The Syncing Surplus
Google Chrome relies heavily on Google Account synchronization. If you sign into Chrome on your personal desktop, your bookmarks, history, and extensions sync across devices. However, if you then sign into Chrome on a work computer or a shared family laptop, Chrome will often automatically download and install every single extension associated with your Google account onto that new device. This can result in sensitive work machines suddenly running dozens of personal plugins, VPNs, or shopping trackers, causing extreme browser bloat, potential security policy violations, and massive memory consumption on a device that doesn’t need them.
Disabling Extension Synchronization
To stop Google Chrome from automatically downloading and adding your extensions across every device you sign into, you must decouple extension data from your core Chrome Sync profile.
Open Google Chrome on the device where you want to control the syncing behavior. Click the three vertical dots (the menu icon) in the top-right corner of the browser window and select Settings. In the Settings menu, click on You and Google in the left-hand sidebar (this is usually the default screen). Look for the section titled “Sync and Google services” and click on Sync and Google services. On the next screen, click on Manage what you sync. By default, this is likely set to “Sync everything.” Change this selection by clicking the radio button next to Customize sync. This will un-gray the toggles below it. Locate the toggle switch specifically labeled Extensions and turn it Off. By doing this, your bookmarks and passwords will still sync, but Chrome will stop automatically pushing and adding extensions between your various computers.