If you aren’t using an adblocker in your web browser you don’t even know what you aren’t missing–like all those nasty advertisements that are designed to shock you and catch your attention.  They are tasteless and often very inappropriate and I don’t want to see them.  And you don’t need to be looking at them at all.  Here’s an example of yahoo.com’s website with (left) and without (right) Adblock Plus:

Yahoo’s homepage with and without Adblock Plus

This post comes in a series of posts all along the theme of blocking content you don’t want to see on the internet.  Here are all the posts in this series:

I recommend AdBlock if you are browsing with Chrome:

• How to Install AdBlock for Chrome in Windows 8
• How to Install AdBlock for Chrome in Windows 7
• How to Install AdBlock for Chrome in Windows XP

Adblock Plus is required for Internet Explorer (AdBlock won’t run in I.E):

• How to Install Adblock Plus for Internet Explorer in Windows 8
• How to Install Adblock Plus for Internet Explorer in Windows 7 (this post)
• How to Install Adblock Plus for Internet Explorer in Windows XP

If you are running Windows 7 and Internet Explorer, here is how to install Adblock Plus and stop seeing all those ads…

How to Install Adblock Plus for Internet Explorer in Windows 7

Step 1: Go to the official Adblock Plus website.

Click on the following link to go to the Adblock Plus official website: https://adblockplus.org/en/internet-explorer

Step 2: Download the software for free.

Click on the green “Install for Internet Explorer” button.

Adblock Plus Official Website

Step 3: Tell Internet Explorer to “Run” the software you are downloading.

At the bottom of your browser window a menu will pop up confirming what you want to do with the file: Run, Save, or Cancel.  You may need to scroll down to see this menu.  Click “Run.”

Internet Explorer will ask what you want to do with the Adblock Plus Install file

Step 4: Install Adblock Plus for IE.

A window will pop up entitled “Adblock Plus for IE Setup.”  Click the “Install” button.

Adblock Plus for IE Installing

Step 5: Tell Windows to allow Adblock Plus to make changes to your computer.

Your entire screen will grey out and a Windows security message will pop up asking you “Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?” as seen below.  Click the “Yes” button.

Windows 7 will ask for your permission to allow Adblock Plus to make changes to the computer–click Yes

Step 6:  Finish the installation.

A status bar will fill up and then you should see “Setup Successful.”  Click the “Done” button.

Adblock Plus Setup Successful

Step 7:  Re-Launch Internet Explorer.

You will now need to close and re-launch Internet Explorer to give the plugin a chance to launch for the first time.

Step 8:  Enable the Adblock Plus plugin.

When Explorer loads after re-launching it you will see a pop-up menu at the bottom of your Internet Explorer window that says: “The ‘Adblock Plus for IE Browser Helper Object’ add-on from ‘Eyeo GmbH’ is ready for use.”  Click the “Enable” button.

This menu will pop up the first time you launch Internet Explorer — Click the “Enable” button

Step 9:  Restart Internet Explorer

Unfortunately, you still won’t see any sign of Adblock Plus at this point and it won’t even work–you must close Internet Explorer again and then re-launch Internet Explorer.

Step 10:  Enable the Status Bar Toolbar to show in Internet Explorer (if not enabled).

Once you have re-launched Internet Explorer the second time, you may see the Red ABP stop sign at the bottom of the Internet Explorer Window.  If you do not, it’s still running but you can’t easily access the settings.  To make it so you can see the icon you must select, from the top menu (you may need to press the “Alt” button to get this to show up) View > Toolbars > Status Bar, and make sure “Status Bar” is checked.

Enabling the Status Bar in Internet Explorer so you can see the Adblock Plus Red “ABP” Icon

Here you can see the red ABP stop sign icon at the bottom right:

Adblock Plus icon in the Internet Explorer Status Bar

Step 11:  Access the Adblock Plus settings if desired.

If you click on the ABP stop sign the menu will pop up allowing you to go to the settings.  A default set of ad-blocking rules are automatically enabled and updated so you really don’t need to do much.

Adblock Plus Settings Menu

Adblock Plus Settings Page

Now you are browsing with a LOT less advertisements!