A browser extension is a small program that adds features to your web browser. Most are useful. Some track everything you do or hijack your searches. Here is how to check what is running inside your browser right now.
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You open your browser and something is off. Your homepage changed. Search results redirect somewhere unexpected. Ads are showing up everywhere, even on pages that never had them before.
Somewhere along the way, an extension got installed. And it is not on your side.
A browser extension is a small program that adds extra features to your web browser. An ad blocker, a password manager, a grammar checker: all of these are extensions. Most are useful and trustworthy. Some are built to hijack your searches, track everywhere you browse, or inject ads into every page you visit.
Picture a small helper sitting inside your web browser. You hired them to do a specific job: block ads, remember passwords, check your spelling. They sit quietly in the corner and do their thing while you browse.
Most of these assistants are exactly what they claim to be. But some come with a hidden agenda. They file your papers and steal from your wallet at the same time. They can read every page you visit, capture what you type, and redirect where you end up. Because you (or someone who used the computer before you) installed them, your browser trusts them completely.
This is the part most people do not expect. An extension can start off completely legitimate and still become a problem later.
Popular extensions get bought. Someone builds a useful tool, grows a large audience, and then sells it to a new owner who quietly adds tracking code in a routine update. You never notice anything changed. The extension still works. It is just doing something extra in the background now.
Extensions get hacked. Developers are humans who can fall for phishing emails. In documented cases, attackers gained access to an extension’s update system and pushed a version that captured what users typed, including passwords, before the developer noticed and pulled it. A strong reputation does not make an extension immune to this.
On Chrome (and Chrome-based browsers like Edge and Brave): type chrome://extensions in the address bar and press Enter. You will see every extension installed, active or not.
On Firefox: type about:addons in the address bar.
On Safari: open Settings, choose Safari, then select Extensions.
Go through the list and ask yourself three questions about each one: Did I install this intentionally? Do I still use it? Do I actually know what it does? If you cannot say yes to all three, that extension should be removed.
Browser extensions are one of the most common ways malware gets onto a computer without the install feeling like a download. If anything online asks you to install an extension to watch a video, fix an error, or claim a prize, the answer is no. Legitimate video players do not require browser extensions.
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