Update: Pinterest now lets you disable Picked For You pins! Go to your profile, then press the settings button (a hexagonal bolt). Scroll down to "Home feed", then switch 'Show "Picked for you" Pins in your home feed' to 'No'.
Thank you all for your kind comments and bug fixing for this script. I hope it was useful.
It's no secret that I love Pinterest more than is really okay. They've started doing this thing where they show you "Picked for you" pins on your homepage, interspersed with your friends' pins. I quite like the curated pins they choose, but sometimes I like to just see what my friends have been up to.
You have the option to go through and deselect all of your boards, which I assume would prevent you from getting "Picked for you" pins at all. However, I wanted something a little less permanent, so I've made a bookmarklet.
The easiest way to use it is to drag the following link onto your bookmarks toolbar:
Remove Picked For You
Then, if you go to pinterest.com and click on your new bookmark, the "Picked for you" and "Promoted by" pins will have disappeared.
To keep the pins hidden, you have to click on the bookmark every time you load the page. However, there's a browser add-on for Firefox (or Iceweasel) called Greasemonkey, which lets you run little bits of javascript all the time. First, install Greasemonkey. Then, copy the text below:
// ==UserScript==
// @name Remove Picked For You
// @namespace bethmcmillan.com
// @include *
// @version 2
// @grant none
// ==/UserScript==
function hide_picked_for_you() {
divs=document.getElementsByClassName("creditFooter");
for(i=0;i<divs.length;i++)
{if (divs[i].innerHTML.indexOf('Picked for') != -1)
{divs[i].parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.style.visibility='hidden';}
}
divs=document.getElementsByClassName('creditName');
for(i=0;i<divs.length;i++)
{if (divs[i].innerHTML.indexOf('Promoted') != -1)
{divs[i].parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.parentNode.style.visibility='hidden';}
}
}
window.setInterval(function(){
hide_picked_for_you();
}, (5000));
Next, click on the Greasemonkey icon in your browser (usually in the top right), go to "New User Script", then "Use Script From Clipboard". Now, when you go to Pinterest and click on the Greasemonkey icon again, there should be the option "Remove Picked For You". If you tick it, you'll see that the pins disappear. For Google Chrome, there's an extension called Tampermonkey, which works in the same way.
If the script or bookmark aren't working for you, try reinstalling them from this page, as I might have updated the code. If this doesn't fix it, tell me in the comments. The latest code is always available on Github.
Thanks so much for posting this! :)
Thank you!!! I'd stopped looking at Pinterest (which I also love) because of this issue. I was having serious withdrawals but every time I looked I got too frustrated. My page now looks like a very sparse spiders web after a brutal storm but I LOVE it!
any idea as to what browser add on you could use while in safari?
Lorie, I use this fix in Safari, it works fine. I have two different links on my bookmark bar... "Remove picked for you" and "I hate my friends" and they both work great.
What a public service it is to make this script available free! We've done the same thing with Pin4Ever, too. After installing the toolbar, you just click the "Clean Home Feed" button when you want to see the Pinterest page without Picked For You and Promoted Pins. We've taken out the gaps where the removed pins were, too, in case you prefer the traditional Pinterest look, or don't want to scroll as much, or this version isn't working for you. And Pin4Ever comes with other freebies, too - a full back up of all your pins and boards, and Pin Anything to capture screenshots when the Pin It button doesn't work.
Thanks for this. Awesome. But suddenly there are no items in my feed at all. Once the tool removes all the Picked For You pins, there is nothing left. Pinterest is dying because of this change.
Cited this post today on my blog. You are a godsend! Thanks so much.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
does 'remove picked for you' still work for anyone? when i try to drag the link to my bookmarks it is just greyed out (i can drag 'i hate my friends fine though). i need to block those promoted pins, someone help!!
Beth~My home page is so cluttered with "Picked for you" and "Promoted by" pins that I can't even *Find* my friends pins anymore! So I was happy to find your info! I installed Greasemonkey on my PC. I copied your script with my Edit button. Is there a different way to copy it to the clipboard?
Because when I clicked on the monkey icon, "New User Script" did not open. But in the upper left over the tool bar, "Remove Picked For You" popped up. Weird. I clicked on that but, of course, none of the offending pins got removed from my home page. What am I doing wrong? Help!
thank you! those "picked for you" pins are driving me crazy!!
Thaank you lots! I used Tampermonkey for Chrome instead of Greasemonkey. x
This is BRILLIANT! I was seeing less and less of the pins I actually wanted to see - both of these bookmarklets are absolutely brilliant, and making it a whole lot easier. Thank you so much! (However, I'm shocked and gutted to see what little is left after I remove the Picked For You pins...dang, Pinterest is going to strangle itself...)
THANK YOU!
Both the Greasemonkey and the Tampermonkey script are working!
It's a blank link in Chrome for me :(
It was really sad to see how much of my feed had been consumed with "promoted" and "picked for you pins". I get that they need to make money, but honestly what is the point of curration if they (Pinterest) think an algorithm can pull together pins for me better than I can for myself?
Is there any way to do the same thing when using the app on an iPad?
Greasemonkey worked wonderfully! Now I can keep using Pinterest to see what I WANT to see. Thanks so much!!!
Thanks Beth!
Run script in Chrome + Tampermonkey and seems to be working fine so far. Much appreciated!
