Which annoyances can AdFender remove?
Three kinds, each with its own optional list:
- Cookie banners: hides cookie-consent banners and “accept cookies” pop-ups.
- Notification prompts: blocks “allow notifications” requests and push-notification nags.
- Social widgets: removes social share buttons, like and follow widgets, and embedded comment trackers.
They are separate from ad blocking because not everyone wants them, so they start off and you add the ones you want.
How do you turn them on?
- Open AdFender and go to Filters.
- Scroll to Optional lists.
- Click + Add beside each list you want.
That is all. A list you add takes effect straight away, with nothing to apply, and from then on it works in every browser AdFender filters. There is no extension to install in each browser and nothing to set up site by site. Choosing filter lists covers the Filters page in full.
Does hiding a cookie banner accept the cookies?
No. The list hides the banner; it does not click anything on it, so AdFender never gives consent on your behalf. What a site does without an answer varies: many carry on, and some hold back part of the page until you choose. If that happens on a site you use, exempt that site (below) and answer the banner yourself.
The trackers that cookie banners ask about are a separate matter, and AdFender’s anti-tracking list blocks many of them whatever the banner says: how to stop websites tracking you.
What about notification requests you already allowed?
Those live in your browser, not on the page, so a list cannot take them back. Open your browser’s site settings, find Notifications, and remove the sites you no longer want to hear from. From then on, the list blocks the new requests it matches.
What if a site stops working with these lists on?
Exempt just that site. Right-click the AdFender icon in the system tray, choose Exempt website from filtering… and paste the site’s address. Every other site stays filtered. Fix a broken website walks through it.
Another kind of pop-up is the one asking you to turn your ad blocker off: how to stop those messages.