In short, starting Chrome without extensions is interesting in certain circumstances. Both for security and performance, it is an alternative that we have available and we can take it into account in a simple way. In addition, you will not have to do without the normal use of the program.
How to do it
Although Google Chrome does not have a visible setting to launch it without extensions, there is a method to do so. Plus, it’s simple. You just have to follow a series of steps that we are going to show. The first thing is to create a shortcut. You can go to the Desktop, for example, right-click, click New and create a Direct access.
That shortcut is going to be the key to everything and we need to configure it correctly. When creating it, a dialog box will appear where we will see a bar to put the location or click Examine and select it. The latter is what we have to click.
When we click Browse, what we will do is navigate until we find the Google Chrome icon. We have to go to the folder where it is installed and select the file. We will have something like we see in the image below.
But you don’t have to leave it as it is, because if we do that, what we will be creating is a direct access without further ado, to enter Chrome normally. What we’re going to do is add “–disable-extensions”. In this way, it would be as we can see in the image.
That done, all that remains is to hit Following. A new window will appear to put any name to that icon. For example Chrome without extensions or the one we want. Here it doesn’t really matter what name we put, since it is only to know how to identify that shortcut and differentiate it from the normal one.
When you have finished all this process, all that remains is to open that new shortcut that you have created. You will see that Google Chrome starts normally, but it will start without any plugins being opened. You’ll still keep them installed, but every time you launch it from that shortcut you’ll prevent them from opening automatically. You can always open the program also from the normal icon that you already had.
Tips for using plugins in the browser
Whenever you install extensions in the browser, whether in Chrome or any other, you should keep in mind some essential tips to avoid problems. This way you will keep the security and privacy safe, but you will also ensure that the performance of the program is not affected and that it works correctly.
Download them from official sources
The first thing is to always download them from official sources. In this case we have to go to the official Chrome store and download and install the extensions that interest us from there. The process is simple and this will help us to do it with guarantees and not have problems that may affect us.
The problem with downloading plugins from unofficial sites is that we have no real guarantee that they are safe. They may have been modified by an attacker to run malware, steal data, or cause browser crashes. Therefore, as with any other software you install, the ideal is to always download them from the browser’s official store.
not have many assets
Although we have seen how to start Chrome without extensions, it is important to know that the more you have active, the worse the program will be. It is basically as if you try to open many applications at once on your mobile. You will see that it starts to malfunction, consumes more resources and crashes.
So while having some browser add-ons can be a good thing, it’s best to do not have more than is really necessary. You can always have them disabled and use them only when you need them. This will improve security and also performance when opening web pages.
keep everything up to date
Of course, another essential factor is to always have the updated browser and extensions. This will prevent vulnerabilities that could compromise security. Sometimes flaws arise that can be exploited by hackers to exploit them and launch their attacks.
To update Chrome you have to go to the top right menu, click on Help and go to Google Chrome Information. The version you have installed will appear there and you will be able to add updates in case there is something pending.
Check operation
Periodically, it is convenient review the information of the extensions and see if anything has changed. It is not uncommon to see some plugin change and after an update have different functions or features. You can change owners and stop working as before.
This is not always positive, as it could even seriously affect our privacy and security. For this reason, we recommend having a periodic review to see to what extent the add-ons continue to work the same and will not affect our privacy. You can go to the menu, enter More tools and go to Extensions. All the information will appear there.
All in all, by following these steps you can make Google Chrome start without the extensions. As you have seen, there are some advantages of it and you can take it into account. However, whenever you use add-ons you must do so safely and avoid problems that could compromise proper functioning.
