Free Script Strips AI Features From Chrome, Edge, and Firefox in Minutes

How to strip AI from Chrome, Edge, and Firefox with one simple script

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways * Just The Browser strips your browser of unwanted features. * Just The Browser can be used with Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. * This tool is free to use and open-source. I do not want AI in my web browser. I just don't. I also don't want companies collecting information about me, or sponsored content and product integrations. All those bits make me want to pull my hair out. I like my privacy and want to browse, you know, the old-fashioned way. I do use AI (on occasion), but only locally-installed AI and only for specific purposes (such as learning Python or researching a topic when I don't want to use a standard search engine). Also: Want AI to work for your business? Then privacy needs to come first I just want my tools to do what they're supposed to do and nothing more. Bells and whistles are all fine and good, but when they start getting in the way of efficiency and effectiveness, they become a problem. That's why, when I heard about Just The Browser, I hoped I could jettison the cruft and get back to a more focused and efficient experience in my browser. What is Just The Browser? Just the browser strips your web browser of the things you don't want, such as AI and telemetry. It's free, easy to use, and works with the three most popular browsers (Chrome, Edge, and Firefox). I was skeptical at first, but after looking through the project's GitHub repository, I was convinced that Just The Browser was worth a try. Essentially, what Just The Browser does is apply configuration files to the browsers mentioned above, stripping them of unwanted features. Also: I've been testing the top AI browsers - here's which ones actually impressed me OK, so the reality is that you can manually disable those features in the browser configuration. For example, you could open Microsoft Edge, navigate to edge://flags, and comb through the massive list of options to disable what you don't want. Or, you can simply download a script, run it, walk through the prompts, and you're done. It's fast, it's easy, and it's effective. I kicked the tires of Just The Browser and came away impressed. Here's how it went for me. First, I want to talk about Edge, because I ran that from a clean installation, so I hadn't made any changes to the OS. Living on the stripped-down Edge I don't normally use Edge, so first I had to install it. During installation, I enabled Copilot Mode to see how effective Just The Browser would be. After Edge was set up, I checked to make sure Copilot was there and then closed it. Also: I tested all of Edge's new AI browser features - and it felt like having a personal assistant Then I downloaded the necessary script, which can be found using one of these links -- Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox. With the script downloaded to my Downloads directory, I double-clicked it and followed the directions (which are very simple). Depending on whether you're using MacOS or Windows (there's no Linux option), the instructions will be different. On MacOS, after you've double-clicked the script, you open System Settings and go to General > Device Management, where you'll see a listing for the browser in question. Double-click that listing, and you'll see all the features Just The Browser disables (it's more than you think). You can't change any of these settings, so just click OK. With that taken care of, I opened Edge and found it to be remarkably stripped of Copilot. This is exciting. Also: The best free AI courses and certificates for upskilling in 2026 - and I've tried them all However, not all was perfect. Although Edge was stripped of Copilot mode, I could open a new tab and see the AI box right there. After looking through the Just The Browser site, I found a specific list of what it removes, which is: * Features that use generative AI models * Edge or tab group suggestions in Firefox * Price tracking, coupon codes, loan integrations, etc. * Suggested articles on the New Tab Page, sponsored site suggestions, etc. * Pop-ups or other prompts that ask you to change the default web browser * Browser welcome screens and related prompts to automatically import data from other web browsers * Data collection by web browsers * Features that allow web browsers to start with the operating system without explicit permission OK, that's a fine list, but what I experienced didn't match the list. With Edge on MacOS, I found the Copilot query box and suggestions were still on the New Tab Page. This is disappointing. However, combing through the edge://policy/ page makes it clear that Just The Browser stripped Edge of a lot of features, and the Copilot mode is no more, so I call that a big win. Stripping off the chrome Next, came Chrome. I'd already had Chrome installed, so I opted to see what this tool would do. This time around, I ran the test on Linux. The steps for this are a bit different. Here's what I had to do: Prior to running the steps above, Chrome included the AI Mode in the URL bar. The first thing I noticed was that the AI Mode had indeed been removed. I dug a bit deeper and found there was zero indication that AI was found anywhere on the browser. Good job. What about telemetry? But what about the claim that Just The Browser removes telemetry? That's a much trickier bit. After running Just The Browser, I opened Chrome's settings and noticed that there were several sync options still enabled, such as "Make searches and browsing better" and "Improve search suggestions." Those two bits alone send data to Google, so it seems to me that Just The Browser isn't as good at stopping telemetry with Chrome, but it's very good at disabling AI functionality. Given that you can manually disable some of those telemetry options, I still think Just The Browser is a worthy tool. Also: Are AI browsers worth the security risk? Why experts are worried In the end, if you don't want to get rid of your default browser but do want to jettison features that could invade your privacy or use your data for third-party purposes, I would recommend giving Just The Browser a try.

