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Best Privacy Browser Extensions - Anti Tracking

Private alternatives to Adblock Plus, vetted against our public criteria.

A few well-chosen extensions do more for your privacy than almost any setting, blocking ads and trackers, stripping tracking parameters from links, and cleaning up after the sites you visit. This is the cross-browser set: the right handful, not a pile. For exact install links, see the Chrome, Firefox, and Safari pages.

A lean set beats a long list

One strong content blocker, uBlock Origin, handles the bulk of the work: ads, trackers, and malware domains in a single extension. Add a couple of focused tools for what it does not cover, like cleaning tracking parameters out of URLs or auto-deleting cookies. Resist installing ten overlapping extensions, because each one is more to trust and more that can break a page.

Mind your fingerprint

Extensions make your browser more distinctive, and an unusual set can itself become a tracking signal. When anonymity matters in a given moment, use a separate, clean browser or the Tor Browser rather than piling more extensions onto your everyday setup. For ordinary browsing, a good blocker is well worth the small fingerprint cost.

What to look for

Open-source extensions with an active maintainer and a narrow, clear purpose. Be wary of “all-in-one privacy” extensions that demand broad permissions and a subscription; they often do less than uBlock Origin alone while seeing everything you browse.

Frequently asked

Do I really need more than one?
Usually not many. uBlock Origin alone covers most ads, trackers, and malware domains. The rest here fill specific gaps, like stripping tracking parameters from links or clearing cookies. Add those only if you want that behaviour.
Can extensions track me?
They can, which is why the open-source, single-purpose ones here are worth trusting and broad-permission all-in-one suites are not. A distinctive set of extensions can also make your browser easier to fingerprint.
Will the same extensions work in any browser?
Mostly. The list here works across Chromium browsers and Firefox; we also keep per-browser pages for the exact install links. Safari has a smaller selection.