Block YouTube Channels, Videos and comments with Video Blocker

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 25, 2018
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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27

YouTube is an excellent resource for video content, but it is also plagued by spam, trolls, and lots of video content that you dislike. The trending and recommended video sections on the YouTube homepage, and the suggestions that YouTube lists in the sidebar on video pages may contain content that you would never watch.

We talked about Video Blocker before here in Ghacks We reviewed the Video Blocker extension for Chrome back in 2014 and found it to be an effective weapon against videos on YouTube that you don't want to see or be exposed to.

YouTube Video Blocker for Firefox

youtube video blocker firefox

The Firefox add-on Video Blocker by the same author was updated yesterday. It pretty much does what the Chrome extension does but since the last review dates back more than three years already, I figured it would be interesting to publish a review of the Firefox add-on as well.

The developer of the extension suggests using the new YouTube layout with the extension as the extension is less reliable if the old design is used.

The extension adds an icon to Firefox's toolbar installation which you interact with. It does not add icons or buttons to the YouTube page unlike other extensions for YouTube. The decision means that it is a bit less comfortable to use.

A click on the Video Blocker icon opens its interface. You may use it to add new channels, keywords or wildcards to the blocklist.

  • Channels -- Enter an exact channel name to block it on YouTube. The channel won't be displayed anymore in trending, recommendations and other sections on YouTube.
  • Wildcard -- This blocks channels as well but does not require the exact channel name. All channels that match the keyword you enter will be blocked.
  • Keywords -- This blocks individual videos and comments that match the entered keyword.

So, to block a channel, you'd select channels or wildcards from the menu, type the full or partial channel name in the text field, and select add to add the new rule to the blocklist. To block specific video titles, e.g., prank, football, star wars, spoiler, let's play, you'd select type the name, select keyword and hit the add button.

You manage the blocklist in the options. You find all blocked channels, wildcards and keywords listed there, a search to find items quickly if you have many, and an option to delete an item from the blocklist.

youtube blocklist

You may add items in the options as well which may be quicker than using the frontend for that. Also, there is an option to export the list and import it so that you may use it on multiple devices without having to create it from scratch each time.

The blocking worked well for the most part. I tried it in the newest Firefox Stable release, and the extension would block videos or channels from being shown on YouTube's front page. It did not block videos or channels in search, however. A search for a blocked channel would still display it and its videos.

Closing Words

Video Blocker is a handy extension for Firefox and Google Chrome, and compatible browsers, that blocks YouTube channels, videos based on titles, and comments based on keywords on the site. While the blocking is not perfect, it still works considerably well most of the time.

Now You: Do you use YouTube?

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Comments

  1. Blalba said on July 3, 2023 at 7:30 pm
    Reply

    Doesn’t work anymore. Nor does blocking ads. I have a temporary solution that still works, but i will not spill it here…

  2. Avery said on May 6, 2019 at 6:57 pm
    Reply

    Where to get this addon for Firefox now? Latest versions are gone from mozilla (latest should be 6.3.1, mozilla only got 5.2.5), on the chrome site 6.3 is availible.

  3. Claire J. Cracknell said on October 30, 2018 at 4:00 pm
    Reply

    How do you block any live recommendations of gaming for you videos? They suck

    1. Uncle Iroh said on October 31, 2018 at 7:41 am
      Reply

      Using the addon you would just create a wildcard / keyword entry… peep this image Claire J. Cracknell — https://i.imgur.com/A304wCH.png

      1. Claire J. Cracknell said on October 31, 2018 at 1:55 pm
        Reply

        Thanks, dude but how do I get an addon?

  4. Nate said on May 28, 2018 at 10:03 pm
    Reply

    I have no interest in all the lame red hot chili peppers I’m being suggested. I’ve down-voted every song that auto-played and immedaitely deleted it and skipped it from the auto-generated list.
    I still get their shit.

    YT is literally worthless without this extension :(

  5. v1adimir said on May 6, 2018 at 12:41 am
    Reply

    Thankfully (!) there’s now a way to remove channels (!) from Recommended Videos, but only on the desktop. The three-dots-interface (more options icon) has an option, for: “Not interested” and it accepts the channel as reason… There doesn’t seem to be a way for us to manage this (list?), so I’ve no idea what to do if something gets accidentally added; but, it’s definitely welcome and from what I’ve seen, it carries-over to the mobile experience – when logged-in, ofc. =)

  6. Jim Lunde said on March 17, 2018 at 7:01 am
    Reply

    I use StopAd ad blocker for blocking YT and FB ads for both browsers I use (Chrome&FF). It’s not an extension though, you need to install it. They also have android version, available here: https://stopad.io

  7. Uncle Iroh said on February 27, 2018 at 3:40 pm
    Reply

    I like using filters so I may consume more rich content. This plugin is a favorite of mine – I’ll never browse YouTube without it. The import / export feature is awesome.

    https://gist.github.com/grand-lotus-iroh/97e6f35926af0623a672dfdd8df8bd33
    *import the above list to remove bad role models, late night talk shows and PC topics from YT

  8. Richard Allen said on February 26, 2018 at 12:47 pm
    Reply

    I rarely, I want to say never, go to YT to look for what’s Trending or to find new content but I do end up watching a lot of embedded YT content and will often then open that video in YT because of the available player sizes with Magic Actions for YouTube. Once every two – four weeks I will “log into” YT to go through my dozen or so subscriptions.

