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Disable / Enable Chrome Browser Extensions

Updated

Disabling browser extensions can help you troubleshoot issues when experiencing:

  • abnormal frozen browser, slow browsing speeds, blank screens, browser crashes/shuts down
  • authentication or login loops (looping back to sign-in screen, kicked out of login screens, etc)
  • broken page elements (pages not scrolling, data not loading, content looks distorted, etc)
  • unexpected redirect errors (sent to unknown sites, generated ads, etc.) 
  • website loading failures (missing essential buttons, videos crashing/won't play, error codes, etc)

Extensions (such as those that block ads or track scripts) frequently interfere with website scripts, making them the primary suspects whenever browser performance degrades or web applications fail to function properly.

If clearing your cache & cookies, updating the browser, and restarting your device after those changes are applied did not fix the issue, disabling extensions is often the next most effective troubleshooting strategy to take.

  1. Test in an Incognito Window: Open an Incognito Window (which loads without extensions by default). If the error vanishes, an extension could be the culprit.
    • In Chrome, click the Customize and control Google Chrome (3 dots) icon > New Incognito Window.
       
  2. Disable Manually: Turn off extensions one by one (especially ad-blockers, privacy extensions, PDF converters like Adobe Acrobat extensions, etc) using the Google Chrome extension manager to isolate the exact conflict.
    • Type in chrome://extensions in the web address bar OR…
       
    • Click the Customize and control Google Chrome (3 dots) icon > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
      extensions pre-loaded
       
    • Disable extensions not pushed by DTI (DTI-enabled extensions will have the toggle grayed out).

       
    • Click on the blue toggle button to disable an extension (toggle turns gray).
      toggle button to disable/enable extension
       
    • Refresh page/test to see if your issue is resolved.
       
    • Repeat with disabling extensions one by one until you discover if your issue is resolved after disabling a certain extension. 
       
    • NOTE: Alternatively, you can disable all extensions, then re-enable each exension one by one, refresh page after each toggle until you find the specific extension causing the error.
       
    • To re-enable an extension, turn the toggle back on (toggle turns blue).

Visit this YouTube video for a visual demonstration and additional information:

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