If you need to troubleshoot Google Chrome or just want a smoother, faster experience, it can be helpful to temporarily run the browser with all your extensions disabled. There is an easy way to do this in Windows 10 or Windows 11, but it’s not obvious. We’ll show you how.
First, you need to create a desktop shortcut for the Chrome app. The following instructions are the same for Windows 10 and Windows 11. To get started, right-click an empty spot on your desktop and select New > Shortcut.
Back in the window “To create a shortcut”locate the text input box labeled “Type the location of the item”which should already be populated with a path similar to "C:Program FilesGoogleChromeApplicationchrome.exe" .
Click the text input box just after the last quotation mark to place a flashing cursor there.
In this text box, press space once, then type the following text:
--disable-extensions
When you’re done, the entire contents of the text box should look like the following, although your exact path may be different):
"C:Program FilesGoogleChromeApplicationchrome.exe" --disable-extensions
Click Next to continue.
On the next page, use the text box to name the shortcut “Chrome (extensions disabled)” or something memorable that will remind you that this is a special shortcut. Then click on “To end”.
Your new shortcut “Chrome (extensions disabled)” will appear on your desktop. You can also move this desktop to other locations on your PC (but unfortunately you can’t drag it to the Windows 11 Start menu or taskbar).
To use it, double-click the shortcut and Chrome will open without any extensions loaded. If you have many extensions installed, you may notice that the browser loads faster and looks faster without them. Not bad!
To run Chrome with extensions enabled again, close Chrome completely, then launch the browser using your usual method, such as a pinned icon on your taskbar or from the Start menu.
Good navigation !
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