Blocking mode: medium mode

Back to Blocking mode

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Roughly similar to using Adblock Plus with many filter lists + NoScript with 1st-party scripts/frames automatically whitelisted, or uBlock with default settings + uMatrix with default settings.

Blocking-wise, this is one significant leap from easy mode. However, be ready to accept you will have to un-break web sites, though at a lesser rate than hard mode, since passive 3rd-party resources (i.e. images, css) are not blocked in medium mode.

This is where you start to use dynamic filtering, a feature available only when you tell uBlock Origin that you are an advanced user. Be sure to read the guide before, it is assumed that you understand well how dynamic filtering works in order to use effectively medium mode.

^{3rd-party scripts and frames are blocked by default.}

Using medium mode will improve significantly your browser performance, and similarly reduce significantly your privacy exposure when compared to easy mode.

Characteristics

• Web pages will load significantly faster compared to the easy mode.
• Your privacy exposure will be significantly reduced compared to easy mode.
• You no longer depends mostly on 3rd-party filter lists to dictate what is blocked or not.
  • The static filter lists are still used to mop up whatever network requests is not blocked in this mode -- so double protection.
• High likelihood of web pages being broken: you have to be ready and willing to fix them when this happen.
  • Keep in mind though that as you build your ruleset for the sites you usually visit, you will spend less and less time fixing web pages.

How to enable this mode

Settings pane:

• I am an advanced user: checked.

3rd-party filters pane:

• All of uBlock origin's custom filter lists: checked
• EasyList: checked
• Peter Lowe’s Ad server list: checked
• EasyPrivacy: checked
• Malware Domain List‎: checked
• Malware domains: checked
• All other filter lists: unchecked

My rules pane:

• Add * * 3p-script block
• Add * * 3p-frame block

Tips

With one click or two, you can easily fall back into lesser blocking mode, if ever you do not have the willingness to figure the necessary rules for a given site.

To fall back into easy mode:

• Set a local noop rule for the 3rd-party script cell.
• Set a local noop rule for the 3rd-party frames cell.
  • Optional, as blocking 3rd-frames is less likely to break web sites.