This update might not be the biggest one, in a sense it doesn't feature any revolutionary additions or the immense number of changes. But it's surely a unique one, and it's because it is by far the most influenced by the user feedback. We sincerely thank everyone who has helped us!

It is super important for two big reasons, both concern networking/compatibility: we have *finally* fixed the compatibility issue with KIS/ESET and, also, we've fixed a certificate issue in modern Chrome versions (59+). Details below.

[Fixed] Compatibility with KIS/ESET #1565

Adguard used to have compatibility issues with such antivirus software like Kaspersky and ESET. Users had to seek for compromises: disabling SSL scanning in antivirus, disabling WFP driver or even HTTPS filtering in Adguard. The core of the problem was the WFP network driver incompatibility, and we had had plans to develop a new driver for what now seems like an eternity.

We'd already claimed to have this fixed in the previous releases, but things turned out to be more complicated. We've come through countless iterations, test builds, and driver updates, and now we are confident enough to say that this time the problem is fixed for real. No more BSODs and other funny stuff when you run Adguard alongside with KIS or ESET.

And again, we can't thank enough everyone who was willing to cope with raw test builds and provided invaluable feedback in order to help us make things right. Just look at the task - it is blowing up with comments. We are happy to have such users, you are awesome.

[Fixed] Compatibility with Chrome 59+ #1597

With big news which WFP driver compatibility fix is it could be easy to neglect other changes. And that would be so wrong! This fix, in particular, is of utmost importance. It ensures Adguard will run without problems on modern (v59+) Chrome versions. Otherwise, there would be troubles with Adguard certificate validation.

Other

• [Changed] The search criteria in the filtering log were extended #1513
• [Changed] Connections are not allowed if DH1024 is in use #1616
• [Changed] The default HTTPS exclusions list has been updated #1618
• [Fixed] Adguard Service keeps downloading data after closing the browser #1599
• [Fixed] An error encountered when adding a filter by URL #1583

UPD: hotfix update 6.1.314 brings a fix for the bug #1569, messing with filtering when HTTPS filtering is disabled.

It was quite a while since the last Adguard for Windows release. And there are other reasons for that apart from the Christmas/New Year holidays: we'd been extensively testing the new network driver before, finally, we felt ready to include it in the new release version. But what is there for me in this network driver, you might ask? Well, it fixes an old compatibility issue with several antivirus programs. For sure, there are other fixes and changes as well, and you will find the whole list below.

You can also find all relevant information about this release (and discuss it) in our blog.

Networking

[Improved] WFP driver was updated to fix compatibility issues with KIS and ESET #1497

Previously, it was not unusual at all that Adguard would have compatibility issues with some antiviruses, and KIS and ESET being the most common ones. The workarounds existed but were far from ideal - you had had to sacrifice some parts of functionality on either Adguard or antivirus side. With updated WFP driver these conflicts will be no more, allowing users to run Adguard alongside with KIS and ESET.

[Improved] The way we respond to HTTP protocol violation #1452

It would take too long to explain technical nuances, but effectively this fixes the problem some users might have come across before: when you try to open a page and it is downloaded as a file instead.

• [Fixed] $popup rule bug #1504
• [Fixed] QUIC protocol issue when KIS is installed #1482
• [Fixed] HideUserSearch option breaks the 'maximize' button graphics #1536
• [Fixed] 'Disable Fast Open' setting doesn't work in latest Insider Preview builds #1487
• [Fixed] Several issues in Firefox with the default value of 'Hide you user-agent' setting #1493

Ad Blocking

• [Added] $network basic rules modifier to solve the issue with loading ads through WebRTC #1297
• [Changed] Extra Steam executables removed from the list of filtered apps #1468
• [Fixed] Invalid executable for CentBrower #1453
• [Fixed] $replace rules aren't applied to .m3u8 files content #1428
• [Fixed] Regular expressions with $ aren't processed properly #1475
• [Improved] Cosmetic exception rules compilation speed #1533

UI

• [Added] A new advanced settings property to change the injection method #1492
• [Changed] Version history link in about section #1471
• [Changed] Parental Control password protection is made separate for different Windows user accounts #1480

Other

• [Changed] HTTPS exceptions list is updated #1532
• [Changed] Opera Neon browser added to the list of filtered apps #1495
• [Changed] Orbitum browser added to the list of filtered apps #1467

This version should be considered as a revision of the Adguard for Windows 6.1 release. This is why you will not spot many 'major' changes - mostly bugfixes, small changes, improvements etc. More drastic changes will come eventually with 6.2 version.

