Quiet Blocker for Firefox (Free)

Quiet Blocker is a private alternative to the big ad blockers for Firefox. It blocks ads and trackers using the well-known community filter lists, and it does nothing else: no telemetry, no account, and no “acceptable ads” programme that lets paying advertisers through. It is free.

Privacy first

• No telemetry. It sends no usage data, statistics or crash reports, and it never contacts a server of its own.
• No account and no “acceptable ads”. Everything the filter lists cover is blocked.
• The only network traffic is filter-list downloads, straight from the list maintainers (easylist.to, fanboy.co.nz, pgl.yoyo.org), sent with no cookies and no referrer.
• Your settings stay in your Firefox profile on your computer. Nothing is synced or uploaded.

What it blocks

• Ad and tracker requests before they load: scripts, images, frames, tracking pixels, beacons, websockets and more.
• Ad elements on the page, using the lists' hiding rules, including ads that appear after the page has loaded.
• Empty boxes that blocked ad images, videos and frames would otherwise leave behind.
• YouTube ads: it removes the ad data from YouTube's player responses, so pre-roll and mid-roll ads don't play.
• Adblock Plus / EasyList filter syntax: domain blocks, exceptions (@@), type and domain options, element hiding (##) and page-level exceptions.

Fast

In the developer's own test tool, about 150,000 filters load in roughly 0.2 seconds, and checking one request takes about 13 microseconds. Your numbers depend on your computer.

Filter lists

Filter lists are rule sets maintained by volunteers. Quiet Blocker downloads them from their maintainers; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Lists update automatically every 4 days; if a download fails, it tries again every hour. You can add any other list in Adblock Plus format by its https:// address.

Tracking tag removal

Many links carry tags that tell a site where you came from. Quiet Blocker removes them from the address of pages you open: everything starting with utm_, plus fbclid, gclid, msclkid and about twenty others. The rest of the address stays exactly as it was: ?utm_source=news&id=5&fbclid=abc#top becomes ?id=5#top. You can turn this off in Settings.

Hide this element

If an ad slips through, right-click it and choose Hide this element. A preview highlights what will be hidden; Bigger and Smaller change the selection, Hide confirms and Cancel (or Esc) closes the preview. The element stays hidden on later visits to that site, and the rule is saved under My filters, where you can edit or delete it.

Toolbar button and settings

• The shield button shows how many items were blocked on the current page and in total.
• Turn off blocking on this site (and back on) in one click; the page reloads by itself.
• A Blocking enabled everywhere switch.
• Settings: turn lists on or off, update them now, add your own lists or filters, keep a list of sites where blocking is off, and Save backup / Restore from backup.

How to install

1. Use Firefox 128 or newer.
2. Click Download free on this page and fill in the short form. In Firefox, clicking the download button offers to install the add-on (click Continue to Installation if Firefox asks). If the file was saved instead, open it in Firefox or drag it onto a Firefox window.
3. Click Add. To have it work in private windows too, tick Allow this extension to run in Private Windows.
4. Pin the shield icon: click the puzzle-piece (Extensions) button in the toolbar and pin Quiet Blocker.
5. On the first start it downloads the filter lists, which takes a few seconds. After that it blocks right away.

Updates: from version 1.2.0, Firefox updates Quiet Blocker by itself, like any other add-on. If you have 1.1.0 or older, download and install 1.2.0 once; your settings are kept.

Remove other ad blockers first (Firefox menu → Add-ons and themes → the other blocker → Remove), so two don't run at once.

Moving to another computer: install Quiet Blocker there, then on the old computer use Settings → Backup → Save backup, and on the new one Settings → Backup → Restore from backup.

Troubleshooting

Known limits

• Rules that only uBlock Origin understands (scriptlets, $redirect, :has-text() and similar) are skipped. That is about 0.3% of EasyList.
• YouTube sometimes changes how it delivers ads; if pre-roll ads come back, an update of Quiet Blocker is needed.
• The YouTube ad remover still runs on sites where you have turned blocking off.
• Firefox only. There is no Chrome, Edge or Safari version.

Frequently asked questions

Is it really free?

Yes. There is no paid version, no subscription and no “acceptable ads” deal. We ask for your email and location only to deliver the download and count downloads by country.

Why do you ask for my email and location?

To send you the download link and to see, in total, which countries the downloads come from. Release notes are sent only if you tick the box. We never sell your details; see our privacy policy.

Is it safe to install a file from this site?

The add-on is signed by Mozilla, which Firefox checks before it will install it. Firefox refuses a file whose signature does not match.

Does it collect my browsing data?

No. It has no telemetry and never contacts a server of its own; its only traffic is downloading the filter lists.

Will it work with my other ad blocker?

Run one blocker at a time. Two blockers do the same work twice and can break sites.

How do I get new versions?

Version 1.2.0 and later update automatically through Firefox. Firefox checks our site for a newer signed version now and then; that check sends no personal data beyond what any web request carries. If you have an older version, install the current one from this page once.

How do I uninstall it?

Firefox menu → Add-ons and themes → Quiet Blocker → … → Remove. Save a backup first if you want to keep your filters and settings.

Version history

1.2.0 (October 29, 2026)

• Automatic updates: Firefox now keeps Quiet Blocker up to date by itself.
• If you installed 1.1.0 or 1.0.0, install 1.2.0 once from this page; after that, updates arrive automatically.

1.1.0 (October 28, 2026)

• New: right-click Hide this element, with a preview and Bigger / Smaller / Hide / Cancel; hidden elements stay hidden on later visits.
• New: removes the empty boxes left by blocked ad images, videos and frames.
• New: removes tracking tags (utm_…, fbclid, gclid and 19 others) from addresses you open; can be turned off in Settings → Privacy.
• New: Save backup and Restore from backup on the settings page.
• New: a tip about Hide this element in the toolbar popup.

1.0.0 (October 28, 2026)

• First version: blocks ad and tracker requests using Adblock Plus / EasyList filter syntax, hides ad elements (including ones that load later) and removes YouTube ad data.
• Filter lists EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe's and Fanboy's Social on by default; Fanboy's Annoyances and EasyList Cookie available. Updates every 4 days, hourly retry.
• Toolbar popup with the blocked count, a per-site switch and a global switch; settings page with filter lists, adding a list by URL, My filters and an allowlist.
• No telemetry: the only network traffic is filter-list downloads, sent without cookies or a referrer.