Browser extensions are a great way to expand the functionality of your favorite browser. But bad Chrome extensions can cause much more harm than help. Whether they use lots of system resources, collect your data, install adware, redirect your searches to spammy sites, or similar, you don't want them on your system.

It's hard to keep track of the worst Chrome extensions, since good extensions go rogue all the time. Below we've collected several bad Chrome extensions that you should uninstall as soon as possible, plus tips for avoiding them in the future.

1. Hola

Hola VPN Chrome

Hola is an extremely popular extension for unblocking content that's not available in your region. However, unlike a proper VPN, Hola acts as a peer-to-peer proxy network. This means that everyone using Hola actually "borrows" another user's connection.

Even worse, Hola has been used as a giant botnet system. In exchange for the free service, Hola uses some of your idle bandwidth to power the connections of other users. In the past, Hola sold this bandwidth through the then-associated Luminati (now Bright Data) service. Before the company introduced tighter guidelines, malicious individuals took advantage of the system to launch DDoS attacks on major websites.

While Hola can provide a useful service, we recommend staying away from this setup that trades your bandwidth to unknown parties. Plus, if another user accessed your connection through the network and accessed illegal material, it could get you in trouble.

Use one of the best VPN services that respect your privacy instead.

2. The New NX

Chrome Web Store The New NX

In mid-2021, an extension titled The New NX popped up and started receiving lots of negative reviews. Looking at its Chrome Web Store page reveals several red flags that are useful in illustrating how to spot nasty Chrome add-ons.

The app's description is extremely vague. It says it "takes users to relative content when a website no longer exists. Allows users to see to find related websites when their normal website is down." This lack of clarity is a sign that you shouldn't install the extension—never install something if you don't know what it does.

The screenshots are also unclear. And if you click Website to visit the extension's page, it's a nearly-empty website with only an email signup list, links back to the Chrome Web Store page, and social buttons that do nothing.

All the reviews for the extension also state that it's a scam. It seems that using a certain downloader website prompts you to install this extension, which then engages in malicious behavior. This is a bad Chrome extension that you should stay far away from, and uninstall if needed.

3. FindMeFreebies

FindMeFreebies Chrome

An extension called "FindMeFreebies" sounds like it will help you find free goods online. However, all it does is change your new tab page to FindMeFreebies.com, which advertises ways to find free items.

Hijacking your homepage or new tab page like this is a common tactic of junk extensions that just want to show you ads to make money. If you dig into the privacy policy for this extension, you'll see that it comes from the same people behind the spammy Ask search engine. There's no reason to use this; you can find legitimate discounts elsewhere online without this page.

As of this writing, this extension is no longer on the Chrome Web Store. However, you should still check to see if it's on your copy of Chrome from a past installation, and avoid any extensions like it.

4. Hover Zoom

hover zoom chrome store

Many dangerous Chrome extensions have thankfully been removed from the Chrome Web Store. Hover Zoom is one such example—it started as a useful tool for enlarging images when you mouse over them. However, it was bought by a malicious company that turned the extension into spyware by tracking and selling your browsing data.

While Hover Zoom is no longer on the Web Store, we include it here due to its popularity. It's worth checking to make sure you don't still have this installed. If you do, remove it and try Imagus instead, which is a safe alternative. Note that Hover Zoom+ is an open source successor to the original, and is safe to use.

5. All Antivirus Extensions

AVG Chrome Extension

Browser extensions from antivirus manufacturers pretty much only exist to make money for those companies. Almost every antivirus monitors your web traffic for safety anyway, so you don't need a dedicated browser extension.

Some of these extensions engage in questionable behavior, including gathering your browsing information and changing your homepage or default search engine. Using one of these extensions doesn't make you any more secure, so you should just get rid of them. Modern browsers include most of these security features out of the box.

6. Any Unfamiliar Extensions

Thankfully, a lot of the dangerous Chrome extensions that we previously recommended against installing are no longer available. However, new ones crop up all the time. Cisco's Duo Security published a report in February 2020 about dozens of malicious extensions that Google removed from the Web Store.

Most of these have questionable names, like EasyToolOnline Promos or LoveTestPro Ad Offers. Chances are that you wouldn't install something like this in the first place, but it's worth checking out your installed list of extensions from time to time just to make sure.

Junk like this poses as a useful add-on, but works in the background to spawn ads so the companies can make money. We've looked at some other Chrome extensions that leaked user data before, if you'd like more info.

How to Avoid Dangerous Chrome Extensions in the Future

Unfortunately, keeping up with dangerous Chrome extensions is a bit of a challenge. Once-legitimate extensions are often sold to malicious companies, who then use them to make money by selling your data or jamming the extension full of garbage.

Before you install any extension, check out the reviews on the Web Store, particularly recent ones. If you see largely negative reviews complaining about ads or other shady behavior, you shouldn't use that extension. It's also worth Googling the name of the extension, as you'll probably find reports of issues on forums.

To review your installed extensions, click the three-dot Menu button at the top-right of Chrome and choose More tools > Extensions. Disable anything that you don't use often by turning off its slider. If you don't recognize an extension or know that you don't want it, click Remove.

Select Details to see more about an extension, including its permissions. Under the Site access section, you can choose what sites the browser can access your data on. It's also a good idea to click Open extension website—if it looks unprofessional or empty, that's a sign of a bad extension.

Chrome Extension Options

Finally, you can click View in Chrome Web Store to see the download page for the extension. This makes it easy to check recent reviews for an extension you might have had installed for a while.

Delete Bad Chrome Extensions You Don't Need

Thankfully, a lot of nasty Chrome extensions are no longer on the Web Store. But new ones pop up all the time, so you still need to take care. Make sure you trust an extension before installing it by looking into reviews, and regularly glance over your installed extensions to make sure nothing has gone rogue.

A bad extension can also be one of the many reasons that Google Chrome freezes or otherwise doesn't respond properly.