User Guide
AdOff v3.1.0 — Last updated: April 19, 2026
Everything you need to know to get the most out of AdOff.
1. What is AdOff
AdOff is a Google Chrome extension that blocks ads on all websites. It operates on four levels — network, page, video ad neutralization (Pro/Trial only) and stealth (Pro/Trial only) — for a clean and fast browsing experience.
- Blocks ads on any website; video ad neutralization on streaming platforms (Pro/Trial)
- Stealth Mode (Pro/Trial): makes AdOff invisible to anti-adblock systems
- Only 149 KB — 20× lighter than competitors
- Collects zero personal data: everything runs locally
- 6 languages: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese
- Site pause with 4 durations: this visit, 1 hour, 1 day, permanent
- Referral system to earn free Pro days
2. Installation
From the Chrome Web Store
- Go to the AdOff page on the Chrome Web Store
- Click "Add to Chrome"
- Confirm with "Add extension"
- AdOff is active immediately
Pin the icon to the toolbar
- Click the puzzle piece (Extensions) icon at the top right of your browser
- Find AdOff in the list
- Click the pin next to AdOff
- The icon appears in the toolbar for quick access
3. First launch
When you install AdOff for the first time:
- A welcome page opens with instructions to pin the icon
- The 15-day Pro Trial activates automatically
- A unique referral code is generated (format:
ADO-XXXXX) - AdOff starts blocking ads immediately
- If you install before July 1, 2026, you receive the permanent Founding Member badge
4. The Popup
Click the AdOff icon in the toolbar to open the popup.
Header
Logo, name "AdOff", license badge (FREE / TRIAL Xd / PRO) and FOUNDER badge (if you qualify).
Global toggle
ON/OFF switch to enable or disable AdOff on all sites. Purple badge = active, red = disabled.
Counters
- Ads blocked: ad elements removed from pages
- Requests blocked: HTTP requests to ad servers intercepted
Numbers are abbreviated: 1,500 becomes "1.5K", 2,300,000 becomes "2.3M".
Current site
The domain of the site you are visiting, with the "Pause here" button.
License banner
Visible only for Free users ("Try Pro free for 15 days") and Trial users ("Trial active — X days remaining"). Hidden for Pro users.
Review prompt
Appears after 100+ ads blocked and 5+ days since installation. Maximum 3 appearances, with a 14-day pause between each. Three options: "Leave a review", "Not now", "Never again".
Changelog
After an update, shows what's new. Closes with the X.
Links at the bottom
Help (opens the FAQ in options) and Options (opens the full options page).
5. Site pause
Disable AdOff on a single site without turning it off everywhere.
How to pause
- Visit the site
- Click the AdOff icon in the toolbar
- Click "Pause here"
- Choose the duration
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| This visit only | Re-activates when you close the tab |
| 1 hour | Re-activates after 60 minutes |
| 1 day | Re-activates after 24 hours |
| Always (whitelist) | Stays disabled permanently |
How to re-enable
Visit the paused site, click the AdOff icon, you will see "Paused — [type]", click "Re-enable".
Note: expired pauses are removed automatically. The block also applies to subdomains: if you pause example.com, blog.example.com is also excluded.
6. Options Page
Click "Options" in the popup or right-click the AdOff icon > "Options".
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| General | Block toggle, badge, counter, language |
| Excluded sites | Whitelist management |
| Plan & License | Plan status, pricing, key activation |
| Statistics | Total counters and reset |
| Invite friends | Referral link, sharing, history |
| Advanced | Export/import backup, full reset |
| Help | FAQ assistant + site reporting |
| Suggestions | Propose features, bugs, improvements |
| Info | Version, site link, privacy, support |
7. Excluded sites (Whitelist)
Adding a site
- Go to Options > Excluded sites
- Type the domain (e.g.
example.com) - Click "Add" or press Enter
Export and import
Export: download the whitelist as a JSON file. Import: upload a JSON file. Entries are validated (domain max 255 characters, allowed type). Invalid entries are ignored.
8. Plan & License
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free forever | Full ad blocking, CSS element hiding |
| Pro Trial | Free for 15 days | All Pro features |
| Pro Monthly | €2.69/month | Free + Video ad neutralization + Stealth Mode + dedicated support |
| Pro Yearly | €29.59/year | Same as monthly, 1 month free |
| Pro Lifetime | €67.90 | Pro forever |
Free vs Pro: what changes
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Ad blocking on all sites | ✓ | ✓ |
| DOM element hiding | ✓ | ✓ |
| HTTP ad network request blocking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video ad neutralization (streaming) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Stealth Mode (anti-detection) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Priority updates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dedicated support | ✗ | ✓ |
Basic ad blocking works in Free. Exclusive Pro features are: Video ad neutralization (streaming platforms) and Stealth Mode (anti-detection). Without Stealth Mode, some sites may detect the ad blocker.
Activating a Pro license
- Purchase at adoff.app
- Receive the key via email:
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX - Go to Options > Plan & License
- Enter the key and click "Activate"
9. Referral System
Earn free Pro days by inviting friends.