Ad Blocking

[Added] $important modifier #1312

This new addition is an important one (no pun intended), but mostly relevant for creators of custom filter rules. With it's help you can give certain rules higher priority.

• [Changed] Several apps and browsers added to the list of apps filtered by default #1230, #1236, #1274, #1280, #1344, #1347
• [Fixed] Inconsistent $replace result #1358
• [Fixed] Adguard now filters pages with Content-Type:application/xhtml #571
• [Fixed] HTTPS exceptions do not cover subdomains #1317
• [Fixed] $replace rule can now be applied along with the other rules #640
• [Improved] Filters update check period is now customizable #941
• [Improved] Adguard now can partially block encrypted ads without decrypting SSL protocol (if HTTPs filtering is disabled) #1233

Networking

• [Changed] Switched to the DigiCert certificate #1268
• [Changed] WoSign and StartCom certificates became unstrusted #1359
• [Changed] Proxy mode will use IPv4 address when it is available from now on #1323
• [Fixed] CSP is now handled in meta tags #797
• [Fixed] Issue with invalid HTML #1222
• [Fixed] "iframe" elements are not removed from the page code #1245
• [Fixed] Adguard.Tools.exe heavy CPU load issue #1229
• [Fixed] Opera dev ad blocker compatibility issue with Adguard Assistant #1173
• [Fixed] Opera built-in VPN compatibility issue #1116
• [Fixed] Certificate validity check order #1277
• [Fixed] SSL exceptions aren't deleted on network API reinit #1304
• [Fixed] Adguard code is injected into a non-HTML document #1316
• [Fixed] WFP driver impacting DPC latency #1156
• [Fixed] $empty modifier behaviour #1360
• [Fixed] Stealth mode ignores $stealth exception #1362
• [Fixed] Inability to apply inline style #1331
• [Fixed] An empty 'style' tag is added even if there's no element hiding #1336
• [Fixed] $replace modifier breaks content charset #1378
• [Fixed] Adsbypasser and some other userscripts do not work properly #1363
• [Fixed] "Enable safe search" function in Parental Control breaks Google #1383
• [Fixed] Adguard doesn't filter HTTPs when Fiddler is switched on and in "decode https" mode #1372
• [Fixed] Adding a URL to temporary HTTPs exceptions is suppressed now when connection is closed from the server side #1341
• [Fixed] 'access-control-allow-origin' header console error #1381
• [Improved] HTTPS is now used for safebrowsing service requests #1386
• [Improved] Encrypted connection is used now with api.adguard.com #1369
• [Improved] Adguard styles are now protected from removing #1272
• [Improved] Content type detection #1264
• [Improved] Content injection algorithm was reworked #1099, #1305

UI

[Changed] WOT extension is now disabled by default #1364

Recently, an article was posted in one of the popular technology blogs, claiming that Web of Trust is selling its users' browser history to third-parties. WoT extension is preinstalled in Adguard for Windows, and although it was developed by us and is not sending any of your data to WoT, we can not leave this without a reponse. For this reason we make WoT extension disabled by default in Adguard for Windows. You can read our official stance regarding these news in our blog.

• [Changed] You can now completely remove WoT extension #1364
• [Changed] Unnecessary text in 'Import rules' dialog window is removed #1349
• [Fixed] Filter's name isn't copied with the rest of request details #1318
• [Fixed] Button size issue on the last step of Adguard wizard #1352
• [Fixed] Adguard crashes if you try to close UI while editing a filter rule #1258
• [Fixed] $replace rule is shown as applied to images #1392

Install/Update

• [Fixed] Deleted records from HTTPs exclusions are not restored on app update anymore #904

Many other minor fixes and changes. The full list can be found in descriptions to prior beta versions in our repository on GitHub.

Briefly about new Adguard for Windows version: Stealth Mode got new useful options, userscripts work better now, ad blocking became more advanced and our network drivers - more stable. All the details are below.

