Pi-hole Smart Blocking & Custom Lists

If you've followed our previous guide, you likely already have Pi-hole up and running inside a lightweight container on your network, and it is doing a fantastic job blocking network-wide ads. But here is the problem a lot of home users run into: blanket ad-blocking does not work perfectly for every device or everyone in the house.

For instance, you might want extremely strict blocking on your kids' tablets to keep them safe from distracting sites, but you definitely don't want your spouse’s favorite shopping links breaking when they try to click a promotional email. Or, maybe you are running a separate test network lab like I am, and you want to lock it down completely without messing with your main household devices.

Today, we are going to fix that exact problem. We are going to dive into Pi-hole’s incredibly powerful Group Management feature so you can tailor different blocking rules for specific devices. Then, we are going to look at how to supercharge your blocking using some incredible, free custom lists curated by the tech community. Let’s jump right in.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Custom Groups

First things first, you will need to log into your Pi-hole web admin dashboard. Once you are in, navigate over to the left sidebar and click on Group Management, then select Groups.

By default, everything in your Pi-hole system belongs to the 'Default' group. We want to make a brand new one. Let’s say we want a group specifically for kids' devices where we can block distracting sites or extra tracking.

In the Name box at the top, simply type something like 'Kids Devices'. You can leave the description plain or add a quick note. Hit the Add button. Just like that, your new group is created and ready to use.

Step 2: Assigning Devices to Your Group

Now that the group exists, we need to tell Pi-hole which physical devices actually belong to it.

• On the left sidebar under Group Management, click on Clients.
• Pi-hole makes this incredibly easy. If your devices are already active on your Wi-Fi network, you can click the Known clients dropdown menu. You will see a list of your smart TVs, phones, laptops, and tablets.
• Select the specific device you want—let's say the kids' tablet—and click Add.

At this point, if you look at the list below, you will see it still says the device belongs to the 'Default' group under the Group Assignment column. To fix this, click that dropdown, uncheck 'Default', check your new 'Kids Devices' group, and hit Apply. Now, whatever rules we apply to the Kids group will affect only that tablet.

Step 3: Blocking Specific Domains by Group

So how do we actually block something just for that one specific group? Let’s head over to Domains under the Group Management menu.

Let's say we want to block YouTube or a gaming site during homework hours. Type the domain name in—like youtube.com—and make sure Exact blocking is selected.

Crucial Step: Before you click Add, look at the bottom where it says Group assignment. Uncheck Default, check 'Kids Devices', and hit Add to Blacklist.

That is it. YouTube is now blocked on the tablet, but it completely works on your desktop or TV. This allows you to selectively parent devices without punishing the entire household. You can do the exact same thing with massive blocklists, which brings us to the next part of our setup.

Step 4: Supercharging with Community Blocklists

Out of the box, Pi-hole comes with one standard blocklist, which is great. But the real power of Pi-hole comes from lists maintained by amazing people in the home tech community.

The Firebog Lists

The absolute best place for a home user to start is a website called Firebog.net. What makes Firebog so special is that they carefully categorize their lists. If you look at their website, they have lists highlighted in green. These are "ticked lists," meaning they are heavily tested and almost never break regular everyday websites or shopping apps. If you want a trouble-free home network, stick to the green ones.

HaGezi's Blocklists

Another massive shoutout needs to go to a creator named HaGezi. They maintain some of the most meticulously updated DNS blocklists on GitHub. For home users, their "Multi Light" or "Multi Normal" lists are phenomenal for catching modern telemetry and phishing attempts without interrupting your day-to-day browsing.

Step 5: Adding Lists to Pi-hole

Once you find a list you want to use from Firebog or HaGezi, simply copy the URL.

1. Go back to your Pi-hole and click Adlists under Group Management.
2. Paste that URL right into the Address box. You can add a comment like 'Firebog Ads' so you remember what it is.
3. Notice the group assignment at the bottom! If you want this list to apply to the whole house, leave it on 'Default'. If you only want it on your lab network or specific devices, assign it to that specific group instead.
4. Click Add.

Step 6: Updating Gravity (Don't Skip This!)

Once you have pasted your new lists, there is one last step you cannot forget. We have to tell Pi-hole to go out to the internet and actually download them.

Go to Tools on the left sidebar, click Update Gravity, and hit that big Update button. Pi-hole will crawl those links, grab the latest data, and your network protection is officially upgraded.

Conclusion

And that is how you take full control over your home network traffic without frustrating the people you live with. By utilizing Group Management, you can finely tune who sees what, and by integrating custom blocklists, you guarantee that your Pi-hole is catching the latest telemetry and ads.

Enjoy your cleaner, faster, and much more customizable network!