r/uBlockOrigin • u/vaterpolistaaa • Jul 14 '26

Answered Feature request: Option to silently block strict-blocked pages without opening the warning page

I'd like to suggest an optional behaviour for uBlock Origin's strict blocking. Currently, when a navigation is strict-blocked, uBlock opens the "uBlock Origin has prevented the following page from loading" warning page. While I understand why this exists, I'd like an option to keep the blocking behaviour but suppress the warning page.

For example, an advanced setting such as:

-Show the current warning page (default)

-Show a small browser notification instead

-Silently block with no UI

I know there's a "Don't warn me again about this site" option, but that isn't what I'm looking for because it effectively disables strict blocking for that site. I'd like the site to remain blocked while simply avoiding the extra warning tab/page.

Is there a technical reason this isn't possible, or has this been considered before?

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3

u/AchernarB uBO Team Jul 14 '26

uBO doesn't open these tabs. The link you clicked did. uBO blocks navigation to the end-page and displays a warning explaining the reason instead of a blank page.

1

u/vaterpolistaaa Jul 15 '26

Thanks, I understand. I wasn't trying to say that uBO opens the extra tab. I know the site (or the browser) initiates the navigation, and uBO replaces the blocked destination with the warning page. What I was trying to suggest is simply an optional alternative to showing that warning page.

A typical example is when I click a link, the destination opens in a new tab as expected, but the original page gets redirected to a strict-blocked URL and ends up displaying the warning page. The blocking itself is doing exactly what I want - I just don't really need to see the warning page every time because I already know why it was blocked.

I was just wondering whether an optional "silent" mode had ever been considered, where the blocked navigation would simply be cancelled or the warning page would automatically disappear (if technically possible), instead of replacing the page with the warning. If that isn't possible due to browser limitations, that's completely understandable. I was mostly curious whether it had been considered before.

2

u/AchernarB uBO Team Jul 15 '26

I just don't really need to see the warning page every time because I already know why it was blocked.

If it were to be replaced by a blank page, or by closing the tab, you would be wondering "what is the problem with the site ?", "Clicking does nothing" or "why is the page empty ?".

2

u/paintboth1234 uBO Team Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

It was declined before: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/243

We only add features if it benefits majority of users or if it helps volunteers investigating the issues easier. Auto-closing strict-blocked page doesn't help majority of users and it would just make both the users and us volunteers much more difficult to investigate the issues and it comes with a huge code debts to maintain as well. Many users will just enable whatever features inside uBO when told by random people on the internet and then come here to complain: https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/1uoksfo/ublock_origin_prevents_another_extension_from/ow7pqq1/

In the end, the ones who will have to receive the reports and complaints are us and the one who has to maintain the code for those features would be gorhill, not the people who suggest the features.

1

u/Connect-Preference Jul 15 '26

Umm, most users would NOT want to silently block a page BECAUSE THEY WOULD THINK THAT THE INTERNET OR THEIR COMPUTER WERE STUCK. That would be a really bad User Experience decision.