Thanks again,
Erik
THANK YOU - I have got MY pinterest back :)
Thank you for this! I used it with TamperMonkey for Chrome and it works like a charm. (Honestly, I love Disney, but that doesn't mean I want 2 dozen pictures of Mickey Mouse on my Pinterest page. I know what he looks like.) I'm also adding you to my reader because I need more smart blogs in my life.
The link doesn't work for me :(
THANK YOU!!!!!!!
I'm so much happier now. At first I thought it didn't work because the whole page was blank.... but that was just because there were so many "picked for you" pins to block out. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Thank you!!! I was sooo tired of this "picked for you" thing! You saved my love for Pinterest! They should let us to choose if we want to see that. And how much of it! Ty Ty Ty
oh my gosh i love you
Thank You! When I used the Remove PfY link, entire pages of my home thread went blank because I've been so overrun with PfY garbage. I was hiding each one, but removing them in one click with this function is much more satisfying!
Thank you for this, but now I have another problem. After removing my picked for you pins there is nothing left! Literally, nothing! I don't follow anyone, I just like to look at random stuff and click on what is interesting to me. Now I literally see the exact same pins every time I open up my home page. Looks like it is repeats or nothing. I will not take the time to delete every single pin. Hate to say it, but it looks like my love affair with pinterest is over.
I don't understand your instructions at all!
I'd be happy to explain anything! What part are you stuck on?
This worked wonderfully for me until a Java update last week. Now it's not working at all. Have you heard others say this?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Thanks Beth for doing this! I appreciate it very much. I'm a Pinterest addict and it had gotten since that Java update that I rarely saw anything I was interested in. This is such a big help. Interesting though that I now have no promoted by pins except 1 in the top right corner when I sign in. The bookmarklet doesn't remove that 1. Very strange. But that's ok with me...........it gets all those picked for you's and that's a whole bunch!
thank you!! this is amazing!! you are a godsend!! any idea how to make it work on mobile devises, now? : /
I'd love to get some kind of mobile solution working, but haven't had much luck so far.
I love this script, but it recently stopped working for me in Safari! It will remove only one "Picked for you" pin per page and leave the other visible ones around it shown (before it would remove all visible "picked for you" pins). If I click the bookmark again, nothing happens. Any idea what's going on?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
The script isn't working anymore (on Chrome at least). Can you try to update the script?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Arggghhhh, I had to scrap my old version of chrome and start over (don't even ask). Have tried reinstalling the Remove Picked For You in to my bookmark bar but it no longer works. Version 46.0
Any suggestions?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Your "remove picked for you pins" bookmark isn't working anymore. :( I've used it for a year+ but today it stopped working. It's a shame because your bookmark was the only thing keeping pinterest tolerable.
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
i must be doing something wrong as i can't get the "removed picked for you pins". i dragged the link to my bookmarks and click it when I'm in pointers but nothing happens. any suggestions wld be greatly appreciated
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
My "Remove Picked for You" link in Safari has suddenly stopped working! Nothing, nada! I tried reinstalling it, but still nothing. Could Pinterest have wised up to you and blocked it somehow?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Thank you! It's not removing the "promoted by" ads, but there's a whole lot less of them than the other stuff.
Do you know if something has changed? I have been using your code for some time to get rid of the insane number of picked for you pins and it has suddenly stopped working :(
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
I noticed today that the remove picked for you function stopped working. Is this an issue with my Chrome or has Pinterest changed something? Thanks!
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Sad to say but I think Pinterest are on to you. Today I loaded up Pinterest, clicked on my "remove" button and nothing happened :( all my picked for you pins are still there.
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Hi Beth,
would it be possible to have an updated version of "remove picked for you" link? I have used it ever since I discovered it, but it's not working now. I also would like to thank you for sharing this. Thanks to you I have been able to enjoy Pinterest!
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
It doesn't seem to work any more :-(
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
I've used your Remove Picked for You bookmark for a long time now, and all of a sudden it won't work! Pinterest must have gotten wise to it. Is there a fix?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Beth, the bookmark for Remove Picked For You does not work any more? It used to work like a charm. Any idea why?
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
oh nooooo!! The bookmark has stopped working?!?! In just the past week it's stopped for every computer I have :( I tried re-do'ing it and refreshing everything and still it doesn't work. Any advice? I LOVE this thing!
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Within the past week, the bookmarklet stopped working. I installed the Grasemokey script but that doesn't work any more either. Is this something than can be resolved? I use Firefox 39.0
I've updated the bookmark to fix the problems - if you delete your existing bookmark and add the new one from the blog post, this should fix it.
Thank you for the fix!
Thank you so much for the fix!!
Another big thanks to you, Beth! <3
I LOVED the 'Remove Picked For You' but it stopped working. I use Safari. I just deleted the previous link and dragged the link over again but it doesn't work any longer. I suppose Pinterest has learned a way around it?
Hmm, could you open up the Javascript console in Safari and click the button while on Pinterest, and tell me what comes up? You open the console by going to Develop > Show Error Console. I haven't managed to replicate the problem.
thanx so much for the fix , you really are devoted .
Hi Beth, I've just come across this after becoming fed up with manually removing all my 'picked for you' pins. THANK YOU for this! It's a mini miracle! Just a reminder to everyone reading this that you can post feedback about 'picked for you' to Pinterest, to let them know your thoughts. I've posted the link below:
https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/picked-for-you-pins