Best Chrome Extensions for Security and Privacy

Chrome antivirus extensions help enhance your browsing experience, and the extensions featured below are designed to strengthen your security and privacy while using Chrome. Here’s our list of the best Chrome security extensions available.

Are Chrome extensions safe?

Not all Chrome extensions are safe, even if they claim to enhance your browsing security. Before downloading any Chrome extensions, look at user reviews — if you’re more tech-savvy, check out the extension’s code and permissions to gauge how reliable the developers are. 

If you find bad reviews or bad code, you may want to remove the extension from Chrome if you’ve already installed it. You can also use a malware remover or adware removal tool if you think your device has been infected with a virus or some kind of adware.

Choose a private browser for the ultimate protection

No matter how secure they are, even the best Chrome security extensions aren’t going to keep your browser fully secure — especially because they’re plugged into the data-hungry Chrome browser. Using a private browser is your best bet for truly private browsing. 

AVG Secure Browser is built with privacy and security at the forefront. In addition to always-on private browsing mode, AVG Secure Browser automatically blocks ads, forces HTTPS encryption, and blocks trackers so your activity can’t be mined for advertisers.

And since it runs on the same Chromium platform as Chrome itself, all your favorite Chrome extensions will work with AVG Secure Browser as well.

Now let’s explore the best browser security extensions for Chrome, sorted into three general categories:

• Website safety: These extensions protect your data as you surf the web.

• Ad and tracker blockers: The Chrome extensions here keep your browser free of annoying ads and invasive web trackers.

• Password managers: These extensions help you secure your accounts with long and unique passwords.

Website safety extensions

Not all websites are safe. Some might harbor malware that will download to your device when you visit. Others might be phishing websites eager to trick you into entering sensitive personal data. And others may not be secure enough to protect you online.

Each Chrome extension listed here protects your data and keeps you safe while browsing the web.

AVG Online Security

AVG Online Security is built by one of the best online security companies out there. This Chrome antivirus extension checks the security of every site you visit to ensure that nothing puts you or your data at risk. AVG Online Security blocks phishing attacks, shows user reviews of individual websites, and blocks tracking cookies.

Pros:

• Stops phishing attacks.

• Blocks tracking cookies.

• Flags unsafe websites.

• Crowd-sourced feedback system improves security.

Cons:

• User-generated feedback means less-popular sites may not be screened.

• Like all add-ons on this list, this extension protects against only browser-based threats.

Click&Clean

Click&Clean keeps your browser free of clutter by deleting your browsing history every time you close Chrome. This extension can also delete your cookies and browsing cache, generate passwords, and serve as an antivirus and malware blocker for Chrome, scanning your device for malware and cleaning your hard drives of malicious files.

Pros: 

• Deletes browsing history automatically.

• Can be customized to delete or keep certain types of data.

• Also acts as an antivirus for Chrome.

Cons:

• Displays ads in Incognito Mode.

• Shows frequent pop-up notifications (learn how to remove pop-ups from Chrome).

SiteJabber

SiteJabber takes more of a Yelp-like approach to browser security, displaying reviews and ratings of every website you visit. It lets you see what its large community of online business reviewers thinks of each page: whether the website is safe, a scam, or simply lacking in security and privacy. 

SiteJabber also uses a handy color-coded system to indicate the security of each web page you visit.

Pros:

• Color-coded system helps identify secure and unsecured websites.

• Ratings appear beside each result when using a search engine.

Cons:

• Ratings are community-generated so may be inaccurate or incomplete.

• Not all websites are covered, especially less popular sites with lower traffic.

uMatrix

uMatrix lets you control your browser and its privacy. You can choose where your browser can connect, what type of data it can download, and what actions you can take. With all the options listed on one page, uMatrix lets you manage your browser privacy and limit ads, third-party cookies, scripts, and more.

Pros:

• Detailed user interface lets you control almost every aspect of browser privacy.

• Permissions can be toggled to allow all or block all by default.

Cons:

• Not for newbies; basic knowledge of internet functions is needed.

• May take time to learn how to avoid breaking websites.

Ad blockers and anti-tracking extensions

Ads are annoying. They’re everywhere and pop up at incredibly inconvenient times. A lot of advertisers also use trackers to collect information about you to help them serve more relevant ads — but all this data can carry dire security and privacy issues.

The extensions on this list block annoying ads and unwanted online tracking techniques to improve your browsing experience.

Adblocker Ultimate

Adblocker Ultimate removes all ads from all websites automatically, but you can whitelist certain advertisers and trackers if you want. These features make it one of the most effective ad blockers available. 

Pros:

• Automatically blocks all ads — plain and simple.

• Free, open-source software lets anyone inspect it for security.

Cons:

• Pop-up notifications, like those showing the number of ads blocked, may be annoying (but you can disable notifications in Chrome).

• Can slow your browser over time.

Disconnect

Chrome’s Disconnect extension is an open-source anti-tracking extension that blocks trackers and shows you which trackers a website is using. The interface shows you how websites track the digital trail you leave while browsing, and you can choose which trackers to block or allow.

Pros:

• Works automatically upon installation.

• Open-source software makes it easy to inspect the code for security.

