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The best ad blockers in 2024

Say goodbye to intrusive online advertising with the best ad blockers

Best in-browser ad blockers

Best ad-blocking apps, best ad-blocking mobile apps, other privacy-focused extensions and apps.

The best ad blockers unfortunately very necessary yo survive on the modern internet. It doesn't matter where you go, there's the risk of being harassed by pop-ups, tracker cookies, malvertising and countless other digital nasties that seem hell-bent on ruining your online experience. Even if all your browsing is above board.

Thankfully there's no shortage of apps and browser extensions that can block ads and keep you safer when you're online. Combined with the best antivirus software and the best VPNs , a good ad-blocker gives you a perfect arsenal of tools to offer as much protection as possible. Even the FBI recommends using an ad-blocker for protection.

The only thing you need to figure out is which ad-blocker is right for what you need. There are so many to choose from, and whether you are willing to live with the downsides. Most free sites rely on advertising revenue to survive, including Tom's Guide. But if you're happy with the trade-off, we've got a thorough list of the best ad blockers and privacy tools — with options for every browser and platform.

The best ad blockers you can get today

1. adblock plus (chrome, edge, firefox, opera, safari, android, ios).

AdBlock Plus (ABP) is among the most popular ad blockers, with extensions available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge and Opera. ABP features a quick setup, loading preset filter lists that allow users to quickly block most ads, as well as the option to filter malware and social media buttons. 

Savvy users can chose additional block lists as well as set custom filters or whitelist their favorite sites to keep their ad revenue in the black. AdBlock Plus allows what it calls "non-intrusive advertising" through filters; that may irk some users, though this feature can be disabled in settings. 

On Android, the AdBlock Browser provides a Firefox-based browser that blocks incoming advertising, while on iOS, the AdBlock Plus app integrates with the content blocker system to seamlessly block advertising on Safari with minimal setup.

Download AdBlock Plus: Firefox , Chrome , Safari , Opera , Edge

2. AdBlock (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

AdBlock (no relation to AdBlock Plus) is the other best ad-blocking browser extension of note, available for users of Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. AdBlock uses a series of filter lists to automatically block ad content coming from known ad servers and providers. Users can stick with the default block lists, subscribe to additional ones, or even create their own, as well as whitelist their favorite websites. 

As one of the most downloaded Chrome and Safari extensions, AdBlock has the trust of many users worldwide.

Download AdBlock: Chrome , Firefox , Safari , Edge

3. uBlock Origin (Chrome, Firefox)

Ublock Origin is a browser-based ad blocker that focuses on simple, efficient blocking with a low resource overhead. The extension comes loaded with a number of filter lists for known advertising and malware sources, with extra filter lists available and the option to read and create your own custom filters from hosts files.

Download Ublock Origin: Chrome , Firefox

4. Poper Blocker (Chrome)

Rather than be an all-in one blocking solution, Poper Blocker (aka Pop Up Blocker For Chrome), is designed to complement other adblockers. 

In this case, Poper Blocker focuses on blocking pop-ups, pop-unders, overlays, timed and scroll pop-ups, and other varieties that might slip past other ad-blocking extensions. Small notifications tell you when pop-ups are blocked. You also can view your blocking stats, but otherwise, you can generally just keep Poper Blocker running in the background with minimal impact alongside other adblocker extensions.

Download Poper Blocker: Chrome

5. Stands Fair AdBlocker (Chrome)

For a fast and light ad-blocking plugin, Chrome users can turn to Stands Fair AdBlocker. The extension does precisely what it promises, blocking ads and pop-ups from cluttering up your browser view while also preventing any tracking from going on. 

Stand's Fair AdBlocker gives you control over the type of ads you can block, specifying everything from autoplay video ads, YouTube ads, expanding ads and more. It can even block Facebook ads if you want.

The "Fair" part of AdBlocker comes into play by giving you the ability to allow certain types of ads or even whitelist ad-supported websites you don't want to shortchange of badly needed revenue. This is one ad blocker that doesn't take a scorched earth approach to its stated purpose.

