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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, 2:59:58 PM 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

59 sources
jameshilliard·Dec 3, 2019
It's actually pretty simple to block with a recursive filtering algorithm like this: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/compare/master...jameshill... or https://github.com/tiratatp/facebook_adblock/blob/master/src... which was roughly based off of my rejected uBlock implementation. Funny enough I haven't even used facebook in years for the most part, I wrote one of those just to try and make them lose money as I believe I'm doing a public service by slowing their expansion/world domination plans.
In How Facebook Avoids Ad Blockers
ivl·Sep 20, 2019
uBlock Origin can be configured to do much more than a simple list based filter (like EasyList, etc). [1] It's not quite the same as detecting, but it's incredibly configurable, and that functionality can't be used when list based filtering is all that's allowed. And I'm aware PiHole is just DNS filtering, but an extra layer of blocking is useful. 1. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering
In Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other blockers for Safari
sigotirandolas·Sep 20, 2019
I think that this, i.e. with request and element filtering, is how it works the majority of the time. However, uBlock Origin can (and sometimes does) inject arbitrary scripts into the page. They can it "scriptlets", see this link: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Static-filter-syntax#... . You can see some usages in the "uBlock Filters" filter list included with uBlock Origin. I think it's more the exception rather than the norm, but it's there. My fear is that if extensions are crippled and mainstream ad-blocking standardizes on those kinds of restricted "content blockers", it's possible for ad companies to implement an effective technical bypass for them, since they can execute arbitrary scripts, but "content blockers" can't, unlike extensions. You would need Apple/Google/etc. to play the ad-blocking arms race, and they probably
Read the rest
won't have incentives for it.
In Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other blockers for Safari
DCKing·Sep 20, 2019
In uBlock Origin settings > My filters, paste the following rules to turn YouTube in just a search bar + video player: youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype='home'] youtube.com##ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer youtube.com##app-drawer youtube.com##ytd-item-section-renderer.ytd-comments youtube.com##ytd-guide-renderer youtube.com##ytd-mini-guide-renderer youtube.com##ytd-topbar-menu-button-renderer youtube.com###buttons.ytd-masthead youtube.com##yt-icon-button youtube.com##.ytp-endscreen-content Note this is only accurate at the time of writing, only works partially on mobile, and may break some edge cases I don't use :) [1]: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Static-filter-syntax
In Explanation of the state of uBlock Origin and other blockers for Safari

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