- On first install you receive a unique code:
ADO-XXXXX - Share the link
adoff.app/r/YOUR-CODE - When a friend upgrades to Pro, you receive +15 free Pro days
- Days accumulate without limit
Go to Options > Invite friends for the link, quick sharing (WhatsApp, Telegram, Email) and the referral dashboard.
10. Statistics
In Options > Statistics you find the total counters of ads blocked and requests intercepted. You can reset them with "Reset statistics" (requires confirmation).
11. Advanced Settings
- Export settings: complete JSON backup (license data excluded for security)
- Import settings: restore from backup. License fields are automatically ignored
- Reset everything: deletes everything, including the license. Irreversible. Double confirmation required
12. FAQ Assistant
In Options > Help you find a built-in assistant. Type a question or click a quick chip from the 12 available topics:
| Topic | Example |
|---|---|
| How AdOff works | "how does it work", "what does it do" |
| Site not working | "broken site", "white page" |
| Video ads | "video ads", "pre-roll" |
| Exclude a site | "whitelist", "pause" |
| Free vs Pro | "free vs pro", "plan" |
| Privacy | "privacy", "tracking" |
| Performance | "slow", "slows down" |
| Anti-adblock | "detected", "wall" |
| License | "license", "key" |
| Uninstall | "uninstall", "remove" |
| Update | "update", "upgrade" |
| Cookie banner | "cookie", "gdpr" |
13. Reporting issues
If a site does not work with AdOff, report it in Options > Help > Report an issue.
- Enter the site URL (required)
- Choose the type: Site not working / Visible ads / Anti-adblock / Other
- Add description and email (optional)
- Solve the math captcha
- Click "Submit report"
The form includes anti-bot protections: honeypot, timing, captcha, rate limit (max 3/hour), anti-spam, deduplication.
14. Suggestions
In Options > Suggestions you can propose features, report bugs or improvements. Fill in the title (required), description and email (optional). Your suggestions appear in a list below the form.
15. How AdOff works (technical)
Level 1 — Network blocking
AdOff uses Chrome's declarativeNetRequest API to block HTTP requests to ad servers before the browser downloads them. Over 120 rules cover the main advertising networks and many other ad networks.
Level 2 — Cosmetic filtering
For ads served from the same domain as the site, AdOff uses CSS and JavaScript to hide them from the page: precise selectors, MutationObserver for dynamic content, empty container collapsing.
Level 3 — Video ad neutralization (Pro/Trial only) PRO
Most video players use a standard advertising SDK for ad breaks (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll). AdOff replaces it with a neutral version that immediately tells the player "no ads" — the video starts without interruptions. Works automatically on any site in the world. On major video platforms: 16× speed-up + automatic "Skip ad" click. Exclusive Pro feature.
Level 4 — Stealth Mode (Pro/Trial only)
Intercepts anti-adblock checks and makes the site believe everything is visible:
- CSS spoofing: bait element properties falsified
- Network interception: detection scripts receive empty responses
- Simulated variables: advertising SDKs pre-populated
- Script neutralization: anti-adblock scripts blocked before execution
- Anti scroll-lock: prevents walls from blocking scrolling
Stealth is automatically disabled on major platforms (video, social, e-commerce) and other large sites where it would interfere.
16. Troubleshooting
A site is not working
- Click the AdOff icon and use "Pause here"
- Reload the page
- If it works when paused: report the site to us
- If it doesn't work even when paused: the issue is not with AdOff
I still see ads
- Verify that AdOff is active (purple badge)
- Verify that the site is not in the whitelist
- Reload the page
- If it persists: report the site to us
"Please disable your ad blocker"
- Reload the page
- Verify you have Pro or Trial (Stealth Mode is required)
- If it continues: use "Pause here" and report it to us
AdOff won't activate
Go to chrome://extensions/, verify it is enabled. If there are errors, try removing and reinstalling.
17. Privacy & security
AdOff does NOT collect personal data, does NOT track the sites you visit, does NOT send telemetry, does NOT share data with third parties, does NOT inject ads.
Permissions and why
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
storage | Save settings and counters locally |
declarativeNetRequest | Block requests to ad networks |
activeTab | Know the domain for site pause |
scripting | Inject content scripts to hide ads |
webNavigation | Activate blocking at the right moment |
<all_urls> | Work on all websites |
External communications
AdOff communicates with external servers only on your action: site report, suggestion, license activation, automatic re-validation (every 7 days for Pro). Communications go through Cloudflare Workers.
18. Supported languages
| Language | Code | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Italian | it | Complete |
| English | en | Complete |
| German | de | Complete |
| French | fr | Complete |
| Spanish | es | Complete |
| Portuguese | pt | Complete |
To change language: Options > General > Language. With "Automatic" it uses the browser's language (fallback: English).
19. Uninstall
- Go to
chrome://extensions/ - Find AdOff and click "Remove"
- Confirm
Local settings are deleted. The Pro license remains valid on the server. The referral code is lost.
Before uninstalling, export your settings from Options > Advanced > Export. After reinstalling, import the file to restore everything (the license must be reactivated with the key).
20. Contact & support
- Website: adoff.app
- Support: adoff.app/support (contact form)
- Site reports: from the extension (Options > Help)
- Suggestions: from the extension (Options > Suggestions)
For issues with your Pro license, use the support form indicating your license key.