Download Stands Fair AdBlocker: Chrome

6. Ghostery (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Edge)

Like the other extensions on our list of the best ad blockers, Ghostery can remove ads from webpages, so you can focus on content and browse more efficiently. But the real value in Ghostery lies in its privacy protection features. You can use Ghostery to view trackers, which lets you see who's trying to collect data on you. With Ghostery, you can also stop that tracking from taking place. If you really want to safeguard your privacy, you can turn to Ghostery's Enhanced Anti Tracking to anonymize your data.

Ghostery's a free download that offers basic web protection. More advanced protection starts at $4.99 a month and the $11.99 monthly tier comes with a built-in VPN. There are also versions of Ghostery that work with Android and iOS devices.

Download Ghostery: Chrome , Firefox , Opera , Safari , Edge

7. Adblocker for YouTube (Chrome, Firefox)

YouTube has gotten more aggressive with ads, so the makers of ad-blocking extensions have followed suit. Adblocker for YouTube is a Chrome extension that promises to automatically block YouTube ads, whether we're talking about the pre-roll ad appearing before your video or any text and banner ads that appear on the video itself.

If you prefer Firefox to Chrome, there's also an AdBlocker for YouTube extension that works on that browser. Same name, different developer apparently, but the functionality of stripping out video and display ads remains. This version works on Android devices too.

Download Adblocker for YouTube: Chrome , Firefox

1. AdGuard (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)

Uses looking for a more robust experience can try out the subscription-based AdGuard, which provides desktop and mobile options to reduce the ads you see when surfing online. 

AdGuard on Windows and Mac covers popular browsers, with highly configurable options for ads, content, and tracker blocking, as well as a parental controls module for restricting adult content. AdGuard for Android is a no-root ad-blocker that blocks advertising on apps and games, though you’ll have to install it from AdGuard’s site instead of through Google Play. AdGuard for iOS works with Safari to effectively filter ads on the default browser.

Download AdGuard: Windows , Mac , Android , iOS

2. AdLock ($33 per year)

AdLock avoids the browser-based route, instead opting to run as a separate program to be able to block not only browser-based ads, but also advertising in other programs like Skype or games. 

The app runs in the background, using filters to block ads, popups, and autoplaying videos, speeding up loading times and applying Safe Browsing features to automatically block sites that are known to be unsafe. 

For obvious reasons, the mobile version is unavailable on the Google Play Store, so you'll need to sideload the app if you want to get AdLock into your Android device. iOS users can download AdLock directly from Apple's App Store.

Download AdLock: Windows , Chrome ,  Android , Mac , iOS

3. Wipr (macOS, iOS; $1.99)

If you’re a Safari fan, Wipr may be the best ad blocker for both your Mac and iPhone. The app is available for both iOS and macOS — costing $1.99 from either Apple App Store — and it promises to work with Safari as well as apps that use Safari for displaying web pages.

You’ll find a full array of features with Wipr, which not only blocks apps and trackers, but cryptocurrency miners, EU cookie and GDPR notices and anything else that gets in your way of surfing the web. Its blocklist gets updated twice a week, and there’s little configuration; the idea is that you load Wipr and forget that it’s there while it does its job in the background.

With Wipr, pages should load faster in Safari, which will be particularly welcome if you’re surfing from an iPhone, where ads and trackers can bog down your browser’s speed.

Download Wipr: macOS , iOS

1. 1Blocker (iOS)

1Blocker was one of the first really good ad blockers on iOS when Apple opened up that functionality on iPhones and iPads; the apps has since been optimized for Safari. 

The app is designed to make browsing faster and more secure by blocking ads, popups, trackers and other online cruft. Rather than blocking content of a downloaded page, 1Blocker works with Safari's content blocker API to tell the browser what to block in advance, saving time and resources. 

