Browsers

Protect a Chrome Extension from being Uninstalled or Disabled

Learn the most effective ways to protect a Chrome extension so that it can't be uninstalled or disabled.

Tech Lockdown Team

Updated July 30, 2025

If you’ve installed a Chrome extension to block adult websites in Chrome , then it’s important to make sure that it can’t uninstalled or disabled. Fortunately, it is possible to choose specific Chrome plugins that you want to protect so that you can be confident that they aren't turned off and bypassed.

When you enforce a browser extension in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, the option to remove the extension will be greyed out and not selectable:

In this guide, I'll show you exactly how to enforce a specific Chrome extension in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and even in Firefox.

How to Change Hidden Settings on Your Browser

On Google Chrome, you are probably familiar with how to access Settings:

However, your browser also has hidden settings that you can’t change from this menu. One of these hidden settings is called the ExtensionInstallForcelist .

How exactly you go about enabling this will depend on which device you have. On Windows computers, you can edit it by using the Registry. Mac devices have a similar options that are set using config files.

Finding an Extension's ID

Whether you want to block a Chrome extension or enforce an extension, you'll need to find the extension's ID. You will have to use the extension ID in order to instruct your browser to protect it from being disabled or uninstalled.

Here are the instructions for Google Chrome extensions, which you can also follow for Microsoft Edge or Brave Browser. You can reference the FAQs section for instructions on Firefox Add-ons.

Open the Chrome Extension Webstore and search for the website blocker Chrome extension you want to protect.

Take a look at its URL. At the very end of the long address, you should see a forward-slash followed by a long string of letters. This string of letters is the extension ID.

Copy this ID, you will need it later. Alternatively, if you have multiple extensions that you want to install, I would create a list in Notepad so you don't forget.

In our example, we are protecting the Cold Turkey blocker using the extension ID: pganeibhckoanndahmnfggfoeofncnii.

Enforce a Chrome Extension on MacOS

You should have the extension ID(s) handy before continuing.

(A) Use Config Files to Manage Extensions on Multiple Browsers

Apple Configuration Profiles can be installed on your Mac with the extension install force list for Google Chrome, Brave Browser, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. You can protect an extension across all these browsers simultaneously. An Apple Config Generator is used to simplify this process.

This includes whether you'd like to block specific extensions or enable a limited number while automatically blocking all other extensions.

To get started, access the Apple Config Generator in the Tech Lockdown dashboard.

Create a new MacOS config

Navigate to the Web section and scroll down to the browser extension manager. This is where you can configure which extensions are allowed or blocked on Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Brave Browser

Using the Extension Manager, you can create an allowlist based on the extension ID you want to allow.

Save your changes and click the Sync Changes button in the config editor to install the config on your Mac.

Restart Chrome after you install the config

Enforce a Chrome Extension on Windows

To enforce a browser extension on Windows in browsers like Google Chrome and Edge, you can modify the Windows registry to specify the browser extension IDs that you want to enforce.

The easiest way to modify the Registry on Windows is to use Command Prompt, although it can get a bit confusing if you're unfamiliar with how to use it.

If you prefer a cleaner user interface, it is still possible to do this with the Registry Editor.

We'll enforce an extension using both approaches, and you can choose the one that works best for you.

A) Edit the Registry using Command Prompt

You can use the Windows Command Prompt program to run commands that make changes to your system. This is the simplest way to enforce browser extensions since you can just copy/paste the commands.

Now that you have the extension ID(s) that you want to enforce, it's now time to start modifying the Registry.

Keep in mind that modifying the Registry without knowing what you're doing can be dangerous. I would strongly recommend that you make a backup before continuing.

Open Command Prompt as an Administrator.

To create a blocklist, you'll first need to create a directory in the Registry called the ExtensionInstallForcelist.

To create the directory, copy/paste this command into Command Prompt (make sure that you are running as an Administrator):

For Google Chrome, use this command:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist"

For Microsoft Edge, use this command:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ExtensionInstallForcelist"

After you've created this directory in the Registry, you can start adding entries to start building your Forcelist.

To add an entry, you'll need to use a command to add a String Value within the ExtensionInstallForcelist; before you try to run this command in Command Prompt, take a look at it:

For Google Chrome, look at this command:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist" /v "1" /t REG_SZ /d "pganeibhckoanndahmnfggfoeofncnii"

For Microsoft Edge, look at this command:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ExtensionInstallForcelist" /v "1" /t REG_SZ /d "pganeibhckoanndahmnfggfoeofncnii"

You'll see that the command starts going to the ExtensionInstallForcelist directory first. Next, it creates a new String value with the title "1", then you might recognize the extension ID near the end: "pganeibhckoanndahmnfggfoeofncnii".

If you want to change which extension is enforced, just take the extension ID you've copied earlier and replace it with a different ID.

If you want to add additional extensions to your Forcelist, you can, but just make sure that you change the name to "2" for the second entry, "3" for the third entry, and so on.

For example, if you also wanted to add and enforce the Google translate extension on Chrome:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist" /v "2" /t REG_SZ /d "aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb"

(and for Edge)

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ExtensionInstallForcelist" /v "2" /t REG_SZ /d "aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb"

Notice the "2" and the changed extension ID in the above command.

B) Edit the Registry Using the Registry Editor

If you aren't comfortable using Command Prompt, you can use the Windows Registry's graphic user interface to make the exact changes we did above. This approach just requires more steps.

We'll take the same steps as you would with the Command Prompt; it just might make it easier to "see" what you're doing.

First, search for Registry in the Start Menu, and accept the User Account Control prompt:

You should see a screen that looks like this:

From here, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Policies:

If you've never done this before, you will probably have to create a Google entry. To do this, right-click on Policies and choose New > Key.

Name this new key Google:

Under Google, create another key named Chrome. Under Chrome, add one called ExtensionInstallForcelist:

The final path should be Computer \ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Google \ Chrome \ ExtensionInstallForcelist. You can check this towards the top of the Registry Editor:

On the ExtensionInstallForcelist entry you just created, then right-click and choose New > String Value:

Name this new String Value "1":

Double-click on this value and enter your first extension ID under Value data:

Click OK when you're done.

Perfect! The final product should look like this:

If you want to add more extensions to this blocklist, right-click on ExtensionInstallForcelist again, choose New > String Value, then set this new value's name to "2". If you had three extensions that you wanted to the blocklist, it might look like this:

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Extension ID?

The extension ID is how your browser knows which extension to install. To find a browser extension's ID, go to its store page and look for the string of letters:

Does enforcing an extension install it?

You don't need to have the extension already installed in order to add it to the Forcelist. If you manually add the entry to the Forcelist without the extension being installed, your browser will automatically download and install it.

Keep in mind that just because the browser is installed that it will function perfectly; some browser extensions might still need you to enable required permissions.

How do I remove an extension I’ve enforced?

If you are using the Apple Config Generator to enforce extensions on your Mac, you can customize the config to remove the enforced extension and then sync your changes (reinstall the config). Once you restart Chrome, you'll see the extension isn't enforced anymore.

For Windows, you'll need to edit the registry again to remove the ExtensionInstallForcelist registry entry.

For Windows, open Command Prompt as administrator and enter the following command for Chrome:

reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist" /v 1 /f

Here's the command for Edge:

reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ExtensionInstallForcelist" /v 1 /f

Restart your browsers in order for the changes to take effect.