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gorhill
uBlock
JavaScript2014–2026
gorhill / uBlock

uBlock

uBlock Origin - An efficient blocker for Chromium and Firefox. Fast and lean.

Web DevelopmentSecurity & Privacy
Explore on GitHubRead Hacker News discussions
554Distinct people
875Mentions
11Explicit recommenders
69.3KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

uBlock Origin - An efficient blocker for Chromium and Firefox. Fast and lean.

GitHub

Where it is used

  • LibreWolf — LibreWolf includes uBlock Origin in the browser. Source
  • Mullvad Browser — Mullvad Browser uses uBlock Origin to block third-party trackers. It includes this extension as part of its tracker-blocking approach. Source

What people are saying

You should look into the homepage linked from there https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock because that's were it's really from, and not some recommendation via. Especially their…

LargoLasskhyfv used a recommendation phrase. 12 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 10:02:05 AM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year875 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2014-06-24 09:19:53 UTC to 2026-10-13 19:36:47 UTC.

0501002014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 24 mentions; 4 submissions, 20 comments20142015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 127 mentions; 13 submissions, 114 comments2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 70 mentions; 3 submissions, 67 comments2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 53 mentions; 2 submissions, 51 comments2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 67 mentions; 2 submissions, 65 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 59 mentions; 4 submissions, 55 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 76 mentions; 3 submissions, 73 comments20202021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 85 mentions; 5 submissions, 80 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 92 mentions; 7 submissions, 85 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 99 mentions; 9 submissions, 90 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 52 mentions; 3 submissions, 49 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 45 mentions; 2 submissions, 43 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 26 mentions; 0 submissions, 26 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20142014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC24420
20152015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC12713114
20162016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC70367
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC53251
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC67265
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC59455
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC76373
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC85580
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC92785
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC99990
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC52349
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC45243
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC26026

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 12, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
uBlock Origin (uBO) Browser Install from ... Status Firefox Add-ons uBO works best on Firefox Edge Add-ons "Moving the Microsoft Edge extensions ecosystem forward with Manifest Version 3": "Beginning in August 2026, Microsoft Edge will start the consumer transition away from Manifest Version 2 (MV2) extensions and toward MV3. Our goal is to complete the consumer transition by the end of 2026, with enterprise deprecation following in early 2027." Opera Add-ons Removed "Manifest V2 support timeline": "Aug 31st 2026: All remaining Manifest V2 extensions removed from the Chrome Web Store" About Google Chrome's "This extension may soon no longer be supported" Thunderbird Add-ons No longer updated and stuck at 1.49.2. Later versions require "GitHub - Releases". GitHub - Releases Stable and development versions on Firefox, Chromium MV2, and Thunderbird. Must be placed manually into web browsers; the Chromium and Thunderbird versions usually won't auto-update. Related: uBlock Origin Lite uBlock Origin (uBO) is a CPU and memory-efficient wide-spectrum content blocker for Chromium and Firefox. It blocks ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, annoying anti-blockers, malware sites, etc., by default using EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe's Blocklist, Online Malicious URL Blocklist, and uBO filter lists. There are many other lists available to block even more. Hosts files are also supported. uBO uses the EasyList filter syntax and extends the syntax to work with custom rules and filters. You may easily unselect any preselected filter lists if you think uBO blocks too much. For reference, Adblock Plus installs with only EasyList, ABP filters, and Acceptable Ads enabled by default. It is important to note that using a blocker is NOT theft. Do not fall for this creepy idea. The ultimate logical consequence of blocking = theft is the criminalization of the inalienable right to privacy. Ads, "unintrusive" or not, are just the visible portion of the privacy-invading means entering your browser when you visit most sites. uBO's primary goal is to help users neutralize these privacy-invading methods in a way that welcomes those users who do not wish to use more technical means. Documentation Installation Firefox Chromium Thunderbird All Programs Enterprise Deployment Release History Translations About Documentation Basic Mode Advanced Mode The simple popup user interface for an install-it-and-forget-it type of installation that is configured optimally by default. The advanced popup user interface includes a point-and-click firewall that is configurable on a per-site basis. Visit the Wiki for documentation. For support, questions, or help, visit /r/uBlockOrigin. Installation Required Permissions Firefox Firefox Add-ons Development Builds uBO works best on Firefox and is available for desktop and Android versions. Chromium Chrome Web Store: Removed on 2026-08-31 Microsoft Edge Add-ons (Published by Nicole Rolls until version 1.62. Ownership transfer at version 1.64.) Opera Add-ons uBO should be compatible with any Chromium-based browser. Thunderbird Thunderbird Add-ons In Thunderbird, uBlock Origin does not affect emails, just feeds. All Programs Do NOT use uBO with any other content blocker. uBO performs as well as or better than most popular blockers. Other blockers can prevent uBO's privacy or anti-blocker-defusing features from working correctly. Manual Installation Enterprise Deployment Deploying uBO Release History Releases Page Translations Help translate uBO via Crowdin. About Manifesto Privacy Policy GPLv3 License Free. Open-source. For users by users. No donations sought. If you ever want to contribute something, think about the people working hard to maintain the filter lists you are using, which are available to use by all for free.
Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