1Blocker features more than 115,000 blocker rules, custom regional adblocking settings, and easy-to-use custom rules settings. The app is a free download, with premium features available as in-app purchases.

Download 1Blocker: iOS

2. Firefox Focus (Android, iOS)

Firefox Focus is another addition to Mozilla's family of browsers. This one's a privacy-oriented version of Firefox that bakes in ad-blocking and anti-tracking into a light and functional package. Firefox Focus blocks ads and speeds up browsing, while also working in privacy-friendly features like automatic history and cookie clearing. 

Users can selectively block ads, analytics, content and social trackers with easy toggles, turn on a "stealth" mode, and set a default search engine.

Our look at the best Android browsers has more on the various flavors of Firefox.

Download Firefox Focus: Android , iOS

3. AdClear (Android, iOS)

AdClear — or AdClear Plus if you're searching for the iOS version — offers the kind of mobile ad blocking in browsers that similar apps provide. But AdClear takes it one step farther by also blocking ads in apps. 

AdClear achieves this through a DNS changer feature that routes traffic through a VPN. AdClear doesn't catch everything in all apps, and in our experience, some apps ran a little slower. But this free download can put a stop to ads interrupting what you're trying to do whether in an app or a browser.

Download AdClear: Android , iOS

1. Decentraleyes (Chrome, Firefox)

Some times, blocking ads can also prevent websites fromn pulling needed resoruces and libraries from third-party sources, breaking web pages in the process. Decentraleyes tries to stop that from happening by acting as a local content delivery network emulator to serve up the files that websites need. By doing so, this extension can stop websites from sending out requests to the likes of Google Hosted Libraries.

Think of Decentraleyes as a complement to ad blockers. In fact, the extension specifically says it can work with uBlock Origin and AdBlock Plus, both of which we recommend up above.

Download Decentraleyes: Chrome , Firefox

2. Opera (Desktop, Android, iOS)

The Opera browser bakes in ad-blocking features into the browser without the need for an extra add-on, while also offering privacy-friendly tools such as an unlimited, built-in VPN service, incognito mode, fraud and malware warnings for suspicious links and pages, and more. In addition, you can further customize Opera's capabilities with a wide array of extensions. 

Mobile users need not fret, as the Android version comes with just about everything the desktop version has but built for touch-screen interfaces. On iOS, the mobile version of Opera is listed in Apple's App Store as Opera Touch. (Incidentally, we've got a guide on how you can use Opera to block ads on the iPhone .)

Download Opera: Mac or Windows , Android , iOS

3. Privacy Badger (Chrome, Firefox, Opera)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Privacy Badger browser extension was born from the EFF's concerns about the business models of some privacy tools and ad blockers. 

Privacy Badger functions similarly to extensions like AdBlock Plus (on which it was based), observing the various tracking tools that advertisers and other third parties might use to track your online activities and selectively blocking them from executing. Built-in learning algorithms adapt to the sites you visit and take any new tracking tools discovered into account. 

While not explicitly an ad blocker, Privacy Badger does also block some advertising, depending on how aggressively the ads track you across websites.

Download Privacy Badger: Chrome , Firefox , Opera

4. Tor Browser (Desktop, Android)

The Tor network helps anonymize your internet activity by bouncing the data you send and receive through a distributed anonymous network of routers to foil a common online surveillance technique called traffic analysis, which can reveal the sites you visit or who you're communicating with. 

The Tor Browser is an all-in-one package that includes everything you need to surf the net through the Tor network in an easy-to-install portable package. The package includes a modified version of Firefox with privacy aids such as NoScript baked in, and an automatic setup aid that makes it easy to connect to and create new Tor circuits. 

On the desktop, you can grab a version of Tor Browser for Windows, macOS or Linux. There's also a version of Tor Browser for Android, which replaces the previous OrBot + OrFox combination recommended for browsing Tor on Android.