Stealth Mode

[Added] "Self destructing cookies" option in Stealth Mode #678

Previously Stealth Mode module provided only the option to completely block third-party cookies. Now you will not only have an ability to differ first- and third-party cookies, but also the ability to set the exact time which cookies will be kept alive for. Important note: you can still block cookies alltogether, just set the keep-alive time to '0'.

[Added] Added an option to block "Browser location API" #139

[Added] Added an option to block "Browser notifications API" #1121

Normally browsers may detect your location and use this information to prioritize specific search results or make other various suggestions based on it. With browser location API blocked this will be impossible.

Blocking browser notifications API feature works somewhat similar, but rather prevents browser from showing things like news or social media frames that pop-up in the corner of your browser.

Userscripts

[Improved] Content injection algorithm #1099

We completely redesigned content injection algorithm. First and foremost, this should solve issues with scripts that start when the page opens, resolve some of the known conflicts (AdsBypasser, YouTube+), and also optimize usage of scripts and ad blocker styles. Overall, a technical, but very important change.

[Added] Userscripts handling #1172

We adopted a new way of handling user.js (userscript) files. Now Adguard will automatically detect when user.js file was processed. If it is a valid userscript, Adguard will open a dialog window, offering user to install it. Of course, this setting will be optional and possible to turn off through settings.

UI

[Added] Hebrew localization, Dutch localization #1076, #1063

We continue to make Adguard more easily accessible for users all over the world. This time we add two more new localizations and fix some mistakes in already existing ones.

Networking

[Improved] Network SDK was updated #1179

In reality, this implies many various fixes that concern our network drivers. It would be hard to list them all here, and most of them are rather technical anyway. For example, the WFP driver - Windows Defender compatibility issue was addressed.

Ad Blocking

[Added] Support for extended selectors #1225

This is a technical term, but what hides behind it? With extended selectors support, we can much more easily create some rules that were very, very hard to create earlier. Notably, this concerns rules required to block such things as 'Sponsored posts' on Facebook.

[Added] Extended CSS support https://github.com/AdguardTeam/ExtendedCss

This is a very important addition in terms of future (and present) possibilities that it opens for ad blocking. Extended CSS is a module for applying CSS styles with extended selection properties. Basically, it means that we will be able to select and, therefore, block some elements that we would not be able to block otherwise. Currently we support following pseudo-classes: -ext-has (:has), -ext-contains (:contains), [-ext-matches-css (:matches-css).

Other

Dozens of minor fixes and improvements.

A hotfix after last weeks release. Previously there turned out to be several problems, including router page loading problem and other. These bugs are fixed with this version.

• [Fixed] Indefinite loading of router page #1042
• [Fixed] Rare problem when Adguard crashes after clicking on tray menu icon #1045
• [Fixed] Adguard will not crash any more if you switch tabs while have active search on 'Settings' screen #1043
• [Fixed] Adguard now detects HTML correctly for all websites if there is an xml declaration at the document start #1011

Good news, everyone! We haven't seen any new bugs since the latest beta version, and it means nothing else but the new stable release is arriving. During the last couple of months that had passed since the 6.0 release we were able to track quite a lot of bugs and defects, which were crucial to fix. So we concentrated on them for a while. Finally, everything seems to be fixed and we are ready to turn on the autoupdate for all our users who still use Adgguard 5.10. We were looking forward to this moment! Even if you were already using Adguard 6 and you are not as excited by these news, you should be. This release means we can finally put all our efforts into implementing cool new features you might have or have not seen in our [roadmap]. In case you missed last beta releases and respective release notes, you can catch up and read about all the fixes and additions below. Most important of them, as usual, are described in detail.