This Script Removes the AI Features From Chrome, Edge, and Firefox

Tech companies are getting increasingly pushy with their large language models -- prominent buttons for these AI features coat every surface designers can think of, including in three of the most prominent browsers: Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. If you want these AI features to go away, and stay away, there's a script for that. JustTheBrowser is a free and open source tool from developer and tech blogger Corbin Davenport that removes AI features, telemetry data reporting, sponsored content, product integrations, and other annoyances from Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Basically, you can run this once and never think about these features again. To get started, head to the JustTheBrowser homepage. There are scripts to copy (which I'm not going to include here in case they change in the future). Windows users will need to run PowerShell as an admin -- the easiest way to do that is by right-clicking PowerShell in the start menu and clicking "Run as administrator." There is a different script for Mac and Linux users -- that one just needs to be copied into a regular Terminal. Either way, you will be asked which browser you'd like to update the settings for -- just hit the number corresponding to what you want to do. In my testing, the process was very simple on Windows -- just click the number and the script will do its thing. On macOS, I needed to follow a few instructions to enable a configuration policy in the Settings app, something that only took a couple of clicks. After that, Chrome was free of any and all references to AI. A number of other features were also gone, including those annoying prompts to switch my default browser. The way this works is kind of interesting: it uses features intended for large organizations. Basically all major browsers allow for group settings, which is how IT departments control what you can and can't do with your browser. Among these settings are ones to disable AI features. It's an interesting workaround, and hopefully one that keeps working. There is always a chance that browser companies make it so even IT departments can't disable AI features, at which point we'll all need to find a new solution (or switch to an alternative browser).

Heroic former PC Gamer writer creates a script to banish all the AI features from Google Chrome

Just the Browser removes a bunch of AI cruft and telemetry garbage, and it's incredibly easy to use. It supports Firefox and Edge, too! Former PC Gamer writers have gone on to do amazing things: Pen Star Wars movies, sell millions of extremely good videogames, and, maybe, save the internet? I exaggerate slightly, but tech writer Corbin Davenport released a tool last week called Just the Browser that offers the faintest glimmer of light in this AI abyss we now call the web. Per the description on Just the Browser's Github page, the project is a script that, when run, will "remove AI features, telemetry data reporting, sponsored content, product integrations, and other annoyances from web browsers." On Windows, all you have to do is open PowerShell as administrator and copy-paste this command: The script will then ask you which browser you wish to de-AI, with support for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. Press a couple keys and you're done. It's just as simple to run in the terminal on Mac or Linux. To set expectations, Just the Browser does not touch anything on the actual websites you visit, which means you're still going to be seeing AI crap all over the place. It is not a silver bullet. What it's doing is using group policy settings -- the sorts of under-the-hood levers that IT folks configure that aren't typically visible to the everyday user -- to disable features that don't have an easy off switch. It's not a hack or a browser extension, and you could do the same thing manually if you wanted to -- Corbin just bundled up a bunch of nice little changes into one simple script. If you're a Chrome user, here's all the stuff Just the Browser is disabling, which you can see for yourself if you type chrome://policy/ into your address bar. The open source project has gotten a blitz of attention this week, popping up on Hacker News and a range of tech sites. This has of course invited a number of correct-but-nonetheless-obnoxious commenters pointing out that running a random PowerShell script you find on the internet is very bad opsec, and who says we should trust this random guy anyway? I am! I'm saying it! Corbin has a long history of making cool, free open source projects, and Just the Browser also has a documented manual process if you want to see exactly what the script is changing (which is just the stuff in the table above). Great work, Corbin. Now we just have to figure out how to block the rest of the slop.