Isaac from Indiana is a little confused by some of our past articles. He writes “You mention turning off extensions in browsers but not how.”
Hi, Issac. Thanks for the clarification question. You have two options when it comes to extensions; you can either disable an individual add-on’s extension, or you can turn them off completely. I’ll give instructions for both.
You didn’t say which browser you’re using, so I’ll just include instructions here for the three most popular: Firefox, Chrome and IE.
If you want to disable just one add-on in Firefox, you start by clicking the MENU button, and then choose ADD-ONS.
Next, in the add-ons window, select the EXTENSIONS tab.
On the add-on that you want to edit the extension for, click DISABLE to temporarily disable the extension.
If you want to just turn extensions off completely, then go back to your add-ons menu, but this time choose PLUG-INS.
Here you’ll see a drop-down menu that, when you activate it, has the options of ASK TO ACTIVATE, ALWAYS ACTIVATE and NEVER ACTIVATE.
To disable or delete an extension in Google Chrome, click the menu bar on the top right of your screen (it may look like three lines or three dots), then MORE TOOLS, then EXTENSIONS.
On the right hand side of the Extension window, you’ll see a checkbox that says “ENABLE” and a trash can.
To disable, simply uncheck the box. To remove completely, click the trash can.
In Internet Explorer click the OPTIONS button (looks like a cog) in the upper right.
In the next window, choose the add-on that you want to modify and click DISABLE.
I hope that this helps! If you have any follow-up questions, please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to address them.
~ Randal Schaffer
Great question & A great answer