New Reddit Appears to Be Testing Mandatory Login on Desktop

Over the past few days, many Reddit users have reported being unable to browse Reddit on desktop while logged out. Well, I am among them, as well as folks at Neowin.

In case you are unaware, here’s what exactly happens. As soon as you land on Reddit’s new desktop experience, it only takes just two to three clicks across the site for the platform to show a login pop up, which is attached below.

The login prompts encountered by Reddit users are unskippable

Interestingly, you can’t skip the login prompt, but rather get two options that says either “Get Stsrted” or “I already have an account.” Basically, Reddit desktop is telling users that to browse, users either have to create an account or login to an existing one, if they have already. A quick scroll through the comment section of this Reddit post in subreddit r/help will tell you that this isn’t an isolated case.

Some users also say that the login prompts affects both Old Reddit and, more recently, the new desktop experience. Some users have report they can’t reproduce the login prompt on new Reddit, leading to speculation that tge olatform is testing it with selection of users before mass rollout.

One user has claimed that browser extensions like uBlock Origin prevent the prompt, while others say they needed to add custom filters because the popup bypassed existing ad blockers.

Do note that this isn’t coming entirely out of nowhere. In June, Reddit announced that Old Reddit would begin requiring users to log in, saying the logged-out experience had become “a significant source of abusive scraping and automated traffic.” The company previously confirmed it as the move to prevent AI scarping while preserving Old Reddit for existing users.