    Like Tom Hawack mentions I do use “https://youtube.adblockplus.me/en/” but only use the Other Annoyances filter list that is available at the link. Because I use the old UI layout I do save the YouTube cookies but every week or, so I will delete all the YT cookies except for the PREF cookie which saves my config. Most of the time I use YT I am not signed in. I’ve added the following filters to uBO:

    ||youtube.com/live_chat_fragments_ajax?$xmlhttprequest
    http://www.youtube.com##.annotation.iv-promo
    http://www.youtube.com##.annotation.iv-branding
    http://www.youtube.com##.iv-promo-video
    http://www.youtube.com##.ytp-cards-teaser
    http://www.youtube.com##.ytp-ce-element
    http://www.youtube.com##.ytp-pause-overlay
    http://www.youtube.com###header

    https://s14.postimg.org/cwr0llj5d/Cookie_Management_for_YT.png

    1. Richard Allen said on February 26, 2018 at 3:02 pm
      Reply

      I don’t know why http:// is being added to my filters.

      YouTube Filters in uBO:
      https://s14.postimg.org/ls11nk4ox/2018-02-26_06_43_43-u_Block_Dashboard_-_Waterfox.png

      1. v1adimir said on May 6, 2018 at 12:47 am
        Reply

        Dunno, but if you can be bothered to customize this user.js (originally started on gHacks, now on Github), you can ditch (the unsecure) Waterfox and user regular Firefox – with -just- perhaps uBlock Origin (or, Adblock Plus) & browsing can be safe and secure (and completely (!) ad-free); address: https://github.com/ghacksuserjs/ghacks-user.js/

        (Bear in mind that their default is designed primarily for the Tor Browser and it WILL require *heavy* modification to produce a -fully- functional browser. :))

  9. Stefan said on February 26, 2018 at 8:59 am
    Reply

    Soon no need for that, about 10.000 profiles have been deleted by Google recently in their project to censor the Internet and more is coming…

    There are alternatives, i prefer Bitchute.

    It was a while ago i started to block Google services and sites.

    I will never accept any form of censorship as long as i live.

    1. Malte said on February 26, 2018 at 11:41 am
      Reply

      If censorship means blocking, profanity, violence, uncalled nudity, stupid brainless videos & false information… i’m all for it!

    2. Paul's Dad. said on February 26, 2018 at 10:50 am
      Reply

      I’m not sure you know what censorship is…

  10. insanelyapple said on February 25, 2018 at 11:44 pm
    Reply

    The default rules against majority of yt content is, if thumbnails are including people (mid 20s) doing shitty faces, the video is about views and not quality

    Personally, I’m just bookmarking my favorite and interesting channels and not having yt account at all

    1. Brainy said on February 26, 2018 at 1:33 am
      Reply

      How do you find new content? This extension blocks keywords and channels globally from YT searches, trending, suggested channels, etc. I use this extension to block anything related to “Game of Thrones” and a lot of useless channels like PewDiePie and CaseyNeistat.

  11. Yuliya said on February 25, 2018 at 9:55 pm
    Reply

    I use this filter to block comments on YouTube:
    [www.youtube.com###comments]

    1. gh said on February 26, 2018 at 9:04 am
      Reply

      I wonder: Does it really block? Does it prevent comments from being downloaded, or just hides comment page element(s) from view? My browser often REALLY lags/stalls waiting for comments to finish downloading. Often, but not consistently… so my guess is that YT is repeatedly tweaking and A/B testing, and sometimes I just wind up with the short end of the stick.

      ps: reading insanelyapple’s comment reminds me to mention: AFAIK, I have never “logged in to” YT

  12. pat said on February 25, 2018 at 7:49 pm
    Reply

    Instead of going to YouTube, I go to http://toogl.es which displays all YouTube without its interface. It’s very light and fast especially with browsers who have trouble with YouTube. A dark theme, resizing and search options are easily accessible, which is all I ask for to watch some videos and also save channels in my bookmarks.

    1. sludgehound said on February 28, 2018 at 3:51 am
      Reply

      Slick site lists images of a film series or such item if have specific one. Seems to lack the randomness YT has on its right side mixed in with your wanted series. toogl has some random/related pics within its results but at first glance doesn’t give me that magpie effect of just stumbling upon some unknown but compelling piece. Will use toogl tho when after a specific target.

    2. jupe said on February 26, 2018 at 9:21 am
      Reply

      cool tip, perfect for my tablet. thanks

    3. x said on February 25, 2018 at 10:49 pm
      Reply

      Which browsers have trouble with YT?

  13. Tom Hawack said on February 25, 2018 at 7:39 pm
    Reply

    I visit YouTube occasionally. I wouldn’t block channels nor even specific videos but I do put a cover on comments’ garbage, and this is the only place where I do so given it’s the only place I know where such a ratio of comments appear to be insane, IMO (and seems this opinion is widely shared). For that purpose I’ve added to uBO a dedicated filter, ‘YouTube: Pure Video Experience’.

  14. Paul said on February 25, 2018 at 7:17 pm
    Reply

    just use ublock and filterlist while i am at it stay away from most browser’s i stick to palemoon am quite happy with it.

    1. Malte said on February 26, 2018 at 11:35 am
      Reply

      Stay away from palemoon. It has a lot of bugs und security issues. Don’t get fooled by thinking you’re using something secure.

      1. George said on February 28, 2018 at 1:36 am
        Reply

        Right… describe those “lots” of bugs and security issues. If you manage to get the actual name right first, that is.

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