My Chrome was crawling. Like actually painful to use.
Ten extensions were sitting in my toolbar doing basically nothing. Just eating up memory and making everything sluggish.
So I finally bit the bullet. Disabled them all. Well, ten of them anyway.
The difference was immediate.
What I Actually Noticed After Cutting Extensions
Chrome went from taking 8 seconds to start up to about 4 seconds. That might not sound like much but when you're opening your browser 20 times a day it adds up.
Tab switching got way smoother too. Before I'd click a tab and wait for it to actually load. Now it's instant.
The memory usage dropped by about 20 percent according to Task Manager. That freed up space for other programs to actually run properly.
But here's the weird part. The visual change hit me harder than the performance stuff.
My toolbar went from this cluttered mess of random icons to just 4 clean ones. Suddenly my browser looked organized. Professional even.
The Mental Side Nobody Talks About
This is where it gets interesting. Each extension icon was basically a tiny decision waiting to happen.
Should I use this screenshot tool or that one. Do I need to check for coupons. Is my ad blocker working right.
All these micro-decisions were creating this low level stress I didn't even realize was there.
With fewer options my brain just relaxed. I could focus on actually browsing instead of managing my browser setup.
The notification spam stopped too. Extensions love sending little pop-ups and alerts. Fewer extensions meant fewer interruptions.
Which Extensions Were Actually Useless
The worst offenders were the ones I installed for one specific task months ago. Screenshot tools when Chrome has built-in screenshots now. Translation extensions when Google Translate is everywhere.
Coupon finder extensions were the biggest resource hogs. They scan every page looking for deals. That means they're running scripts constantly even when you're not shopping.
Multiple ad blockers. I somehow had three different ones running. They were probably conflicting with each other and definitely using way more resources than needed.
Old productivity extensions from 2023 that don't even work properly with current Chrome versions.
The Simple Process That Actually Works
Don't delete everything at once. That's asking for regret.
Click the puzzle piece icon in Chrome. Look at each extension and ask yourself when you last used it. If you can't remember it probably needs to go.
Disable first instead of uninstalling. Use Chrome for a few days and see what you actually miss.
Most of the time you won't miss anything. The few things you do miss might have better alternatives or might not be as important as you thought.
Current Extension Reality Check
Chrome in 2025 has most of the functionality people were adding extensions for years ago. Built-in password management. Screenshots. Basic translation. Dark mode.
The Chrome Web Store is also full of extensions that haven't been updated in years. Some are straight up malware at this point.
Security researchers found dozens of popular extensions that were secretly collecting user data. Having fewer extensions means fewer potential security holes.
What Actually Matters Now
Keep your ad blocker if you need one. Pick one good one.
Password managers are still worth it if you're not using Chrome's built-in version.
Developer tools if you actually code.
Everything else is probably optional. The bar for keeping an extension should be high. Does it save you significant time every single day.
Most extensions solve problems that don't really exist anymore or create new problems while solving old ones.
The cleanest browser setup is usually the fastest and most secure one.