Check your browser extensions' permissions on Mac

Why extension permissions matter

An extension runs inside your browser, where your email, bank and work accounts are already signed in. What it can do there is set by the permissions it asked for when you installed it. A password manager or an ad blocker genuinely needs access to every page. A coupon finder, a colour picker or a PDF converter usually doesn't, but many ask for it anyway.

That access is also what makes a malicious browser extension dangerous. An extension that can read every site can read what you type into them, and one that can read cookies can copy the sessions that keep you signed in. Extensions change hands, too: a harmless one can be sold, and an update can add tracking or worse without anything changing in how it looks.

Checking Chrome extension permissions one browser and one profile at a time is slow, so most people never do it. Tidy My Mac reads them all at once.

Every browser and every profile, in one list

Tidy My Mac reads the extensions in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi and Chromium, profile by profile, the extensions you installed in each Firefox profile, and Safari web extensions. Each row shows the extension's name, its browser and profile, its version, and whether it is turned off.

The same extension in two profiles is listed twice, because each copy has its own permissions. Firefox's own built-in add-ons are left out, and so is an extension Chrome has already removed but not yet cleaned off the disk.

How the risk is rated

Each extension is rated by its permissions, and the row says in plain words what they allow, most serious first.

Site access counts whether the extension asks for it directly or through scripts that run on those pages. For Firefox, the rating uses the permissions you granted.

A high rating isn't a verdict that an extension is malicious. It means the extension could do a lot of harm if it were, so it is worth knowing that you installed it, that you still use it, and that it comes from who you think.

Remove an extension from the browser

Browser Extensions only reads. Removing an extension is done in the browser, which also removes it from your other devices if you sync. Manage opens the browser's page for that extension, in that browser: the extension's own page in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi and Chromium, and the add-ons page in Firefox. For Safari, turn extensions off or remove them in Safari's Settings → Extensions. The magnifying glass shows the extension's files in Finder.

What stays on your Mac