How to avoid Star Wars spoilers, in just three clicks

Block the force, young Padawan. Block it real good.

Star wars "The Force Awakens" frame featuring stormtroopers

Source: AP

Now that the premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is done, we're hitting peak spoiler danger: there are enough people out there who have seen the movie now who could potentially ruin it all for the rest of us before opening night.

Luckily, there are some tools out there for those who want to avoid an onslaught of spoilers. There are at least two extensions for Google's Chrome browser that will help you stay away from spoilers, by blocking out any webpage that mentions the movie's title.

Here's a look at one of them, Force Block (), dealing handily with the section of Reddit devoted to "Star Wars Leaks" - admittedly not a place you would go if you were trying to avoid spoilers:

Force Block also gives the option to whitelist certain sites, meaning that you can stop it from automatically block any page that happens to mention "Star Wars" in any capacity. You know, just in case you wanted to read any part of the Internet between now and whenever you get yourself to the movie theater.

If you'd prefer things to be a little less opaque, you could also try the Star Wars Spoiler Blocker (, another Chrome extension that lets you see a little bit of what you're missing, but not too much:

Both can be a little overzealous, presumably under the reasoning that it's better to be safe than sorry. (As far as I can tell, there are currently no 'Star Wars' spoilers on The Washington Post's homepage.)

To install either of these tools in your Chrome browser, head to the Chrome Web Store (or just click on the links in this article.) Once you've found your extension, click "Add to Chrome," confirm the installation and enjoy the peace of mind you feel.

Of course, these aren't perfect tools. Both load their warnings a split-second after you arrive on the page, so you could get a subliminal-type flash of spoiler, if there's one on the page.

And there's no promise that people won't ruin things for you on social media. The only real way to guarantee that you won't be spoiled is to cut off all communication from now until you get to the theater - but where's the fun in that?


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Published 16 December 2015 2:42pm
Updated 16 December 2015 2:45pm
Source: The Washington Post

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