• User-friendly display lets you see different types of trackers.

Cons:

• Sometimes breaks safe, popular websites (like eBay and Twitter).

• Allows some trackers that are not considered privacy violators.

Ghostery

Ghostery is an ad blocker that also blocks third-party ad trackers. Its Smart Blocking feature speeds up page load times by automatically blocking and unblocking trackers to meet page quality criteria. 

Pros:

• A free, all-in-one ad blocker and anti-tracking extension.

• Choose which ads and trackers get blocked.

• Anonymizes personal data.

Cons

• Can show too many pop-up notifications (this can be adjusted in settings).

• Recent versions consume a lot of memory compared to other extensions.

PixelBlock

Some Chrome extensions offer targeted security for specific functions, and PixelBlock is one such specialist. PixelBlock blocks email trackers that people use to know when you open and read their emails.

PixelBlock makes spotting these email trackers easy, with a little red-eye icon next to any email that tries to track you. Sometimes this information is identified, and other times it’s unknown, but you’ll always know which senders are trying to track you.

Pros:

• Works immediately upon installation.

• The extension doesn’t track you or read your emails — it only monitors the senders.

Cons:

• Compatible only with Gmail.

• Can’t always identify the types of trackers used

Privacy Badger

Privacy Badger is a smart tracker blocker that automatically discovers and blocks unwanted trackers. Its opt-in local learning feature creates a list of blocked trackers based on the websites you visit.

Pros:

• No manual setup or customization required.

• Uses a “three strikes” rule — first-party trackers are allowed (but third-party trackers get blocked).

• A color-coded system tracks threat-levels as red, yellow, or green.

Cons:

• The local learning feature may be useful, but it’s not terribly secure — opt out for a more secure browsing experience.

uBlock Origin

uBlock Origin bills itself as more than just an ad blocker. It’s a broad content blocker that doesn’t clog up your browser and device memory. The extension uses a pre-set filter list to weed out ads and trackers.

Pros:

• Minimal effect on device performance.

• Contains several pre-set filter lists and lets you create and choose your own.

Cons:

• Some features may be confusing for less tech-savvy folks.

• Pre-set lists mean less flexibility in terms of which ads and trackers are blocked.

Password manager extensions

With so many online accounts to manage these days, it can be near impossible to keep track of your passwords, especially if yours are unique and complex.

Thankfully, there are Chrome extensions that manage and even generate passwords for you, so you’re never locked out of your accounts and they’re always kept secure.

Bitwarden

Bitwarden is a secure and versatile password manager. The free extension generates, saves, and stores an unlimited number of passwords, and offers multi-device syncing. A premium plan includes encryption for file attachments and password-security health reports.

Pros:

• Offers unlimited login storage and multi-device sync on the free plan.

• Open-source code allows easy inspection for security issues.

• Affordable premium option.

Cons:

• Password-security strength reports and security analysis are included only in the paid version.

Blur

More than just a secure password manager, Blur is an overall privacy-protection extension. It blocks trackers and masks your data, and generates, saves, and encrypts your passwords. Blur will mask your email address for free, but you need a subscription to hide your phone number and credit cards.

Pros:

• Free version generates and manages all your passwords on one device.

• Free email masking and tracker blocking.

Cons:

• Full masking features and multi-device synching are available only with a subscription.

• The premium version is expensive for a password manager.

LastPass

LastPass is a password manager that can generate and store an unlimited number of passwords for one device type: desktop or mobile. It also helps secure other personal information (addresses, credit card numbers). Premium plans offer syncing across multiple devices, encrypted storage, and a shared family plan. 

Pros:

• Security Dashboard shows your weak and reused passwords and recommends how to improve them.

• Can generate strong passwords to replace weak ones.

• Multi-factor authentication keeps your account extra secure.

Cons:

• Doesn’t offer unlimited device syncing for free users.

• Many helpful features, such as password health checks, are premium-only.

TeamPassword

It’s one thing for one person to keep track of several passwords. It’s quite another for an entire team to do the same, with each member having their own passwords to manage.

TeamPassword simplifies the password management process, using a cloud-based platform to manage multiple logins for teams. This extension is especially useful for businesses that have many employees and accounts to keep track of.

Pros:

• Seamless one-click logins. 

• New team members can be added quickly and easily.

Cons:

• You need to create a TeamPassword account, which starts at $15 a month, to use the extension.

Try AVG Secure Browser for enhanced online privacy and security

Any of these Chrome extensions will make your web browsing more secure. But if security and privacy are your highest concerns, you should use a browser that has all these security features built directly into it.

AVG Secure Browser offers a suite of security and privacy features.

AVG Secure Browser boasts a menu of security and privacy features to automatically block ads, protect against tracking scripts, force HTTPS encryption, and mask your browser fingerprint to minimize third-party tracking. 

With so many features built in, your browsing will be much cleaner and faster, because you won’t need to clog it up with endless extensions. Of course, since it’s built on the Chromium foundation, you can still use all your favorite Chrome extensions with AVG Secure Browser as well. 

With so much security functionality in one browser, and private browsing mode by default, make the switch to AVG Secure Browser today.