What you need
- Windows 10 or Windows 11. Both 64-bit and 32-bit Windows are supported, and setup picks the right version for your PC. Earlier versions of Windows are not supported.
- Administrator approval. Setup needs it to install AdFender.
- An internet connection during setup if WebView2 needs installing (below), and afterward so that our server can confirm your 14-day trial, and for activating a license and for filter-list updates.
- Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, a free Windows component that draws AdFender’s window. Most PCs already have it. If yours does not, setup downloads and installs it for you — you will see Installing the Microsoft WebView2 runtime... — so you do not need to get it yourself.
- Recommended: close your browsers first. It is not needed for a first install, but when you reinstall or update, setup may otherwise stop and ask you to close them.
Setup finishes anyway and tells you so. AdFender still blocks ads, but its window will not open until the runtime is there. Connect to the internet and run setup again, and it will try once more. More in AdFender won’t open or start.
Installing
Download the installer, run it, and accept the license agreement. Setup then asks two things.
Who should AdFender be installed for?
- Install for me only (recommended) — only your Windows account can run AdFender. HTTPS filtering relies on a private key kept on your PC, and this choice keeps that key to you, so the other accounts on the PC cannot use it to read your secure web traffic.
- Install for all users of this computer — every account on the PC can run AdFender, and every account can use that key. Choose it only for a PC whose users trust each other, such as a family PC.
Either way AdFender’s program files go in Program Files, for the whole computer. The choice is only about which accounts can use it.
HTTPS filtering
Nearly every site, and nearly every ad, is served over HTTPS today. Setup asks whether to filter inside secure pages, and nothing is chosen for you: pick one option to carry on. Choose Enable HTTPS filtering (recommended) and setup installs the certificate that lets AdFender block ads inside secure pages. Not now leaves it out; you can turn it on later from the dashboard. Even without it, AdFender can still block ads and trackers that come from known ad servers, by their names alone and without decrypting anything. The first-run setup offers this as Domain name filtering (SNI), ticked by default. It catches less than HTTPS filtering, because ads a site serves from its own address still get through. HTTPS filtering and the certificate explains what the certificate is and is not.
First run
Leave Launch AdFender ticked when setup finishes. A short setup window takes you through Welcome, Regional and Ready, with a Domain filtering step before Regional if you chose Not now for HTTPS filtering. When you click Finish, your 14-day trial starts — or, if you already have a license on this PC, AdFender carries on with it.
If setup asks you to close something
Setup cannot replace AdFender while it is running. If it says AdFender is still running and must be closed before you can continue, right-click the tray icon, choose Exit, and click Retry.
It may also list programs that are using AdFender’s filtering component — usually your browsers. Close the ones it names and click Retry; AdFender’s own background parts are closed for you.
Updating to a newer version
Run the newer installer over the AdFender 3.x you have. Your license, apps, own rules and other settings stay as they are, but setup asks the HTTPS filtering question again: choose Enable HTTPS filtering (recommended) to keep filtering secure pages, because Not now turns it off and removes the certificate. Moving up from AdFender 2.x works differently: upgrading from AdFender 2.x covers it.
Uninstalling
Open Windows Settings, go to Apps, find AdFender in the list of installed apps, and choose Uninstall. After you confirm, the uninstaller asks one question:
Also remove your AdFender settings, custom rules and certificate?
- No — the default. AdFender’s program is removed, and your settings, your own filter rules, your apps list, your HTTPS exclusions, your all-time totals and the certificate are kept, ready for a reinstall. The filter lists themselves are downloaded fresh when you reinstall.
- Yes — your settings, rules, apps list, HTTPS exclusions and all-time totals are removed, and the certificate is taken out of Windows.
Whichever you answer, your license stays with this PC, so reinstalling here does not use up an activation. How many PCs one code covers has the rule for moving to a different one.