Uninstalling Chrome Extensions Installed by Your Administrator

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Get rid of “Installed by Your Administrator” or “Enterprise Policy”
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Do you get an error about a Chrome extension being "installed by an administrator" or “managed by your organization” when you try to uninstall it? If your computer was issued by work or school and you're not an administrator, you may be unable to remove some extensions. But if the computer is yours and you suddenly see this error, you may have accidentally installed some malware. This wikiHow article teaches you how to remove Chrome extensions installed without your permission on Windows and Mac, with advice from professional technologist Stan Kats.

Easy Steps to Remove Admin Installed Extensions

Go to chrome://extensions in Chrome, toggle on "Developer mode," and copy the ID of the extension. In the registry editor, find and delete all values containing the ID. Restart Chrome and uninstall normally. If you’re on Mac, you’ll need to remove any Chrome policy management profiles.

Section 1 of 4:

Windows

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  1. Type "chrome://extensions" into the URL bar and press ↵ Enter . This shows you all the extensions you have installed on Chrome, even if they are disabled.
  2. It's at the top-right corner of the page. If the switch is light blue and pointing to the right, it is on.
    • If the developer mode switch is not available, it may have been disabled by your administrator. If you are the administrator, reenable developer tools in the Group Policy Editor under Computer Configuration > Google Chrome > Control where developer tools can be used . [1]
      • To access the Group Policy Editor, press Windows key + R and type in gpedit.msc . Press Enter .
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  3. When developer mode is enabled, you'll see long ID codes below each extension's name. Highlight the code (the part after the ID), and press Ctrl + C to copy it. [2]
    • You can paste this into a text editor like Notepad or Sticky Notes for now.
    • Close all open Chrome windows when you're finished.
  4. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type regedit , and press Enter to do so.
    • When prompted, click Yes to run the registry editor with admin privileges.
    • Because editing the registry can be risky, it's usually a good idea to make a backup before making changes.
    • If you can’t access the Registry Editor, you might need to run it as an administrator. Type regedit into the search bar in the Start menu, then right-click the result. Select Run as administrator in the menu that pops up.
      • Can’t run as an administrator? Make sure you’re logged into an administrator account on your computer. If your account doesn’t have administrator privileges, you may be able to change it .
  5. This opens the Find window.
  6. To paste, click inside the "Find what" box, then press Ctrl + V on your keyboard. The registry editor will now search the registry for that ID.
  7. The value you're clicking is in the right panel of the window.
    • Don't just delete the ID from the field—you'll want to delete the entire registry value.
    • Repeat for any other extensions you can't remove.
  8. Once the first value is removed, press Ctrl + F again—the ID should still be in the field. Click Find Next to check the registry for any other instances of the ID.
    • If you find another value containing the extension's ID, right-click it and select Delete .
    • In all, you'll usually be deleting two different registry values. Sometimes there could be more or less.
  9. Now that you've deleted the registry entry, you can delete the extension like any other.
    • To delete the extension, go to chrome://extensions, click Remove next to the extension you want to delete, and follow the on-screen instructions to remove it from Chrome.
    • After you've deleted the extension from Chrome, you should run an anti-malware scan to make sure you don't have any other malicious files hanging around.
  10. If the extension is automatically reinstalled, Chrome may be managed by a browser management policy. You can check by clicking the three-dot menu in Chrome and looking for Managed by your organization at the bottom of the menu. If you have admin rights on your PC, you can delete the policy by deleting several registry keys and values. [3]
    • Close Chrome.
    • Reopen the registry editor and use Ctrl + F to find the following keys. When you find a key, delete it.
      • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome
      • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Google\Chrome
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Update
      • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Google\Enrollment
    • Search the registry for CloudManagementEnrollmentToken . You'll find it in a key called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Google\
      Update\ClientState{430FD4D0-B729-4F61-AA34-91526481799D}.
    • Delete the value CloudManagementEnrollmentToken (not the entire registry key) from the key.
    • Open File Explorer and paste the following address into the address bar: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google .
    • Delete the folder called Policies.
  11. 11
    Delete the extension’s app data and do a reset if needed. If you’re still having trouble removing the extension, Kats says you can get rid of it with Chrome’s Reset and clean up option. [4] Here’s how to do it:
    • Go back to chrome://extensions in your browser and make sure Developer mode is still enabled. Copy the ID of the extension you want to delete.
    • Open a File Explorer window and navigate to C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions . Kats explains that this is the default location for your Chrome settings. [5]
    • Search for the extension ID in the folder and delete it.
    • Reset Chrome to its default settings. Type in chrome://settings in the URL bar of Chrome and hit Enter , then scroll down and click Advanced . Under Reset and clean up , select Restore settings to their original defaults > Reset settings .
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Section 2 of 4:

