Browsers
How to Block the Extensions Store on a Web Browser
Blocking the Extensions store is a great way to prevent unwanted extensions from being installed.
If you want to prevent yourself from installing browser extensions at all, you might have considered if it’s possible to disable or block the extensions page on your web browser. Not only is it possible to do this, but there are other ways to further lock down a web browser.
It’s usually pretty easy to block the web store if you’ve installed a URL blocker. The two we are most familiar with, and have had the chance to test the most, are Cold Turkey and Freedom Blocker:
- Freedom Blocker : Allows you to block both apps and websites on all major platforms.
- Cold Turkey Blocker : A solid, free option for windows and mac computers. There is a premium version, but the free tier is very generous.
In order to proceed with this guide, I’m going to assume that you’re using either Cold Turkey or Freedom Blocker.
Blocking the Browser Extensions Store Page on Cold Turkey
If you’ve successfully installed Cold Turkey on your computer, it’s pretty easy to add a block for the extension’s store page.
Depending on which browser you use, there are different URLs you should add to your block.
For Google Chrome's webstore, add this URL to a blocklist:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/*
For the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store, add this URL:
https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/*
For Mozilla browsers, add this link to a blocklist to hide the add-ons store:
about:addons
Make sure that you lock the block you've added these URLs to:
Instead of seeing the browser extension's store, you should see a blocked page:
Blocking the Browser Extensions Store Page with Freedom Blocker
In order to add the extension stores to a blocklist with Freedom, you will need to start a Freedom "session". We have more information about how to do this in our Freedom Blocker guide, if you’re interested.
Depending on which browser you use, you will need to use different URLs in order to block each web browser’s extension store page.
For Google Chrome's webstore, add this URL to a blocklist:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/
For the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store, add this URL:
https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/
Unfortunately, it's not possible to block the Mozilla Firefox extensions store this way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Block Specific Browser Extensions?
Yes! This can be complicated, so we’ve created an entire guide dedicated to blocking a browser extension from being installed.
guide
How to Block Browser Extensions
Some browser extensions might interfere with your ability to enforce a content filter. Learning how to block these extension is an important step.
Can I Prevent a Browser Extension from Being Uninstalled?
Yes! We have a guide that explains how do to enforce browser extensions .
Browsers
How to Enforce Browser Extensions
Normally, it's pretty easy to uninstall browser extensions that help block content. It is possible to prevent these browser extensions from being uninstalled so easily.
What other ways can I manage my browser?
There are more restrictions that you can enable on your browser, such as:
- Enforcing SafeSearch on your Search Engines.
- Block websites by keyword in the URL or content category.
- Block specific web searches.
- Disable Images and Javascript.
We explain how to change these settings and much more in our dedicated chrome guide :
Addictive Content
How to Block Porn in Chrome and Other Browsers
Set up multiple layers of effective blocking in Chrome and other browsers. Prevent easy bypass of blocking and filtering.
