DuckDuckGo Search & Tracker Protection

Tracking since Apr 16, 2026.

Changelog

• May 28, 2026
  short_description

  ⚡Protects your data. Private search with optional AI, private browsing, and ad blocking.

  Protects your data. Private search with optional AI, private browsing, and ad blocking.

• May 2, 2026
  description

  At DuckDuckGo, we believe the best way to protect your personal information from hackers, scammers, and privacy-invasive companies is to stop it from being collected at all. That's why millions of people choose DuckDuckGo over other browser extensions to protect their searching and browsing. Our built-in search engine is like Google but never tracks your searches. And our browsing protections, such as ad tracker blocking and cookie blocking, help stop other companies from collecting your data. Oh, and our browser extension is free — we make money from privacy-respecting search ads, not by exploiting your data. Take back control of your personal information with the browser extension designed for data protection.  
  
  FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS  
  Protect Your Searches by Default: Install the extension and we’ll set your default search engine and homepage to DuckDuckGo Search, so you can easily search online without being tracked.  
   
  Shield Your Browsing History: Our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection blocks most trackers before they load, greatly exceeding what the browser offers by default.  
  
  Secure Your Email (Optional): Use Email Protection to block most email trackers and hide your existing email address with @duck.com addresses.   
   
  Automatically Enforce Encryption: Shield your data from network and Wi-Fi snoopers by forcing many sites to use an HTTPS connection.  
   
  Escape Fingerprinting: Make it harder for companies to create a unique identifier for you by blocking attempts to combine info about your browser and device.  
   
  Block Tracking Cookies: prevents most 3rd-party cookies from tracking you as you browse from site to site.  
   
  Chrome’s Tracking Tech Protection — stops Google from using your browser to collect and auction off your personal data with their latest advertising trackers and targeting (“Protected Audience API” and “Topics API”).  
   
  We feature many protections not available on most browsers and extensions, even in private browsing mode, including protection from link tracking, Global Privacy Control, and more. 
  
  You don't need to wait to take control of your personal information! Join the millions of people using DuckDuckGo to protect their everyday searching, browsing, and emailing. 
   
  Read more about our free Tracking Protections at https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/web-tracking-protections 
  Privacy Policy: https://duckduckgo.com/privacy/  
  Terms of Service: https://duckduckgo.com/terms 
   
  Note about 3rd-Party Tracker Protection and Search Ads: while there are some limitations following search ad clicks, viewing ads on DuckDuckGo search is anonymous. Learn more here https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/web-tracking-protections 
  
  That's how DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials delivers on our single-purpose promise to provide seamless protection in Chrome.  
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  To be the most privacy-protected you can be in Chrome, we also suggest tweaking your Chrome settings that are not controllable by extensions.  
  
  Sign out of Chrome and turn off Chrome sign-in 
  
  https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/9159867?hl=en&ref_topic=7439538;  
  
  Don't sync your history data with Chrome (go to “Sign out & turn off sync” instructions) https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/185277;  
  
  In Google Activity Controls, disable “Web & App Activity”  https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/54068?sjid=344786957015178031-NC  
  
  In Google Ad Settings, turn off Personalized ads  
  https://adssettings.google.com/  
  
  Looking for our Mac or Windows browser? You can download them here: https://duckduckgo.com/app.  
  
  Open Source: https://github.com/duckduckgo/duckduckgo-privacy-extension

  At DuckDuckGo, we believe the best way to protect your personal information from hackers, scammers, and privacy-invasive companies is to stop it from being collected at all. That's why millions of people choose DuckDuckGo over other browser extensions to protect their searching and browsing. Our built-in search engine is like Google but never tracks your searches. Our browsing protections, such as ad tracker blocking and cookie blocking, help stop other companies from collecting your data. While our optional integrated AI features, Search Assist and Duck.ai, are private and never use your data to train AI. Oh, and our browser extension is free — we make money from privacy-respecting search ads, not by exploiting your data. Take back control of your personal information with the browser extension designed for data protection.   
  
  FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS   
  Protect Your Searches by Default: Install the extension and we’ll set your default search engine and homepage to DuckDuckGo Search, so you can easily search online without being tracked. 
    
  Shield Your Browsing History: Our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection blocks most trackers before they load, greatly exceeding what the browser offers by default.   
  
  Chat Privately With AI: Duck.ai lets you have private conversations with 3rd-party AI models, anonymized by us and never used to train AI.   
  
  Secure Your Email (Optional): Use Email Protection to block most email trackers and hide your existing email address with @duck.com addresses.    
  
  Automatically Enforce Encryption: Shield your data from network and Wi-Fi snoopers by forcing many sites to use an HTTPS connection.   
  
  Escape Fingerprinting: Make it harder for companies to create a unique identifier for you by blocking attempts to combine info about your browser and device.   
  
  Block Tracking Cookies: prevents most 3rd-party cookies from tracking you as you browse from site to site.   
  
  Chrome’s Tracking Tech Protection: Stops Google from using your browser to collect and auction off your personal data with their latest advertising trackers and targeting (“Protected Audience API” and “Topics API”).   
  
  We feature many protections not available on most browsers and extensions, even in private browsing mode, including protection from link tracking, Global Privacy Control, and more.  
  
  You don't need to wait to take control of your personal information! Join the millions of people using DuckDuckGo to protect their everyday searching, browsing, and emailing.  
  
  Read more about our free Tracking Protections at https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/web-tracking-protections  
  
  Privacy Policy: https://duckduckgo.com/privacy/   
  Terms of Service: https://duckduckgo.com/terms  
  Note about 3rd-Party Tracker Protection and Search Ads: while there are some limitations following search ad clicks, viewing ads on DuckDuckGo search is anonymous. Learn more here https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/web-tracking-protections  
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------   
  To be the most privacy-protected you can be in Chrome, we also suggest tweaking your Chrome settings that are not controllable by extensions. 
    
  Sign out of Chrome and turn off Chrome sign-in  
  https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/9159867?hl=en&ref_topic=7439538;   
  
  Don't sync your history data with Chrome (go to “Sign out & turn off sync” instructions) https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/185277;   
  In Google Activity Controls, disable “Web & App Activity”  https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/54068?sjid=344786957015178031-NC   
  
  In Google Ad Settings, turn off Personalized ads   
  https://adssettings.google.com/   
  
  Looking for our Mac or Windows browser? You can download them here: https://duckduckgo.com/app   
  
  Open Source: https://github.com/duckduckgo/duckduckgo-privacy-extension

• May 2, 2026
  short_description

  Actively protects your data in your current browser.

  ⚡Protects your data. Private search with optional AI, private browsing, and ad blocking.

Permissions & access

Permissions

activeTabalarmscontextMenusdeclarativeNetRequestdeclarativeNetRequestFeedbackscriptingstoragetabswebRequestwebNavigationcookies

Host access

*://*/*

Screenshots

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