The Security Lockdown
JavaScript is the programming language that makes the modern web interactive. It powers everything from video players and dynamic maps to complex web applications like Gmail. However, it is also the primary vector for delivering malware, cryptojackers, and aggressive tracking scripts. If you are researching highly suspicious websites, visiting potentially compromised domains, or testing a web application for raw HTML performance, allowing Chrome to execute arbitrary JavaScript code on your machine is a massive security risk. For ultimate lockdown, you must completely sever the browser’s ability to run the language.
How to Turn Off JavaScript Globally
You can permanently rip the JavaScript execution engine out of your browsing sessions via the Site Settings.
- Open the Google Chrome desktop browser.
- Click the three vertical dots (⋮) in the top right corner and select Settings.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
- In the main window, click on Site settings.
- Scroll down to the “Content” section and click on JavaScript.
- Under the “Default behavior” heading, click the radio button next to “Don’t allow sites to use JavaScript.”
A Static Web
The change is instantaneous. Google Chrome will completely shut down its V8 JavaScript engine for all future page loads. Be warned: This will instantly break 95% of the modern internet. YouTube will fail to load videos, Twitter will show a blank screen, and banking portals will refuse to log you in. However, the websites that do load will be nothing more than static HTML and CSS. You will experience zero pop-ups, zero tracking scripts, and total immunity against drive-by JavaScript malware downloads, providing an unbreakable reading environment.