uBlock/README.md

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uBlock Origin

<sup>pronounced you-block origin (/ˈjuːˌblɒk/) — you decide what enters your browser.
English, Chinese (中文), Korean (한국어), Português (Brasil)

BEWARE! uBlock Origin is (and has always been) COMPLETELY UNRELATED to the web site ublock.org.</sup>

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An efficient blocker add-on for various browsers. Fast, potent, and lean.

uBlock Origin is NOT an "ad blocker": it is a wide-spectrum blocker -- which happens to be able to function as a mere "ad blocker". The default behavior of uBlock Origin when newly installed is to block ads, trackers and malware sites -- through EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe’s ad/tracking/malware servers, various lists of malware sites, and uBlock Origin's own filter lists.

• Documentation
• Purpose & General Info
• Performance and Efficiency
  • Memory
  • CPU
  • Blocking
  • Quick tests
• Installation
  • Chromium
  • Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Safari (macOS)
• Release History
• Privacy policy
• Wiki

Documentation

Basic mode	Advanced-user mode
Popup user interface	A point-and-click firewall which can be configured on a per-site basis
. .	Configure as you wish: picture shows 3rd-party scripts and frames blocked by default everywhere

Visit the uBlock Origin's wiki for documentation.

For support/questions/help, there is /r/uBlockOrigin on Reddit.

Philosophy

uBlock Origin (or uBlock₀) is not an ad blocker; it's a general-purpose blocker. uBlock Origin blocks ads through its support of the Adblock Plus filter syntax. uBlock Origin extends the syntax and is designed to work with custom rules and filters. Furthermore, advanced mode allows uBlock Origin to work in default-deny mode, which mode will cause all 3rd-party network requests to be blocked by default, unless allowed by the user.

That said, it's important to note that using a blocker is NOT theft. Don't fall for this creepy idea. The ultimate logical consequence of blocking = theft is the criminalisation of the inalienable right to privacy.

Ads, "unintrusive" or not, are just the visible portions of privacy-invading apparatus entering your browser when you visit most sites nowadays. uBlock Origin's main goal is to help users neutralize such privacy-invading apparatus — in a way that welcomes those users who don't wish to use more technical, involved means (such as uMatrix).

EasyList, Peter Lowe's Adservers, EasyPrivacy and Malware domains are enabled by default when you install uBlock Origin. Many more lists are readily available to block trackers, analytics, and more. Hosts files are also supported.

Once you install uBlock Origin, you may easily un-select any of the pre-selected filter lists if you think uBlock Origin blocks too much. For reference, Adblock Plus installs with only EasyList enabled by default.

Performance

Memory

On average, uBlock Origin does make your browser run leaner. ^[1]

Chromium

Firefox

^{[1] Details of the benchmark available at Firefox version: benchmarking memory footprint.}

CPU

uBlock Origin is also easy on the CPU

^{Details of the benchmark available in this LibreOffice spreadsheet.}

Blocking

Being lean and efficient doesn't mean blocking less

^{For details of benchmark, see uBlock Origin and others: Blocking ads, trackers, malwares.}

Installation

Feel free to read about the extension's required permissions.

Chromium

You can install the latest version manually, from the Chrome Web Store, or from the Opera add-ons.

There is also a development version in the Chrome Web Store if you want to test uBlock Origin with the latest changes: see uBlock Origin dev build.

It is expected that uBlock Origin is compatible with any Chromium-based browsers.

Firefox / Firefox for Android

Firefox Add-ons web site.

There is also a development version if you want to test uBlock Origin with the latest changes: for installation, see Install / Firefox webext / For beta version

uBlock Origin is compatible with SeaMonkey, Pale Moon, and possibly other browsers based on Firefox: for installation, see Install / Firefox legacy.

Thanks to Debian contributor Sean Whitton, users of Debian 9 or later or Ubuntu 16.04 or later may simply apt-get install xul-ext-ublock-origin.

Microsoft Edge

Developer: @nikrolls.

Stable version available in Microsoft Store.

Development version available at https://github.com/nikrolls/uBlock-Edge#edge.

Note that issues specific to the Edge fork are the responsibility of the current maintainer, I have no control over the code base of the fork.

Safari (macOS)

Developer: @el1t.

Development version available at https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari#ublock-originfor-safari.

Note that issues specific to the Safari fork are the responsibility of the current maintainer, I have no control over the code base of the fork.

Note for all browsers

To benefit from uBlock Origin's higher efficiency, it's advised that you don't use other inefficient blockers at the same time (such as AdBlock or Adblock Plus). uBlock Origin will do as well or better than most popular ad blockers. Other blockers can also prevent uBlock Origin's privacy or anti-blocker features from working properly.

Deploying

Below is documentation to assist administrators in deploying uBlock Origin:

• Deploying uBlock Origin
  • Firefox: Deploying uBlock Origin for Firefox with CCK2 and Group Policy (external)
  • Google Chrome: Managing Google Chrome with adblocking and security (external)

Release History

See the releases pages for a history of releases and highlights for each release.

About

uBlock Origin's manifesto.

Free. Open source. For users by users. No donations sought.

Without the preset lists of filters, this extension is nothing. So if ever you really do want to contribute something, think about the people working hard to maintain the filter lists you are using, which were made available to use by all for free.

You can contribute by helping translate uBlock Origin on Crowdin.

License

GPLv3.