Download Tor Browser: Desktop , Android

5. Onion Browser (iOS)

iOS users aren’t left out when it comes to browsing the Tor anonymizer network, with the Onion Browser among the more popular options on Apple’s mobile OS. 

Previously a premium app, Onion Browser has since moved to a donation model, opening up access to everyone who wants to download the app, without compromising security or features. The usual caveats apply: Browsing through Tor will slow down the web experience, and some features, like video streams and video files won’t work in order to preserve anonymity.

Download Onion Browser: iOS

How to choose the best ad blocker for you

Many of the best ad blockers are available for free, either as extensions or as standalone apps, though a few, like AdLock, charge a fee. Determine if the free services provide enough ad-blocking to meet your needs or whether a paid app delivers more for your money. You should also figure out if a browser extension will take care of your ad-blocking needs or whether you should consider switching browsers to one with more built-in privacy features.

You can narrow down your choice in ad blockers by deciding specifically what you're looking to accomplish with such an app or extension. Do you just want to stop annoying pop-up ads from appearing or do you want the full range of services, including privacy features and an end to ad-tracking? Grab the ad blocker that ticks off all the boxes on your wishlist.

Some ad blockers, such as AdBlock Plus include filters and the ability to let in non-obtrusive advertising. Others, like AdBlocker Ultimate, take a more aggressive approach. Find out which one best suits your needs and comfort level.

As we noted at the outset, there's also an ethical component to ad blockers. Do you feel comfortable keeping ad revenue out of the hands of sites you enjoy and use for free? As good as the best ad blockers are, that's still a trade-off you need to consider when deciding whether to install one as a browser extension or as a standalone app. 

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• kep55 I'm waiting for an ad blocker that will spoof the websites into thinking there is no ad blocker in place. More and more sites are incorporating code that disables the site entirely or many of the features if an adblocker is in use. Reply

kep55 said: I'm waiting for an ad blocker that will spoof the websites into thinking there is no ad blocker in place. More and more sites are incorporating code that disables the site entirely or many of the features if an adblocker is in use.

• View All 2 Comments

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Uninstall AdGuard Extension for Safari

AdGuard is a program that helps to block advertising while surfing the net. Today we want to take a look at what’s needed when you want to remove AdGuard from your Safari browser. In this article, you will learn how to manage the AdGuard ad blocker and two ways to uninstall the AdGuard extension for Safari.

• How to manage the AdGuard Ad Blocker for Safari.
• How to delete the AdGuard Safari extension manually.
• How to uninstall the AdGuard extension for Safari automatically.

Manage AdGuard Ad Blocker for Safari

If you want to completely remove AdGuard from your Mac, you can skip this part and go to the next two points of this article. If you would like to learn how to manage AdGuard on your computer, here is how.

The AdGuard extension for Safari is located in your Applications folder. Once you run it, it adds one icon to the Safari browser next to the search bar and another one to the Status Menus. These icons are connected, so when you launch AdGuard in Safari, the AdGuard app automatically runs on your Mac, and vice versa.

If you wish to pause the AdGuard extension, you need to click on the AdGuard icon on the left side from the Safari search bar, and then click on the Pause AdGuard button.

To enable AdGuard adblocker, click on its icon in Safari and click the Start Protection button to activate it.

To stop AdGuard, click on the AdGuard icon in the Menu bar and untick Enable AdGuard. By the way, you can manage filters such as spyware, social widgets, cookies and more in the app’s Preferences. You will find the Preferences in the drop-down menu.

To stop the extension completely, go to the Safari menu bar → Preferences → Extensions tab → untick AdGuard and AdGuard Safari Icon .

Delete the AdGuard Safari extension manually

To remove the AdGuard extension for Safari completely but manually, take the following steps:

Here, in the user’s Library folder, detect all files and folders that contain AdGuard in their titles and remove them. Look for the remains of AdGuard in the following subfolders:

In the main Library folder, you can also find some of the AdGuard leftovers. Open the Library folder in Finder and check to see if there is the next subfolder and delete it:

• Macintosh/Library/StagedExtensions/Library/Application Support/com.adguard.Adguard

• Empty the Trash bin to entirely complete the AdGuard removal.

