Why not just use a browser extension?
An extension protects only the browser it is installed in. Use Chrome for work and Firefox at home, or share a PC with someone who prefers Edge, and you need an extension in each, each with its own settings. Switch browsers and you start again. Programs outside the browser, such as a mail or chat app showing ads, are not covered at all.
Extensions also work within limits each browser sets, and those change. Chrome’s move to Manifest V3 restricted what ad-blocking extensions are allowed to do.
How does AdFender cover all your browsers at once?
It filters from outside your browsers instead of from inside one. AdFender runs as its own program on Windows and filters web traffic for the browsers on your PC before it reaches them. One install covers:
- The browsers you use. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and other supported browsers are recognized automatically and filtered as soon as AdFender is running.
- Supported browsers you install later, which are picked up on their own.
- Other desktop programs. The Apps page lists everything AdFender filters, with a switch each, and Add an app puts another program on it.
- Other people on the same PC. Choose Install for all users of this computer during setup and every Windows account on the PC is covered. Read what that choice means for the HTTPS key first.
Your filter lists, privacy switches, own rules and exempted sites are set once, in AdFender, and apply everywhere. Because AdFender is not an extension, a browser’s extension rules do not limit it.
Does it work inside secure (HTTPS) pages?
Yes, with HTTPS filtering on. Nearly every ad arrives over HTTPS, so AdFender installs a private certificate, created on your PC, that lets it remove ads inside secure pages in the browsers it filters. Setup asks whether to turn it on and recommends it, and you can also turn it on later from the dashboard. Banking and other sensitive sites pass through without being decrypted. Is HTTPS filtering safe? explains how.
What can it not reach?
AdFender filters normal web traffic, on the standard ports. A program that sends its traffic another way passes through unfiltered. Apps built into Windows and apps installed from the Microsoft Store run from protected locations AdFender cannot filter, and AdFender says so if you try to add one rather than adding it and quietly doing nothing.
What does it need?
Windows 10 or Windows 11, 32-bit or 64-bit. There is no account to create, and the free trial has every feature available. Installing and uninstalling covers the setup choices.