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How to create your own personal filter list

Suppose you've created dozens, even hundreds, of custom filters in your journeys across the Web. If you aren't using AdBlock's Premium Backup & Sync feature, your filters won't sync to your other AdBlock extensions. Even worse, if your custom filters are accidentally deleted or lost in a hard drive crash, they could be gone forever.

If you use the AdBlock desktop extension on Chrome, Firefox or Edge, you can turn all those custom filters into a filter list that you subscribe to, just like EasyList or any other "official" list. It's downloaded every time you launch your browser on any computer. Here's how.

 

Step 1: Get your custom filters into a text file

  1. Open any text editor and create a new file.

  2. Paste the following text at the beginning of the file. Copy the lines exactly as they appear here, and don't forget the exclamation point in the last line.
    [Adblock Plus 2.0]
    ! Version:
    ! Title:
    ! Last modified:
    ! Expires: 4 days (update frequency)
    ! Homepage:
    !

  3. Copy your custom filters and paste them after that last exclamation point.

  4. Save your file. Be sure it's in text-only format and the name ends in ".txt" (for instance, "myfilters.txt").

  5. Upload the file to your Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive.

 

First, get the public "anyone with the link can view" share link to your file. Then convert the public share link to a direct download link.

Why do you need this step? The share link you get in Step 1 is a "preview" link that opens, not the file itself, but a preview of the file. It's pretty easy to convert that preview link into a link that downloads the file directly. The procedure you'll use depends on where you stored the file.


Step 3: Subscribe to your brand-new personal filter list

  1. Click the AdBlock toolbar icon and click on the gear symbol.

  2. Select the Filter Lists tab.

  3. Under Custom Filter Lists, paste the direct download link in the space provided and click Subscribe.

 

Troubleshooting

If you see anything other than "Updated right now" after you've subscribed to your filter list, here are some things to check.

  • Be sure your file is plain text, with no formatting codes.

  • Be sure the file name ends in ".txt" (for example, myfile.txt).

  • Be sure the file follows the proper format for a filter list. See the example below.

  • Be sure to use the public share link, not one that only you or any particular person can view.

  • If your file is stored on Dropbox or Google Drive, be sure the edited URL is correct. See the examples in the appropriate section above.

What your filter list should look like:

[Adblock Plus 2.0]
! Version: 
! Title: My Personal Filter List
! Last modified: 
! Expires: 7 days (update frequency)
! Homepage: 
!
||taboola.com^
(all the rest of your custom filters)

You don't need to provide values for Version, Title, Last modified, Expires, or Homepage. You only need the keywords to be present in the file.