If you want to read the Star Tribune’s articles for free, this article is for you. In this blog post, you will learn how to bypass the paywall put up by the Start Tribune’s website.
Subscription sites like Star Tribune usually let you browse a limited number of articles for free, but when you’re keen to explore more, they’ll often push you to subscribe. This setup works fine for regular readers, but it can be frustrating when you just want to access one specific article that someone recommended.
How often have you gotten into an article, only to hit a paywall that suggests signing up or starting a “free trial” that doesn’t exactly feel free?
While I’m all for supporting quality journalism, paying for just one article can seem a bit much. So, instead of giving up, I dug around for some ways to sidestep the paywall.
After testing a few approaches, I landed on a quick and easy workaround.
The secret? Simply add 12ft.io/ right before the site’s URL in your browser’s address bar.
Here’s what you do: click on the browser’s address bar (or press “Cmd + L” on a Mac or “Ctrl + L” on Windows), type 12ft.io/ just before the https:// part of the URL, and hit enter. (If 12ft.io doesn’t work, you can also try removepaywall.com as a backup by putting it in front of the URL.)
Your address bar should end up looking something like this: 12ft.io/https://startribune.com/…
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Your article should now display, and any other pages you open should load through 12ft.io as well, skipping any subscription popups. Just a heads up, though: some elements on the page, like images, might not show up, and the formatting could look a bit off, so you may need to adjust as you go.
⚠️ Sites with paywalls frequently update their restrictions, so these solutions might not work forever. Plus, 12ft.io might experience occasional downtime. If it’s down, you can check its status here.
Why and How Does This Work?
12ft.io is a free tool for bypassing paywalls, along with other options like removepaywall.com.
How Do Paywall Removers Work?
Sites like Star Tribune often load the full article onto your device just before the paywall activates. This brief loading time means the content is already on your device, but JavaScript obscures it, asking you to subscribe.
Paywall bypass tools work by disabling this JavaScript, allowing you to view the article smoothly. This type of paywall is called a “soft paywall,” where the article is technically there but hidden by code.
In contrast, “hard paywalls,” like those on sites such as The New York Times and Medium.com, are more restrictive. They only load a short preview or intro, requiring a verified login to access the full article since the complete content isn’t actually loaded onto your device.
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Why Don’t All Sites Use Hard Paywalls?
You might wonder why some sites go with soft paywalls if they’re easier to bypass. Often, it’s a matter of maintaining visibility on search engines.
When content is fully locked behind a hard paywall that requires login, even search engines like Google can’t index it. Without that indexing, content becomes nearly invisible to the wider web audience.
This pushes sites to strike a balance—attracting new subscribers while keeping their articles visible in search results. Soft paywalls offer that middle ground.
Only sites with highly exclusive content that readers are willing to pay for upfront tend to implement hard paywalls.
What About Ethics?
Getting access to content without paying for it is, at its core, taking something without permission. There’s not a strong moral argument to defend it. However, single articles can sometimes seem pricey.
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More affordable options, like paying a small fee for a group of articles, might be more appealing for casual readers.
Wrapping Up
Now you know how to read Star Tribune articles without needing a subscription.
Remember, these paywall bypass techniques only work on soft paywalls. Hard paywalls are tougher to get around, although tools like the Wayback Machine may sometimes help.