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SuperchargePerformance · Free

Block All Images in Chrome — PRO Feature (2026)

Blocks all image requests in Chrome. Text-only browsing for research, slow connections, or data saving.

Updated

Block All Images tells Chrome’s native DNR engine to drop every image request before it leaves the browser. Some browsing is purely about the text. Research sessions across dozens of documentation pages, reading news on a slow connection, skimming through Wikipedia references. Images add nothing and slow everything down.

What It Does

This covers img elements and CSS background-image requests. Inline images, data-URI images, and canvas-drawn visuals are not blocked, since they are not separate network requests. Text and layout still render.

On media-heavy sites (news homepages, e-commerce listings, content feeds), the difference in load time is noticeable.

When It’s Worth Enabling

  • Long research sessions where you’re reading documentation or references
  • Slow or metered connections where page weight matters
  • Reading-heavy workflows: PDFs, Wikipedia, GitHub READMEs, HackerNews
  • Debugging a site where you want to rule out image-related rendering issues

It’s also useful as a temporary toggle — enable it during a focused reading session, turn it off when you’re done.

PRO Requirement

Block All Images requires PRO, a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. PRO also unlocks custom tab suspension timers, full third-party script blocking, background activity throttling, and system font forcing.

Limitations

Global scope only — there’s no per-site control built into the toggle. Use the whitelist to exempt domains where images should load normally.

Inline SVGs embedded in HTML (not loaded as separate requests) are not blocked. External SVG files loaded as images are blocked like any other image format.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does blocking images affect CSS backgrounds or only img tags?
SuperchargePerformance blocks image requests at the network level via Chrome's DNR engine. This covers img elements, picture elements, and CSS background-image requests. Pages still render their text and layout — images simply don't load.
Is this a PRO-only feature?
Yes. Block images (the popup's name for this feature) is gated behind PRO. It's listed in the popup's Page speed sheet with a lock on the free tier.
Can I enable this for specific sites only?
No — the current implementation is global. It applies across all tabs when enabled. If you need image blocking on specific sites only, the whitelist works in the other direction: enabling the feature globally and whitelisting sites where you want images to load.
Will pages still function correctly without images?
Text content, forms, navigation, and scripts load normally. Anything that relies purely on images — photo galleries, image-heavy landing pages, icon-only buttons — will render as blank spaces.
Does image blocking combine with content blocking?
Yes. Both run via Chrome's DNR engine and operate independently. Running both means ad images are caught by content blocking rules and all other images are caught by Block All Images.

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