How Safe Are Chrome Extensions:
First off I think we should take a look at how safe
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Chrome Extensions are before getting into how to manage chrome extensions. Why, well because they are not all safe to use, if you don’t need them, then don’t use them.
But what about the ones we want to use how do we know if they are safe or not?
Let’s take a look at why they would not be safe in the first place, it all has to do with the fact that when you install one you are trusting them not to watch everything you are doing while you are online, most won’t.
But the possibility is there because to enable the extension you are asked to give them permission to read and change all your Data on the website you visit. Wow, now that is a lot of things to go bad! 🙁
Now most of them are not going to do anything to hurt your trust in them, and if we take our time and review them we can stay a lot safer. So what should we do, it’s really simple, read!
When you first open the extension in Chrome web store under the “Overview” tab you will notice on the right side of the page a description of the app. Read this, all of it, and look for anything that may seem suspicious like sharing your data with others or anything about tracking your browsing. Check out when the last update was if it’s been years (more than two) then you might want to avoid it, their updates include security patches. You get the picture right?
Next thing you want to do is look over the reviews, this one is a little difficult to pinpoint because of a lot of developers will buy reviews. So if they all seem to read about the same, that might be a flag. You’ll get the idea when you skim through them, and no you don’t need to read them all, that would really be a waste of your time. ☹
And if you want to go a step further you can ask Google for a review of the app and see if any of them state anything negative in their headings, and maybe click on one and read the review.
So with all that said, let’s look at how to manage them, this is really simple.
In the upper right corner of your Chrome browser click on “More” (the three dots) > “More Tools” > “Extensions”, you will now see a page with all your extension where you can turn them on or off, check the “Details” or “Remove” them. See, wasn’t that simple? ?
One More Thing:
Something to keep in mind is that if you have too many extension your browser could start running a little slower if it does just turn off the ones you don’t use all of the time. Also with a lot of them, they may be getting a little crowded in your toolbar, if that’s a problem you can click, hold and move the ones you use the most to the bigging of the line.
Some of you might want to use them at work, and that’s easy to do also, just sign into your Google account on your work computer and all of your settings, bookmarks, and extension will be synced to that computer.
So what are your thoughts on How to Manage Chrome Extensions?
How many Chrome extension do you use? I’m using only five at this time, but I have used up to ten.
Have you ever run into any problems with an Extension? I love hearing from my readers so,
Join in on the conversation below in the comment section!
Kim
I didn’t know much about extensions, except that I needed to accept a few to get apps to work, til I read this. I am down to 8 now and only use 4 on a regular basis. I also didn’t know I could move the extensions on my toolbar. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Shelley, I also learned a few things myself when I did the research for this, which has come in handy like moving them to a different order.
Glad you found this to be helpful,
Kim
Kim,
My laptop battery stopped working for more than 30 minutes. I had to borrow my sons old laptop to get some work done. Boy does he have a lot of extensions on his chrome. I will look into the your information to clean up some that he has before giving his laptop back. He should enjoy a faster time getting around the internet and not get all of the popups he complains about all the time.
Thanks for your advice
John
Hey John, it’s a good thing your boy has you around to keep his laptop running. Those pop-ups can be annoying and a real pain in the but should he ever click on one.
Kim
Awesome article, Kim. The cliche says ‘you learn something new every day’, well it’s night time where I am and it still counts – I learned something new today. I did not know about that little part about ‘sharing information’ et al, especially with all that has happened with Facebook. SO yes, I am going to check my extensions and make sure that ‘all is well in the land’ as much as I am able to ensure.
Thanks again and great job!
Michelle
Your welcome Michelle, I’m glad you found this information to be of use. We spend a lot of time on the internet so every little bit of information can come in handy to keep our data safe and our PC, Laptops running smoothly.
Kim
HI Kim,
You are right of course. Every time we install something on our computers we are trusting that the program will NOT “spy” on us as we go about our time on the internet. We are learning from Facebook that even “non-facebook people” have given up a HUGE amount of personal information to Facebook without the person even knowing it.
I really liked this quick and simple things that people can do to manage their Chrome browers and chrome extensions. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Glennys, it really is sad that we have to be careful when we interact on the internet. There are people that want to know everything about us so they can profit on in one way or another.
But being informed of this we have a better chance of staying safe while we surf the web.
Hi Kim, great article! I have been wondering about Cryptotab to mine bitcoin while you browse, but haven’t had time to check into it closely.
I’ll be double checking my chrome later tonight.
Hi Tara, I took some time and look into the Cryptotab, and for what little you would get out of using it, well I personally wouldn’t bother with it. For one thing, it will slow down your system because it is using the power of your CPU to compute the block chains required to make a bitcoin. And of course, the author of this extension is going to want to make his share of the money first, he will benefit by having a large group of people using their CPU to mine the bitcoins. I also read that to make more money doing this will require you to get friends to join. If you decided to install it I wish the best for you.
Thanks for stopping by, Kim
Hi Kim, thanks for this.
I will admit, I have been one to avoid using Chrome Extensions. Why? Simply because I do not know enough about them?
I am usually of the mind, that if I am not sure, I leave it alone.
This post has helped me to understand them a little more, and feel I am right to think how i think. Like you say, they are not all safe. Some could potentially cause you problems
This was an eye opener.
Thanks
Chris
Hey there Chris, that is the best way to approach anything that has to do with computers these days, if you don’t know about it, then like you said, leave it alone. I use a different computer to do my testing on things I’m not sure of before I’ll use it on my main one, and there have been many times I have had to reset it after running something that turned out bad.
Stay cautious and safe Chris, and thanks for stopping by!
Kim