Brave Browser has steadily gained popularity among users who value privacy, speed, and a clutter-free browsing experience. In 2025, Brave continues to evolve, offering even more customizable features and privacy-enhancing options. To ensure you’re getting the most out of your browsing, updating and optimizing your settings is essential.
TL;DR
To enhance your privacy, performance, and usability in Brave Browser this year, you should tweak several key settings. Focus on strengthening your shields, customizing ad and tracker blocking, and managing performance through hardware acceleration. Improving your search engine preferences and fine-tuning the Brave Rewards system are also recommended. These changes can significantly boost your browsing experience and privacy protection in 2025.
1. Strengthen the Shields Settings
One of Brave’s standout features is its built-in Shields system, which blocks unwanted content such as ads, trackers, and scripts. It’s vital to fine-tune these settings based on your browsing needs.
Navigate to: Settings > Shields
- Trackers & Ads Blocking: Set to Aggressive for maximum protection. This level blocks more third-party trackers and ads than the default setting.
- Fingerprinting Blocking: Set to Strict. While this might break some elements on rarely visited sites, it’s far safer for frequent usage on the web.
- Cookie Blocking: Consider choosing Block cross-site cookies unless you frequently visit sites that require logins across domains.
These three settings make the biggest impact when it comes to privacy and general user experience.
2. Customize Brave Rewards
If you use Brave Rewards and earn BAT tokens through viewing ads, take some time to refine how those ads behave. You can limit distractions and make the program more efficient.
Navigate to: Settings > Brave Rewards
- Ad Frequency: Adjust the number of ads you receive per hour. We recommend 1-3 ads/hour for a balance between earnings and productivity.
- Auto-Contribute: Turn this off unless you specifically want to donate BAT to your favorite websites automatically. Manual contribution gives you more control.
- Tips: If you tip creators, consider enabling tipping reminders or customizing recurring tips for better financial control.
3. Optimize Performance with System Settings
Brave, like other Chromium-based browsers, engages system hardware for tasks like rendering and encoding, which affects performance and battery usage.
Navigate to: Settings > System
- Hardware Acceleration: If you’re on a high-performance machine, keep this enabled. For older laptops, you might see smoother operation with it turned off.
- Continue Running Background Apps: Disable this unless you rely on extensions or web apps that require constant updates.
Tweaking these can extend battery life and reduce CPU usage, especially on portable devices.
4. Enhance Security with HTTPS and DNS Settings
To brace your internet experience against threats like hijacking and surveillance, it’s smart to fortify your HTTPS and DNS options.
Navigate to: Settings > Privacy and Security > Security
- Always Use Secure Connections: Enable the setting to upgrade insecure requests to HTTPS whenever possible.
- Use Secure DNS: Brave allows you to choose your DNS provider. We recommend switching to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8) depending on your preference for speed vs. privacy.
These adjustments reduce your exposure to malicious redirects and eavesdropping on public networks.
5. Fine-Tune Site and Permission Controls
Prevent websites from overreaching by reviewing what access they automatically get and revoke unnecessary permissions.
Navigate to: Settings > Privacy and Security > Site and Shields Settings
- Camera, Microphone, Location: Set these to Ask before accessing.
- JavaScript: Leave enabled, but consider disabling for specific sites if you suspect intrusive behavior.
- Ads and Pop-ups: Keep these blocked by default to avoid a disruptive experience.
Limiting permissions helps minimize exposures from potentially malicious or intrusive sites.
6. Clean Up Browsing Data Automatically
Regularly clearing your browsing data helps to limit tracking and maintain performance. Brave allows you automate this.
Navigate to: Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear browsing data on exit
- Check: Browsing history, cookies, cached images and files.
- Uncheck: Items like passwords and auto-fill data unless you prefer to retype them each time.
Set these preferences once, and Brave will handle cleanup each time you close the browser.
7. Set Up Preferred Search Engines
In 2025, Brave Search continues to improve, but many users still prefer other privacy-friendly options depending on results and region.
Navigate to: Settings > Search Engine
- Default Search Engine: Choose between Brave Search, DuckDuckGo, or Startpage for maximum privacy. Google is still an option if relevance outweighs the need for anonymized queries.
- Manage Search Engines: Add your favorite tools and assign them keywords for quicker access in the URL bar.
Custom search configurations offer both speed and personalization, making it easier to locate the content you want most.
8. Customize the New Tab Page
While it may not affect security or performance, adjusting your new tab settings streamlines your workflow and reflects your priorities.
Navigate to: Settings > New Tab Page
- Background Image: Choose minimalist or personal images to reduce visual clutter.
- Widgets: Configure or disable Brave News, crypto wallet display, and daily stats depending on what you value.
Less visual noise and fewer distractions can lead to a clearer digital workspace that better reflects your style.
9. Manage Extensions with Care
Extensions can expand functionality—but they can also pose privacy and performance risks. Brave supports Chrome Web Store extensions, so your choices are vast, but use caution.
Navigate to: Settings > Extensions
- Remove or disable any unused extensions.
- Review requested permissions for installed extensions regularly.
- Stick to well-reviewed and actively maintained tools to reduce vulnerability.
Having too many extensions running in the background can bog down browser performance and even compromise sensitive data unintentionally.
10. Use the Built-In Brave VPN (Optional)
For added privacy, especially on public networks or when traveling, Brave VPN is a seamless add-on worth considering. Though it’s not free, it delivers good integration and performance.
Navigate to: Settings > VPN (available in supported regions/devices)
- Enable the VPN for all browsing or selectively by app/site.
- Choose a region closest to your physical location for better performance, or another country to bypass regional restrictions.
This is a user-friendly alternative to juggling third-party VPN providers, especially for less tech-savvy users.
Conclusion: Take Control for a Better Brave Experience
As privacy threats evolve and browsing habits change, keeping Brave’s settings updated is more important than ever. By customizing Shields, tightening permissions, leveraging performance settings, and personalizing your interface, you make the browser work better for you. Even small tweaks can dramatically improve both speed and security.
Now is the perfect time to review and refine how Brave fits into