Mac

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  1. If you can't delete a Chrome extension that was installed by an administrator, there may be a security policy in place. You can check by clicking the three-dot menu in Chrome and looking for Managed by your organization at the bottom of the menu. [6] If Chrome is managed, start by checking for and removing any unneeded profiles:
    • Click the Apple menu and select System Settings .
    • Click Profiles .
    • If you see a profile you don't need, select it and click the minus sign - > Remove .
    • Reopen Chrome and try deleting the extension again.
  2. If no profiles were found, or the extension comes back after you uninstall it, it may be due to malware. Open your Applications folder in Finder and delete any programs you don't recognize or remember installing yourself.
  3. If you still can't permanently delete the extension, clear Chrome's defaults using these steps:
    • Open the Terminal . You'll find it on your Launchpad.
    • Type defaults delete com.google.Chrome and press Return .
    • Enter your account password when prompted to complete the action.
  4. If you still can't delete the extension permanently, check for and delete the following files. You can access them by clicking Go > Go to folder at the top of the screen from Finder or the Desktop, then copying and pasting the paths below:
    • /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome.plist
    • /Library/Managed Preferences/com.google.Chrome.plist
    • ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome Cloud Enrollment/*
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Section 3 of 4:

Troubleshooting

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  1. If you can't turn on developer mode in Chrome, it's usually because your administrator has disabled this feature. If you're the administrator, re-enable developer mode in your Chrome security policy.
    • To enable developer mode, go to admin.google.com/ and sign in with your administrator account. Go to ☰ > Devices > Chrome (or Chrome browser ) > Settings . Click Developer tools availability and make sure Allow use of developer tools on extensions page is enabled. [7]
    • You can also try running Chrome as an administrator . To do this, type chrome into the Windows search bar, right-click "Chrome," and select Run as administrator .
      • There’s no option to run a program as an administrator on Mac, but you shouldn’t need to do so if you’re logged in with an admin account. If you’re still having trouble, you can try running Chrome with root privileges .
  2. This happens if the extension was originally installed by your computer's administrator, or in the case of a malware infection. If your computer isn't managed by an administrator other than yourself, use Microsoft Defender to run a malware scan.
    • In this situation, you can also try completely resetting Chrome, which will remove all extensions. Make sure you delete the extension from your App Data folder as well (see the instructions in the Windows section above).
  3. If you're a Google Workspace admin who manages Chrome installations in the Google Admin console, you can remove this instance of Chrome from the managed browser list. Here's how:
    • Log in to Google admin console using your administrator account.
    • Go to ☰ > Devices > Chrome > Managed browsers .
    • Select the browser you want to remove and select More > Delete .
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Section 4 of 4:

Tips

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    • There’s a free tool called Chrome Policy Remover that you can use to easily delete malicious Chrome policy settings and associated extensions. This app is available for both Windows and Mac. While our research suggests that Chrome Policy Remover is likely to be safe and effective, note that it is not officially approved by the Chrome Web Store. Use it at your own risk if other methods haven’t worked.

Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    Are there free Chrome extensions that block adult websites?
    Stan Kats
    Professional Technologist
    Stan Kats is a Professional Technologist and the COO and Chief Technologist for The STG IT Consulting Group in West Hollywood, California. Stan provides comprehensive technology solutions to businesses through managed IT services, and for individuals through his consumer service business, Stan's Tech Garage. Stan holds a BA in International Relations from The University of Southern California. He began his career working in the Fortune 500 IT world. Stan founded his companies to offer an enterprise-level of expertise for small businesses and individuals.
    Stan Kats
    Professional Technologist
    Expert Answer
    Use ad blocking software! An extension like uBlock can be good (and can even be used to block adult content), though sometimes goes a bit too far, which makes browsing a little more challenging. If you do a quick Google search for extensions that block adult content, you'll get quite a list to choose from.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
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    Not Helpful 5 Helpful 8
  • Question
    How do you remove extensions that can't be removed?
    Stan Kats
    Professional Technologist
    Stan Kats is a Professional Technologist and the COO and Chief Technologist for The STG IT Consulting Group in West Hollywood, California. Stan provides comprehensive technology solutions to businesses through managed IT services, and for individuals through his consumer service business, Stan's Tech Garage. Stan holds a BA in International Relations from The University of Southern California. He began his career working in the Fortune 500 IT world. Stan founded his companies to offer an enterprise-level of expertise for small businesses and individuals.
    Stan Kats
    Professional Technologist
    Expert Answer
    Try resetting your Chrome browser! Go into the three little dots in the upper right corner, choose Settings , and then select the Reset option. If everything is really failing and there's potentially malware, remove all the Chrome settings manually on your computer.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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      Expert Interview

      Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about removing Chrome Extensions, check out our in-depth interview with Stan Kats .

      References

      1. ↑ https://docs.keeper.io/en/enterprise-guide/deploying-keeper-to-end-users/keeper-fill/windows/group-policy-deployment-chrome
      2. ↑ https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6177447
      3. ↑ https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9844476
      4. ↑ Stan Kats. Cybersecurity Expert. Expert Interview
      5. ↑ Stan Kats. Cybersecurity Expert. Expert Interview
      6. ↑ https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9844476
      7. ↑ https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2657289#zippy=,policies-set-for-users,developer-tools

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Copy the extension ID in Chrome.
      2. Find the IDs in the Registry Editor.
      3. Delete the IDs in the Registry Editor (there should be at least 2 entries).
      4. Delete the extension from Chrome.

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