Google Chrome can have its functionality increased with
extensions. These have capabilities beyond those
permitted to websites, which is both a blessing and a curse.
Useful and popular extensions include those that block intrusive
advertising or check grammar when you’re writing. But most of the time when
I see extensions in Chrome, the customer added them unwittingly, and they
are causing adverse affects like:
- An unfamiliar homepage.
- Adverts on websites that don’t normally have them.
Worse, an unscrupulous extension might gather data about what you do
online, including sensitive information.
Check and remove
- In Chrome, click the menu ⋮ (three dots, top right).
- Choose Extensions > Manage Extensions.
- Next to each unfamiliar extension, click Remove, then confirm
this.
Note: Some extensions may be present as standard: Docs,
Sheets, Slides and Google Docs Offline. You don’t need to remove these.
In the removal process, an extension may give a dying breath: a new tab
showing a page of its choice, usually something like ‘Sorry to see you go.
Can we have feedback?’ You’re not obliged to do this, and can close it by
clicking the ‘x’ at the top of the tab or by pressing
Command–W (Mac) or
Ctrl–W (Windows).
Stay safe
It worries me that when I help people with unwanted extensions, they
usually don’t recall installing them, even though it requires consent.
Remember, it’s really important to check what you’re agreeing to.
No normal website needs any extensions in order to function. If you’re
trying to find a recipe and you get invited to install
SpeedyRecipeFinder, you’re in the wrong place. Look for a reputable
recipe website instead!