AdBlock is blocking something or has broken a website (for site owners)

If your visitors are reporting that images are missing, pages look strange, forms don't work, etc., most often a resource on your site has a name that makes it look like an ad to the filter lists. If visitors can't get to your site at all because AdBlock says it hosts malware, your site may have been blocklisted by a malware filter list.

 

Check For Blocked Resources

The first thing to look for is a file or directory with a name that's triggering a filter list to block it. Please see this post on Stack Overflow for a good list of what to look for.

 

Rename the resource if possible

The best solution is to change the name to something the filter lists won't recognize as an ad.

 

Ask the list authors for an exception

If you can't change the name (for instance, if the text string "ad" is part of your domain name), you'll need to ask the list authors to add an exception for it. We don't maintain the filter lists. All we can do is point you to the people who can help you.

Here's how to determine which filter list is blocking the resource:

  1. Note which filter lists are enabled on the FILTER LISTS tab in AdBlock's options, then disable them.
  2. Reload the page that's not working. It should work now. If it doesn't, skip to "A filter list isn't blocking the resource," below.
  3. Re-enable the first filter list you disabled and wait for AdBlock to fetch it.
  4. Test the page again.
  5. Keep doing that until you find the list that makes the problem come back.

 

Report to the list authors

You can find the contact information for all the filter lists in our Knowledge Base. The list authors may have a formal complaint process or it may be just an emailed request for help. If the list authors use a forum for issue tracking, be sure to read any pinned posts, especially those that begin "Before you post a problem in this forum."

Here are some guidelines for reporting your issue in the EasyList forums.

  1. Click the New Topic button in the appropriate forum
  2. Name your topic for your site
    Note: If the site contains adult content, please include "NSFW" ("not safe for work") in the topic subject
  3. Be sure to include your browser and version and which ad blockers you have tested
  4. Provide a link to the page that isn't working
  5. Provide a screenshot of the issue if you can

 

Why can't AdBlock just fix the problem?

We would love to help you ourselves and we understand your frustration when we can't. But in all likelihood the problem isn't with AdBlock itself, it's with the filter lists used by many ad blockers, and we don't maintain the filter lists. The only issues we can fix are those caused by AdBlock itself.

 

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