You can cut ads out of a video before the file even lands on your disk. This is not about the ads YouTube plays before a video; those are never in the downloaded file anyway. This is about the segments baked into the video itself: "this episode is sponsored by…", a minute-long intro, requests to like and subscribe, a teaser for the next video at the end. Skachok can remove them automatically using the SponsorBlock database. Below we look at where the segment markers come from, what exactly gets cut, how to enable the feature and when it will not work.
What SponsorBlock is
SponsorBlock is an open database in which viewers manually add timestamps of sponsor and filler segments in YouTube videos. Someone watched a video, marked that a sponsor integration runs from 2:14 to 3:05 and submitted it to the database. Other users confirm or reject the marker with votes. That is how popular videos get a precise map: where the ad is, where the intro is, where the subscribe plea is.
SponsorBlock started as a browser extension: while you watch, it skips the marked parts. Skachok uses the same database, but at the download stage. You get a file in which the marked segments are physically absent, and it plays in any player, on a TV, in a car; no extension is needed for that.
Keep in mind that the markers are placed by people. A video with a million views almost certainly has them. A video published an hour ago, or one from a niche channel with a couple of thousand subscribers, may not. In that case the file downloads in full, as usual.
Which segments are removed
The SponsorBlock database has more than ten categories. Skachok removes the ones that definitely do not belong in a downloaded file:
- sponsor segments — a paid brand integration inside the video;
- self-promotion — mentions of the creator's merch, course, channel, Patreon or Boosty (its Russian equivalent) and the like;
- subscribe reminders — "like, subscribe and hit the bell";
- intro — the opening sequence and a contentless introduction;
- outro — end credits and the lead-in to the next video;
- previews and recaps — "coming up in this episode" and a retelling of the last one;
- non-music parts in music videos — for music videos, everything that is not the song itself is cut.
Two categories we deliberately leave alone: "filler" (jokes, tangents, pauses) and "highlight", which marks the best moment rather than an unnecessary one. Removing them is too aggressive for a downloader: people mark filler very differently, and there is a risk of cutting something you want. You get a clean video without ads but with the creator's delivery intact.
How to enable SponsorBlock in Skachok
The feature is available on the Pro and Max plans and works only for YouTube. On the card of a YouTube video a toggle appears: "SponsorBlock — cut out sponsor segments". On plans below Pro it is shown with a lock and a Pro badge and leads to the pricing page. The conditions are compared on the pricing page, and a new account gets 2 days of Pro without a card, which is enough to try the feature on your own videos.
- Copy the video link and paste it into the field on the YouTube page in Skachok or on the home page. Click "Find".
- In the card, find the line "SponsorBlock — cut out sponsor segments" and turn the toggle on.
- Pick a quality in the "Video" block or a format in the "Audio" block and click "Download".
- The server requests the markers from the database, cuts the segments and assembles the file. You will see a progress bar, and the download starts automatically when it finishes.
The toggle is remembered within the card: if you download the same video in a different quality, you do not need to turn it on again.
What happens to the file
The cutting is done without re-encoding: the server splits the stream at the segment boundaries and joins the remaining pieces. Picture and sound quality do not change, and the build takes seconds even for long videos. The cut is made at the nearest keyframes, so a boundary may differ from the marker by a fraction of a second. In a typical case this is not noticeable.
The file becomes shorter than the original by exactly the total length of the removed segments. If you follow timestamps from the video description, remember that they shift after the cut.
The feature also works for audio. Turn on SponsorBlock and choose MP3 to get a soundtrack free of integrations and subscribe pleas. For podcasts and long interviews this is especially handy: a typical hour-long episode loses 3–5 minutes of filler. More about audio in the article how to download YouTube music to MP3.
Note that with SponsorBlock on, the file is always assembled on the server, even at 720p, which is normally served directly. This adds a few seconds of waiting.
When SponsorBlock will not work
- The database has no markers for this video. The file downloads in full without a warning: there is simply nothing to cut. This is most common with fresh and little-known videos.
- The database is temporarily unavailable. If the SponsorBlock server does not respond, Skachok does not abort the download but delivers the full file.
- The platform did not let us cut the file. Occasionally the build with cutting fails. Then you get a regular file, and a note appears in the card saying the segments were not removed.
- The video is not from YouTube. The SponsorBlock database exists only for YouTube; for other platforms the toggle is not shown.
- A playlist link. In a batch download SponsorBlock is applied to each card separately; turn it on in the ones where you need it. We covered batch downloads in the article about downloading playlists.
A download with cutting counts as a regular download and uses up the plan's daily limit: 50 on Pro, 100 on Max.
Should you leave it on all the time?
For most scenarios, yes. Tutorials, reviews, podcasts and let's plays become shorter and denser, and nothing of substance is lost. There are two cases where it is better to leave the toggle off.
First: you are downloading the video for editing or analysis and need the original with exact timestamps. Second: a video where the intro and outro are part of the show, such as a creator's signature opening or the musical intros of a series on a channel. The markers may be debatable there, and it is easier to trim the excess yourself.
If in doubt, download the video twice: with the toggle on and off. On Pro that is two of the 50 daily downloads, but you will see right away how many minutes and which exact fragments were removed.
FAQ
Does SponsorBlock remove the ads YouTube plays before a video?
Those ads are never in the downloaded file to begin with: they are not part of the video. SponsorBlock removes the segments the creator built into the video itself: sponsor integrations, intros, subscribe pleas.
Which plan includes SponsorBlock?
Pro and Max. On Free and Lite the toggle is shown with a lock. When you sign up we give you 2 days of Pro for free, no card, so you can test the feature.
Why did the file download in full even though SponsorBlock was on?
Either the database has no markers for this video yet, or the database was unavailable at the moment of the download, or the file could not be cut; in the last case a note appears in the card. In all cases you get a regular full file.
Does cutting degrade the quality?
No. Segments are removed without re-encoding; picture and sound stay as they were. A cut boundary may differ from the marker by a fraction of a second, because cuts can only be made at keyframes.
Does SponsorBlock work when downloading MP3?
Yes. Turn on the toggle and choose MP3 or another audio format; the soundtrack will be free of ad segments.