UI changes

• [Changed] Adguard uses native-style tray menu now #1006
• [Changed] Adguard window is now opened with a single click on tray menu #1030
• [Fixed] 'About' window content is not flickering anymore #954
• [Fixed] Empty strings are now removed when importing user filter #973
• [Fixed] Error previously encountered while installing a userstyle #934
• [Improved] Proxy name validator now recognizes domain names and not only IP addresses #931

Ad Blocker

• [Improved] Added $stealth modifier that disables Stealth Mode for the specified website #339 As we already mentioned in our blog, separate whitelist for Stealth Mode is on our roadmap. It is a much needed feature for anyone who actively uses Stealth Mode. We are not quite there yet, but we made a big step in the right direction by implementing $stealth modifier. It works similar to all other modifiers, just add it to any exception rule and it will disable Stealth Mode for that website specifically, even if the module itself is enabled. For example: @@||example.org^$stealth You can find more information about rules formatting on our website: [adguard.com/filterrules.html](adguard.com/filterrules.html)
• [Changed] Facebook windows app added to default filtered apps list #974
• [Changed] $replace rules should now have higher priority than other basic rules #1023
• [Fixed] Adguard does not try to filter data: URLs any more #1007
• [Fixed] $domain modifier now does work for blocking WebSocket connections #998
• [Fixed] Adguard now doesn't ignore tag href attribute while constructing absolute URL #978
• [Fixed] Error previously encountered while parsing a style tag with embedded svg #977
• [Fixed] Language-specific filters are now detected properly from users keyboard layouts #401
• [Improved] Adguard now can process websites names in punycode when adding them to HTTPS exclusions #962

Languages and Translations

• [Added] Support for complex language codes #808 We have completely reworked applications localization system. This allowed us to significantly increase number of languages we can potentially support (this mostly concerns various dialects, alternative alphabets etc.).
• [Added] Croatian language

Networking

• [Improved] HTML content detection #855 Content type detection was significantly improved. This effectively means that Adguard will not interfere with those types of traffic which do not require filtering, decreasing the number of potential conflicts.
• [Fixed] Web interface of TP-Link router is broken #844 Some of our users encountered problems with accessing TP-Link routers' interface with enabled Adguard. Upon investigating this issue we discovered a serious issue with WFP driver which resulted in problems with displaying some websites. As a result, we have improved communication with some specific web-servers.
• [Added] Support for HTTP method REPORT #1020
• [Fixed] Adguard can now detect HTML if there is an xml declaration at the document start #1011
• [Fixed] ESET compatibility issue when Chrome browser would randomly hang #899
• [Fixed] Data is now read to end after blocking a POST request #916
• [Fixed] Issue with unexpected connection reset with TDI driver #1025

Install/Update

• [Fixed] Blank dialog while updating from 5.10 to 6.0 #924
• [Fixed] CMD window is no more shown on Adguard update #935
• [Fixed] An issue when update errors were shown as valid updates in tray notification #993
• [Fixed] Adguard now detects Chrome in 'Filtered apps' on Windows 10 insider build #972

Minor

[Fixed] Issues in Windows 10 Insider Preview build caused by SHA-1 certificate used for network drivers. https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/915

Let us elaborate a little on this one, since this change stands out as the most important one in this update. Recently we have noticed, with the help of our beta testers, that SHA-1 certificate previously used to sign our network drivers, was in a process of being deprecated. Effectively this means that users of Windows 10 Insider Preview were not able to enable Adguard protection. We have signed our network drivers with new certificates, and now all users will be able to run Adguard without any problems.

UI Changes

• [Fixed] 'Upgrade license' notification is no more shown for licenses activated with beta key https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/905
• [Fixed] Bug when some apps wouldn't show among 'filtered apps' until they are started https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/913
• [Fixed] Latest update check time is not being updated https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/862
• [Fixed] Pressing Alt-F4 while in Adguard tray menu will no longer result in closing the main window https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/900

Ad Blocker

• [Fixed] K-Meleon browser is now correctly detected as installed https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/894
• [Fixed] Unnecessary language-specific filter activation https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/863
• [Fixed] WebRTC will no more be blocked for applications which are not in the Filtered Apps list https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/871
• [Improved] Default HTTPs exclusions list was significantly updated https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/912

Install/Update

• [Changed] Auto update mechanism https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/835
• [Fixed] Adguard beta won't update after clicking on 'Install' button in 'About' section https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/648
• [Fixed] MSI shows "remove settings" dialog on uninstall. https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/858
• [Fixed] WFP driver is now uninstalled correctly on Win 10 x64 https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/854

Languages and translations

• [Fixed] "User filter" is not translated to Polish https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/824

Networking

• [Fixed] AG code is no more injected into <"noscript"> https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/907

Minor

https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/883, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/852, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/839, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/873, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/868, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/851, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/898, https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/848

A new update to the recently released Adguard 6 is available. It mostly contains fixes to some minor bugs we missed during the beta test. You are able to update to the latest version from your client.

