{"id":86402,"date":"2022-05-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.online-tech-tips.com\/?p=86402"},"modified":"2024-04-16T00:52:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T04:52:34","slug":"ublock-origin-the-ultimate-review-and-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.online-tech-tips.com\/ublock-origin-the-ultimate-review-and-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"uBlock Origin: The Ultimate Review and Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The primary goal of uBlock Origin is to provide people with protection against the ever-increasing invasion of privacy online. It is a free and open-source ad blocker and content filtering add-on for several web browsers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The developers call it a \u201cwide-spectrum content blocker\u201d rather than simply an ad blocker, and for a good reason. uBlock Origin is one of the most advanced and versatile options for increasing your privacy online with minimal cost to your CPU or memory usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>What Is uBlock Origin?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Developed by Raymond Hill (gorhill<\/a> on GitHub.com), uBlock Origin (uBO) is an industry-leading cross-platform browser extension for filtering content online. Unlike similar plug-ins, uBO filters content, including ads, trackers, pop-ups, malware, coin miners, and JavaScript elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

uBO is open-source with contributions from various developers on GitHub. Generally speaking, the open-source uBO is transparent and more trustworthy than some of its closed-source competitor apps that often sell user data to third-party companies for a profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three modes available with uBO: easy mode, medium mode, and hard mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In easy mode, settings are left on default with a few available options to enable some extra privacy and security settings via the dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Medium mode is for advanced users and requires in-depth knowledge of the add-on, enabling users to manually decide what content is filtered and what is allowed. This is the recommended mode for privacy-savvy users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard mode is like medium mode on steroids and is likely to cause more website breaks for a final small gain in security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

uBO is available on the Google Chrome<\/a> web store, on Chromium<\/a>, Microsoft Edge<\/a>, Opera<\/a>, and as a Mozilla Firefox<\/a> add-on (including the Android and iOS versions). Unfortunately, it\u2019s no longer available for Apple\u2019s Safari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note:<\/strong> When installing uBO, make sure that the add-on is uBlock Origin<\/em>. There are several add-ons pretending to be uBO, including ublock.org<\/a> and uBlock (without the Origin). These scam versions steal user data for profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Easy Mode: Cosmetic Filtering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

uBO provides two powerful tools to allow users to perform \u201ccosmetic filtering.\u201d These tools are the Element Zapper<\/strong> and the Element Picker<\/strong>. Both tools allow you to pick and choose which website elements to remove from a website, but the Zapper is temporary while the Picker is permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To use the Zapper, click the uBO icon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then, select the lightning bolt<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Specific elements should now highlight as you hover over them. Simply click on the element to remove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To use the Element Picker, click the uBO icon<\/strong> and click the color dropper<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click the element you want to remove, then click Create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To view these filters, open the uBO dashboard by selecting the cog icon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next, select the My filters<\/strong> tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here, you can easily delete your added filters by deleting the line and selecting Apply changes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If uBO breaks a website you need to access, you can selectively allow content on websites or individual web pages. To do so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Select the uBO icon<\/strong> at the top-right of the window.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    1. Click the blue power button<\/strong> to disable uBO on a website or shift + click the blue power button<\/strong> to disable it for an individual page.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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      This allows you to whitelist particular pages you don\u2019t need uBO to be active on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/a>Easy Mode: Using Static Filter Rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      uBO comes with several built-in and third-party filter lists. These can be enabled or disabled at will to increase your privacy online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The uBO devs recommend enabling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n