diff --git a/internal/domain/filter.go b/internal/domain/filter.go
index 5a3d906..6ef1335 100644
--- a/internal/domain/filter.go
+++ b/internal/domain/filter.go
@@ -6,12 +6,14 @@ package domain
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/pkg/sanitize"
 	"github.com/autobrr/autobrr/pkg/wildcard"
 
 	"github.com/dustin/go-humanize"
@@ -254,6 +256,63 @@ func (f *Filter) Validate() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error validating filter size limits: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	for _, external := range f.External {
+		if external.Type == ExternalFilterTypeExec {
+			if external.ExecCmd != "" && external.Enabled {
+				// check if program exists
+				_, err := exec.LookPath(external.ExecCmd)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "could not find external exec command: %s", external.ExecCmd)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, action := range f.Actions {
+		if action.Type == ActionTypeExec {
+			if action.ExecCmd != "" && action.Enabled {
+				// check if program exists
+				_, err := exec.LookPath(action.ExecCmd)
+				if err != nil {
+					return errors.Wrap(err, "could not find action exec command: %s", action.ExecCmd)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (f *Filter) Sanitize() error {
+	f.Shows = sanitize.FilterString(f.Shows)
+
+	if !f.UseRegex {
+		f.MatchReleases = sanitize.FilterString(f.MatchReleases)
+		f.ExceptReleases = sanitize.FilterString(f.ExceptReleases)
+	}
+
+	f.MatchReleaseGroups = sanitize.FilterString(f.MatchReleaseGroups)
+	f.ExceptReleaseGroups = sanitize.FilterString(f.ExceptReleaseGroups)
+
+	f.MatchCategories = sanitize.FilterString(f.MatchCategories)
+	f.ExceptCategories = sanitize.FilterString(f.ExceptCategories)
+
+	f.MatchUploaders = sanitize.FilterString(f.MatchUploaders)
+	f.ExceptUploaders = sanitize.FilterString(f.ExceptUploaders)
+
+	f.TagsAny = sanitize.FilterString(f.TagsAny)
+	f.ExceptTags = sanitize.FilterString(f.ExceptTags)
+
+	if !f.UseRegexReleaseTags {
+		f.MatchReleaseTags = sanitize.FilterString(f.MatchReleaseTags)
+		f.ExceptReleaseTags = sanitize.FilterString(f.ExceptReleaseTags)
+	}
+
+	f.Years = sanitize.FilterString(f.Years)
+
+	f.Artists = sanitize.FilterString(f.Artists)
+	f.Albums = sanitize.FilterString(f.Albums)
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/filter/service.go b/internal/filter/service.go
index d300256..e828a8d 100644
--- a/internal/filter/service.go
+++ b/internal/filter/service.go
@@ -188,29 +188,35 @@ func (s *service) Store(ctx context.Context, filter *domain.Filter) error {
 }
 
 func (s *service) Update(ctx context.Context, filter *domain.Filter) error {
-	if err := filter.Validate(); err != nil {
-		s.log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("invalid filter: %v", filter)
+	err := filter.Validate()
+	if err != nil {
+		s.log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("validation error filter: %+v", filter)
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// replace newline with comma
-	filter.Shows = strings.ReplaceAll(filter.Shows, "\n", ",")
-	filter.Shows = strings.ReplaceAll(filter.Shows, ",,", ",")
+	err = filter.Sanitize()
+	if err != nil {
+		s.log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("could not sanitize filter: %v", filter)
+		return err
+	}
 
 	// update
-	if err := s.repo.Update(ctx, filter); err != nil {
+	err = s.repo.Update(ctx, filter)
+	if err != nil {
 		s.log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("could not update filter: %s", filter.Name)
 		return err
 	}
 
 	// take care of connected indexers
-	if err := s.repo.StoreIndexerConnections(ctx, filter.ID, filter.Indexers); err != nil {
+	err = s.repo.StoreIndexerConnections(ctx, filter.ID, filter.Indexers)
+	if err != nil {
 		s.log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("could not store filter indexer connections: %s", filter.Name)
 		return err
 	}
 
 	// take care of connected external filters
-	if err := s.repo.StoreFilterExternal(ctx, filter.ID, filter.External); err != nil {
+	err = s.repo.StoreFilterExternal(ctx, filter.ID, filter.External)
+	if err != nil {
 		s.log.Error().Err(err).Msgf("could not store external filters: %s", filter.Name)
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go b/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go
index bdf5556..6a721c7 100644
--- a/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go
+++ b/pkg/sanitize/sanitize.go
@@ -6,3 +6,14 @@ func String(str string) string {
 	str = strings.TrimSpace(str)
 	return str
 }
+
+func FilterString(str string) string {
+	str = strings.TrimSpace(str)
+	str = strings.Trim(str, ",")
+
+	// replace newline with comma
+	str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, "\n", ",")
+	str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, ",,", ",")
+
+	return str
+}