JavaScript is a double-edged sword: it adds many useful features to your favorite websites, such as interactive maps, loading images in the background, refreshing website content without reloading the page, and more. At the same time, advertisers and tracking companies use it to serve ads, pop-ups, malware, and mine your data. Blocking JavaScript can help improve your privacy, but it can break many websites. Fortunately, there is a workaround - disable JavaScript on some websites, but not all.
What happens when JavaScript is disabled
Disabling JavaScript has several great advantages. It often loads pages faster, blocks intrusive tracking, and sometimes even lets you bypass paywalls. Unfortunately, it can also make some modern websites look like they were designed in the 1990s; without JavaScript, they may revert to a basic HTML layout. Additionally, forms may not work, you may not be able to log into the site, and interactive web pages may not function at all. You'll also notice that your favorite websites look different when JavaScript is blocked. This is because many websites also use it to render fonts.
Obviously, for most people, disabling JavaScript globally is a bit of an extreme choice.
Solution: Disable JavaScript on specific websites
By disabling JavaScript on some sites, you can still use JavaScript on sites without JavaScript, while benefiting from improved privacy, ad blocking, and a clearer layout on other sites.
Disable JavaScript by site in Chrome, Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, and other Chromium browsers
You can use the built-in functionality to disable JavaScript for specific websites in Chrome and other Chromium browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Arc Browser, and more. To get started, open this URL: chrome://settings/content/ javascript . Although this is how you open Chrome's JavaScript settings page, it works for all Chromium-based browsers.
On that page, select "Do not allow sites to use JavaScript." This will disable JavaScript by default, but you can add exceptions to the rules. Under Allow JavaScript , click Add to select the sites for which you want to enable it. Alternatively, you can leave the default option " Allow sites to use JavaScript" and blacklist the sites you want to block it. You can do this by clicking "Add" under "Don't allow JavaScript."
If this sounds like too much work, you can use the excellent NoScript extension in your browser. It blocks JavaScript by default, but you can easily ask the extension to trust certain domains.
For Chrome on Android, follow our in-depth guide to disabling JavaScript on specific web pages.
Block JavaScript on specific websites in Safari
Safari allows you to block JavaScript anywhere or not at all. To block Javascript on all websites in Safari on Mac, you can go to Safari menu > Settings > Security and uncheck "Enable JavaScript." On iPhone, this setting is under Settings > Safari > Advanced . You can uncheck JavaScript .
This option is a bit extreme for most people, but you can take a gentler approach by installing the StopTheScript extension. It costs $6 and works with Safari on Mac, iPhone and iPad. This extension allows you to block JavaScript on websites of your choice. The developers have created a great tutorial explaining how to use StopTheScript, and you can follow the steps below to get set up quickly.
Disable JavaScript for certain websites in Firefox
NoScript is the extension you need when you use Firefox. By default, the extension stops JavaScript on every site; you can click its toolbar icon to temporarily or permanently enable JavaScript on any site.
Stop site-specific JavaScript in Orion browser
Orion browser allows you to install Chrome and Firefox extensions that let you easily enable or disable JavaScript for specific websites. You can set this up by going to Orion Settings > Website > JavaScript . At the top, you'll see an option to choose whether JavaScript is enabled or disabled by default. Select Off to disable it by default, or On to allow it. Then, click the + button to add sites to which the default global settings will not be applied.
