How to back up and restore your ad blocker rules
You set a machine up the way you like it and then get a new one.
Export every rule as a plain JSON file and import it anywhere. Import adds to what you have; it never replaces it.
Why the usual fixes do not stick
Rules you built by hand are the part no reinstall can recreate, and they usually live in browser-local storage that a profile reset wipes without warning. Sync is not a backup either: it propagates a deletion as faithfully as an addition. A plain exported file you hold yourself is the only version that survives both.
How to do it with BowerBird
- Settings, Advanced, Export and import.
- Export writes a JSON file.
- Import it on the other machine.
Worth knowing: Rules are keyed by site, so importing rules for sites you do not visit costs nothing but does nothing.
Without granting access to every site you visit
BowerBird installs without asking to read or change your data on any website. Its ad and tracker blocking runs on rules the browser applies itself, which needs no site access at all. When you hide your first element on a site, it asks for that one site, from your click, and you can revoke it later in settings.
Hide your first annoyance free - no account, no subscription.
Get it free for Edge Get it free for FirefoxFree includes unlimited manual rules. Pro is $12 one-time, no subscription.
Get the release notes
One email when the Firefox build lands, and when new features ship. Nothing else, and you can leave any time.