• [Fixed] WFP driver now can be used on Windows 7 x86 https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/850
• [Changed] 'Thank you' page removed from Adguard https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/842
• [Fixed] Validation of Parental Control whitelist/blacklist domains is now working correctly https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/830
• [Fixed] Reset settings windows title now has a name separate from its description https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/826
• [Fixed] "User filter" translations are fixed and completed https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/824
• [Fixed] Bug encountered when setting TDI driver as default on Windows 7 https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/788
• [Improved] Tools for problem monitoring during installation process https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardForWindows/issues/832

It is finally time to release Adguard 6! We have put a lot of time and effort into its development, and you will see this reflected in the release notes. A lot was added, even more was improved compared to Adguard 5. New version became much more intuitive in use, functional and diverse.

• Adguard user interface was completely redesigned. It will now have modern tile design. Compared to Adguard 5, it is much better structurized and more visually attractive.
• Adguard was translated into many new languages. That includes UI, Adguard Assistant and filter descriptions etc.
• Window positions are now memorized and restored after program restart.
• Tray menu is reworked, improved accessibility of different options through tray.
• New versions interface is much more friendly to people with visual impairment. For example, now Windows screen reader sees almost all the elements of the program – tips, tuning, and more.
• UI performance and boot speed were significantly optimized, memory consumption was greatly reduced. You can find respective graphs in blog (see the link below).
• Now with the first launch of Adguard a tutorial will be shown, familiarizing user with Adguard and quickly introducing its capabilities.
• Updating to new version from Adguard 5 is now possible and will not lose any settings.
• New possibility to change update channel to 'Beta' and receive all beta updates, including Assistant and other extensions. Useful for those, who wants to always be the first to know about all the new features.
• A new module was added - Stealth Mode. Back in previous versions we only had a filter against spyware, counters and trackers to protect your online privacy. Stealth Mode serves to protect your online privacy in various ways, including blocking of third-party cookies, hiding IP address and many, many more.
• Improved support for filtered apps. Adguard now automatically finds software installed on your computer and offers to filter its traffic, this includes modern UI applications. Of course, you still can add any browser (or any app) manually. The mechanism for adding new applications to Adguard itself is completely redesigned too, and now it is easy for any user to cope with it.
• Filter editor and Filtering log were drastically changed. You will find both fresh design and improved functionality. In the Filter editor, you can see the rules created by the Adguard Assistant, that is, all the rules that you added manually. Filtering Log displays all the requests sent.
• You can now use new search feature to search the whole program for any keyword by entering it in the text field in the top right corner. We believe this is one of the most useful innovations. Now you do not have to go through the entire section of the program in search for the information you need.
• Now it is possible to subscribe to any filter by URL or by choosing path to a local file, and Adguard will automatically watch for changes.
• Extensions were allocated to a separate module which can be enabled/disabled as a whole.
• Userscripts security was significantly improved.
• Plentiful additions and improvements to filtering process were made, notably introducing support for new rules modifiers and improving filtering speed.
• Many more improvements, all of which are impossible to include in these release notes.

You can read about new version in detail in our blog: https://blog.adguard.com/en/adguard-news/adguard-6-official-release.html

• Added Microsoft Edge browser support
• Improved userscripts API speed
• Fixed a bug with saving Adguard Assistant settings
• Userscripts API usage is now restricted by @grant metatag
• Fixed Adguard Assistant work in Opera 12
• Fixed certificate automatic import in Opera 12
• Fixed some issues with CSS/JS injection in the pages with invalid HTML code
• Fixed issues with SSL interceptor (connections reset for servers working with TLS 1.0 only)
• Fixed Logjam (Adguard now does not filter connections with weak DH primes)
• Fixed a bug with update cleaning Adguard's start menu folder
• Fixed SSL-filtering in old browsers (IE6, IE7)

Important notice about Logjam. We do not protect you from it, just ignore such connections. Browser decides what to do with it further. So make sure you are using the latest version of your browser.

You can discuss the latest version in our blog: here.