# Excluding domains from Saving to logs or stats

**URL:** <https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [August 17, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340 "2020-08-17T20:59:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ThexTallxDude](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@ThexTallxDude](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/ThexTallxDude)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/1 "2020-08-17T20:59:34Z")

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## Expected Behaviour:

I am trying to see how pihole saves data to the pihole-FTL.db so I can keep certain domains from saving data at all. Namely, `cdn.samsungcloudsolution.com`  
is being pinged 3k times an hour, making my graphs and logs next to useless. I found a few select statements in "/opt/pihole/query.sh" but nothing that writes the data anywhere.

## Actual Behaviour:

My smart TV is sending 3k requests an hour, which is skewing my graphs and making my logs harder to dig through.

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**Author:** ![DanSchaper](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/danschaper/32/91_2.png) [@DanSchaper](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/DanSchaper)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/2 "2020-08-18T01:18:06Z")

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On the web interface use the Tools\>Audit log and audit the domains you don't want to see.

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**Author:** ![ThexTallxDude](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@ThexTallxDude](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/ThexTallxDude)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/3 "2020-08-18T12:21:21Z")

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> [@DanSchaper](#):
>
> use the Tools\>Audit log and audit the domains you don't want to see.

After reading you message, I did the following, but can still see that domain in the `Total queries`, `Client Activity`, `Top blocked domains` and other reports on the homepage, as well as the query logs.

Steps taken:

- Went to Tools\>Audit log and clicked the `Audit` button next to the domain I wish to stop tracking. (This was done last night, around 2200)

- I noticed the Domain was still being tracked, so decided to wait until the following day, in case using a new log file would help (I _think_ there's a new log file each day at 0000, based off what I've seem on the forums, but I don't know for sure)

- Checked this morning, and records were still being logged for this domain.

- Looked online to verify I didn't miss a step, and came across this [Audit Log Bug](https://github.com/pi-hole/AdminLTE/issues/1470) That was corrected in FTL version 5.1.2. Verified I was on the correct version (I am)

- Updated Gravity and restarted the system, just to see if there was a setting that had to finish being applied.

- As of now, The record for this Domain is missing from the Audit log page, but functionality appears to be the same. (I gave it about a half hour after restarting to make sure, before I replied)

(I hope this didn't come across as short or irritated or anything. Just wanted to make sure I included my steps, in case it helps find an answer)

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**Author:** ![yubiuser](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/yubiuser/32/12100_2.png) [@yubiuser](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/yubiuser)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/4 "2020-08-18T18:40:15Z")

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Audit log is not the right tool for what you want.

Currently there is no way to exclude specific domains from being saved in the logs and stats.

There two feature request for exactly what you want

> [@Option to ignore domains from appearing in the Query Log](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/option-to-ignore-domains-from-appearing-in-the-query-log/6319):
>
> Some services are polling several times in a minute. All these entries are showing up in the Query Log. There should be an option to hide or ignore/exclude domains from the Query Log viewer.

> [@Add ability to exclude certain domains from query counts](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/add-ability-to-exclude-certain-domains-from-query-counts/15851):
>
> For repeated domains that are constantly being forwarded/blocked because some IoT devices are sending DNS requests every few seconds, the percentage of block queries are extreme, and obfuscates real scenarios of normal internet usage. We should be able to exclude these domains, so the numbers can better reflect how many our regular DNS requests were forwarded/blocked. We can exclude domains in Settings, then in Dashboard, we can have two options to choose to show the filtered results, or the un…

You can however, remove the domain from the "Top List"

 ![Bildschirmfoto zu 2020-08-18 20-39-11](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/b/3/b316effe3bd3425031ec4e5c203b5dd42d5b5b19.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ThexTallxDude](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@ThexTallxDude](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/ThexTallxDude)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/5 "2020-08-18T18:57:51Z")

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The second FR seems closest to what I was after, so I went ahead and voted on it.

Ideally what I was after though was that the chosen Domains wouldn't get stored anywhere. The Pi-hole would block them silently.  
I understand that that may be a lot more difficult than just filtering everything after the fact.

I used the `Top Lists` bit you mentioned though. while it still clogs up the query log, and inflates a lot of the numbers, it made drastic changes to the `Client activity`, which was my primary frustration. Thank you.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yubiuser](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/yubiuser/32/12100_2.png) [@yubiuser](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/yubiuser)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/6 "2020-08-18T20:28:22Z")

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> [@ThexTallxDude](#):
>
> deally what I was after though was that the chosen Domains wouldn't get stored anywhere.

Ok, I see. But I guess any implementation "not showing/logging" a specific client would also include/mean not saving them. Maybe one day... 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ThexTallxDude](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@ThexTallxDude](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/ThexTallxDude)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/7 "2020-08-18T20:29:27Z")

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> [@yubiuser](#):
>
> Maybe one day...

Here's hoping 🤞  
Thank you again

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/7/c/7c8792f649eeb921c5d2b4c41564ffa873d9a2b8.png) [@system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/excluding-domains-from-saving-to-logs-or-stats/37340/8 "2020-09-08T20:29:32Z")

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