67 sources
Puer·Dec 19, 2018
1) This is just a duplicate of the NYT article already on the front page 2) NYT seems to intentionally not elaborating on the "access to users' private messages" part and conflating app permissions to actually scanning, parsing, storing, deleting, modifying individual messages. Until disproven, it sounds like these are just standard app permissions needed to implement functions like song sharing in Messenger chat (in the case of Spotify), or sending payments over chat (in the case of RBC). This is disappointing journalism, to be honest. FB has done a lot of bad things and they deserve the negative press, but it does seem like NYT has some kind of personal agenda against the company and they aren't afraid of exploiting the tech ignorance of their readers to accomplish that goal. This is like publishing "Popular privacy extension uBlock Ori
Read the rest
gin 'Accesses your tabs and browsing history'". Yeah. Because it needs those things to function: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Permissions Anyone who's ever written an Android app or a Chrome extension should see right through this sensationalism.
In Facebook gave Spotify and Netflix access to users’ private messages
greenyoda·Dec 8, 2018
Some ad blockers, like uBlock Origin, are open source, so you can examine the code and see what they're doing: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock The basic algorithm is to match URLs of loadable resources (images, JavaScript files, iframes, etc.) against huge lists of ad/malware/tracking sites. If the URL matches, the resource isn't loaded. The lists that uBlock Origin uses are enumerated here: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/master/README.md
In Ask HN: How to locate ads on websites programmatically?
vanderZwan·Dec 3, 2018
> The original prototype was to develop an idea I had about using jump indices in a TypedArray for quickly matching hostnames (or more generally strings)[1]. Once I had a working, un-optimized prototype, I realized I had ended up with something formally named a "trie": <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trie>, hence the name. I have no idea whether the implementation here or one resembling it has been done elsewhere. So I heavily experimented with squeezing performance out of a JS-based trie-implementation for LZString[0]. Back then some early experimentation suggested that using TypedArrays was likely to be slower than using objects with numerical keys, and for non-degenerate input using a trie based on plain arrays and indexOf calls was the fastest[1]. However, it's been a while since I looked at those numbers (and I suspect that with uBloc
Read the rest
k's use case look-up performance matters more than insertion performance, which makes it very different from LZString's). But it should be obvious that HNTrie's implementation[2] is something I'm very interested in ;). [0] https://github.com/pieroxy/lz-string/pull/98 [1] https://github.com/pieroxy/lz-string/blob/ba8988028d78962eba... [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/2a91a685ce3d2dae5d3c2...
In UBlock Origin 1.17.4 released
wickedwiesel·Dec 3, 2018
He writes in his FAQ [1]: > I don't want the administrative workload coming with donations. I don't want the project to become in need of funding in any way: no dedicated home page + no forum = no cost = no need for funding. I want to be free to move onto something else if ever I get tired working on these projects (no donations = no expectations). > Have a thought for the maintainers of the various lists. These lists are everything. This can't be emphasized enough. [1] - https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...
In UBlock Origin 1.17.4 released
_noqo·Nov 17, 2018
I ask about renaming the product back in 2016 [1] and the author response was: I won't change the name -- it is too well established now. It's unfortunate that ublock.org causes confusion, but in the end he is hurting himself more in the long run than he is hurting uBlock Origin, it's a conscious choice he made to scam people,[1][2] he will have to deal with whatever consequences there is doing so. [1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/1451
In UBlock-LLC taking code from ad blocker uBlock Origin without proper attribution
KozmoNau7·Oct 25, 2018
As fair as I know, nothing and by no one. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-... He'll work on it for as long as he feels like it. I've made sure to thank him for his work and signal that I appreciate what he does very much indeed. All in the hope that he will continue the good work. Will the project die at some point? Maybe. Or maybe someone will take over. Maybe another better adblocker will come along. The need is there, as long as ads/trackers exist.
In Adblock filter rule list modified politically in Finland
kozziollek·Oct 25, 2018
Not sure if you know, but you don't need uMatrix when using uBlock Origin - it has build in the same functionality. You just need to tell uBlock that you're advanced user by checking option in settings. What TekMol is using sounds like Hard Mode. Personally, I chose Medium Mode (blocking only 3rd-party scripts) as there isn't much difference between them. [1] [1]: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode
In Adblock filter rule list modified politically in Finland

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