standalone extensions, they do not require the Mac/Windows desktop Freedom app to function. You can learn about our Freedom Lab extensions-- Limit, Pause, and Insight, on our downloads page.

The main Freedom browser extension requires you to be logged into the Mac/Windows desktop app to function. This extension ensures that all of your blocked pages block correctly and display our signature "green screen", and also fixes some minor issues that might cause issues with blocks not working.For more information, see Freedom Browser Extension.

Q: Why does the extension request permission to read and change website data during installation?

A: For our mainline Freedom extension, we need these permissions in order to help Freedom display the 'green screen' for blocked sites.

For the other extensions (e.g. Limit, Pause, Insight) these permissions are needed for us to display the timer on your screen, or re-direct to the Limit or Pause screen. If you don't need the timer feature, you can change the site access settings in your extension settings.

We would offer more specific permissions settings if we could, but currently we have to work within the options offered by the browser.

If you're having any difficulty, please feel free to contact us. We're happy to help!