Unfortunately, it is hard to predict where exactly you can find the remains of different applications. Therefore, we recommend that you use the free software tool, Funter , which helps to find files by name, including the hidden ones. Just launch Funter, type the name of the application or the developer’s name and hit Enter.

Uninstall the AdGuard extension for Safari automatically

Luckily, you can skip all previous steps and remove AdGuard in just a few clicks. Thanks to App Cleaner & Uninstaller , you can completely get rid of more than 1,000 applications on your Mac. This application requires only 48.9MB and is compatible with OS X 10.10 and later. App Cleaner & Uninstaller has an intuitive interface and removes apps quickly and correctly. Complete the following steps to delete AdGuard using App Cleaner & Uninstaller:

• Launch App Cleaner & Uninstaller. For your convenience, sort the items by name, size or date, or use a search field for a quick scan result.

• Complete the deletion of the AdGuard extension on your Mac by emptying the Trash bin.

It’s only your decision to choose a manual or automatic method to remove AdGuard from Mac. But, if you want to save time and be sure that you have deleted AdGuard correctly and completely, we recommend using App Cleaner & Uninstaller.

App Cleaner & Uninstaller Uninstall any Mac application in 2 minutes

Update v. 8.2.7 March 5, 2024

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AdGuard for Mac is not working on Safari in MacOS Sonoma #1309

JTMG314 commented Sep 27, 2023 • edited

Aydinv13 commented Sep 27, 2023

Sorry, something went wrong.

Aydinv13 commented Sep 29, 2023

Jtmg314 commented sep 29, 2023 • edited.

enakr commented Sep 30, 2023

Jtmg314 commented sep 30, 2023, aydinv13 commented oct 2, 2023.

No branches or pull requests

AdGuard for Safari 4+

Adblock and privacy, adguard software limited.

• 4.6 • 377 Ratings

Screenshots

Description.

More than 35,000,000 AdGuard users enjoy the better, faster, and safer Internet. The ad blocker extension clears all ads in Safari and fights data tracking to protect privacy. Unlike other major ad blockers, AdGuard provides some extra features you are used to having with the traditional (now deprecated) extensions: ● Manage protection from Safari ● Choose among popular filter lists ● Add custom filter lists ● Create your own filtering rules ● Manual blocking tool ● Whitelist websites in one click AdGuard for Safari is based on the Safari native content blocking API, which makes it lightning fast. KEY FEATURES ◈ Blocking Ads Remove all kinds of ads from Safari browser easily. We have plenty of ad blocking filters and even an ability to manually remove ANY element on the page that you don't like. ◈ Blocking Trackers Make your personal information protected by blocking known trackers. ◈ Blocking Annoyances Tired of all the «Like» buttons and similar widgets infesting all of your frequented web pages? Just enable AdGuard "Social Media filter" and forget about them. ◈ Faster Browsing Speed By preventing ads, annoyances, and trackers from loading when you visit a certain page, AdGuard makes browsing smoother and faster. ◈ Free and Open Source AdGuard for Safari is a free and open source software. The source code is available on Github: https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForSafari

Version 1.11.18

The filter developers said that this version blocks ads more effectively thanks to updated Scriptlets. Should we take their word for it or get the new version and see for ourselves?

Ratings and Reviews

377 Ratings

Excellent app

I highly recommend this app if you want to control ads, trackers, cookies and other internet scourers of data

Does an amazing seamless job.

Really got no Ads on youtube. it's amazing! plus warn you before any Pop-Ups. Good Stuff.

Too many restart requests

AdGuard asks you to restart Safari too many times for its update process. Other ad blockers don't. I may switch back...

App Privacy

The developer, Adguard Software Limited , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

Privacy practices may vary based on, for example, the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

English, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

• Developer Website
• App Support
• Privacy Policy

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