{"id":48258,"date":"2025-03-03T15:06:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=48258"},"modified":"2025-03-23T11:16:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T11:16:51","slug":"block-ads-trackers-system-wide-ubuntu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/block-ads-trackers-system-wide-ubuntu\/","title":{"rendered":"Block Ads & Trackers System-wide in Ubuntu Linux using hBlock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This tutorial shows how to block ads, trackers, and malware domains system-wide in Ubuntu and other Linux desktop using hBlock.<\/p>\n

hBlock is a free open-source script that collects a large list of domains that serve ads, tracking scripts and malware from multiple sources. It blocks them by mapping all those domain names to 0.0.0.0 using hosts<\/code> file, thus it works system-wide.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NOTE 1: Disable ads may hurt the websites that you prefer, as many sites rely on displaying ads to keep alive.<\/b><\/p>\n

NOTE 2: Without installing hBlock, advanced users may visit its website<\/a> to get the latest list of ads domains and block by manually editing the hosts file.<\/b><\/p>\n

Step 1: Install hBlock<\/h3>\n

To get hBlock, press Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> to open up a terminal window, then run command to install the curl tool:<\/p>\n

sudo apt install curl<\/pre>\n
Then copy and paste the whole commands below and run as single:<\/p>\n
curl -o \/tmp\/hblock 'https:\/\/raw.githubusercontent.com\/hectorm\/hblock\/v3.5.0\/hblock' \\\r\n  && echo 'bb8f632fcb101ea017fb00a8d02925dfc7d5a6d075e2cb30e4bc293e5c0628b1  \/tmp\/hblock' | shasum -c \\\r\n  && sudo mv \/tmp\/hblock \/usr\/local\/bin\/hblock \\\r\n  && sudo chown 0:0 \/usr\/local\/bin\/hblock \\\r\n  && sudo chmod 755 \/usr\/local\/bin\/hblock<\/pre>\n
The commands will first using curl<\/code> to download the script from Github, then verify file integrity, install (move) to \/usr\/local\/bin<\/code> directory, set the ownership and read\/read\/executable permissions.<\/p>\n
The sudo<\/code> command requires user authentication, you need to type password (no asterisk feedback) when it’s blinking at “[sudo] password for USER”.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
As time goes by, the project may release newer versions when you see this tutorial. You may go to the project website<\/a> if the command above is outdated.<\/p>\n
Step 2: Block \/ Unblock Ads and Trackers<\/h3>\n
Before start using hBlock, it’s better to backup the \/etc\/hosts<\/code> first if you have custom settings there. To do so, run command:<\/p>\n
sudo cp \/etc\/hosts \/etc\/hosts.backup<\/pre>\n
To start blocking ads and trackers<\/b>, simply run the command below in terminal:<\/p>\n
hblock<\/pre>\n
It will start downloading list of ads domains and tracking scripts from Github and apply to block them. As it will make changes to ‘\/etc\/hosts’ file, you need to type user password (when it asks) to grant permission.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
If everything goes well, you may now open any website in web-browser or any app that contain advertisements to if it works!<\/p>\n
To temporarily disable hBlock<\/b>, use command:<\/p>\n
hblock -S none -D none<\/pre>\n
And, you may re-run hblock<\/code> to start it again.<\/p>\n
For choice, user may create and add domain names into ~\/.config\/hblock\/allow.list<\/code> file (create if not exist) to unblock certain domains. For more about how to use the script, run hblock --help<\/code>.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Add Toggle button to Turn ON\/OFF hBlock (GNOME only)<\/h3>\n
Some websites or apps may refuse to work well with ads disabled. Without running the command above again and again, GNOME users may install an extension to add a toggle button in top-right Quick Settings menu.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
NOTE: The Extension so far only works in GNOME 45\/46\/47, meaning for Ubuntu 24.04\/24.10, recent Fedora Workstation, etc distributions.<\/b><\/p>\n
For Ubuntu, first search for & install “Extension Manager” from App Center (filter by Debian package).<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Then, launch the tool and navigate to “Browser” tab. Finally, search then install “Blocker” extension.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Or, open the extension page in EGO:<\/p>\n
\n
Blocker in EGO<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Then use the ON\/OFF switch to install\/uninstall the extension. You need to install browser extension first if it prompts and refresh.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Uninstall hBlock<\/h3>\n
To uninstall hBlock, you may first disable blocking ads by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):<\/p>\n
hblock -S none -D none<\/pre>\n
Then, delete the script:<\/p>\n
sudo rm \/usr\/local\/bin\/hblock<\/pre>\n
If need, restore \/etc\/hosts<\/code> from the backup file:<\/p>\n
sudo mv \/etc\/hosts.backup \/etc\/hosts<\/pre>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This tutorial shows how to block ads, trackers, and malware domains system-wide in Ubuntu and other Linux desktop using hBlock. hBlock is a free open-source script that collects a large list of domains that serve ads, tracking scripts and malware from multiple sources. It blocks them by mapping all those domain names to 0.0.0.0 using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2039],"class_list":["post-48258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howtos","tag-security"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}