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How to add a custom problematic site block list in Opera

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Opera does a great job of blocking ads on websites. In fact, it does such a good job that I regularly run into sites that call out the browser to block ads. For the sites I want to view that do make money from ad revenue, I’ll add an exception to Opera, so they can be rendered exactly as they should.

For other sites, I want their ads to be blocked. On many occasions, those ads are so intrusive that they make the site almost impossible to view. Either that, or they’ll bring my web browser – and sometimes my desktop – to a crawl. 

Also: Best secure browsers to protect your privacy online

For the most part, Opera’s built-in block lists are pretty good. But there are some things that those lists don’t prevent, such as annoying popups and other “features” that get in the way of you enjoying content.

One such list is the Fanboy Annoyances list – and I’m going to show you how to add it.

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How to add the Fanboy Annoyances list to Opera

What you’ll need: You’ll need two things to make this trick work. First, you’ll need a running/updated instance of the Opera web browser. Second, you’ll need to download the Fanboy Annoyances list (more on that in a bit).

<!–> The Fanboy ad-block lists.

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You can download any of the Fanboy lists to add to Opera.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

The fastest way to open Opera Settings to the right section is to type (or copy/paste) opera://settings/adBlockerLists in the Opera address bar. 

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The Opera Privacy protection section can be found in settings/adBlockerLists.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

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Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Add button that is associated with Custom Lists.

Also: What is the Opera Personal News feature and how do you use it?

In the resulting popup, click Select a file and then, when the file picker opens, navigate to and double-click the fanboy-annoyance.txt file. That should add the new list to Opera. 

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<!–> The Add button for Custom lists in Opera.

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You can add multiple custom block lists in Opera.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

You can do the same thing with other lists, such as:

I wouldn’t automatically add all of these lists. Add the first Fanboy list and see how it goes. The chances are pretty good that the Fanboy Annoyances list — in conjunction with the default Opera lists — will be enough for you.

Also: How to reset the Opera web browser (and when you should)

And that’s how you add a custom ad-block list to Opera. Just remember, some sites make their revenue from ads, so if you have particular sites you want to keep supporting, make sure to add exceptions for them so their ads can be displayed.

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