Uninstalling Chrome Extensions Installed by Your Administrator

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Learn how to get rid of “Installed by Your Administrator” or “Enterprise Policy”

Co-authored by Stan Kats and Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: July 16, 2024 Fact Checked

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Mac

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Troubleshooting

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Do you get an error about a Chrome extension being "installed by an administrator" 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.

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.

Section 1 of 3:

Windows

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This shows you all the extensions you have installed on Chrome, even if they are disabled.
2
Toggle on the "Developer mode" switch
. 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]
  X
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3
Copy the extension ID from the extension you can't uninstall. When developer mode is enabled, you'll see long ID codes below each extension's name. Highlight the code (the part after ID), and press Ctrl + C to copy it.^{[2]
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- You can paste this in a text editor like Notepad or Sticky Notes for now.
- Close all open Chrome windows when you're finished.
4
Open the Registry Editor. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type regedit, and press Enter to do so.
- When prompted, click Yes to run 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.
This opens the Find window.
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.
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Right-click the value with that ID and select Delete. The value you're clicking is in the right panel on 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.
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Check for more values containing the ID. 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.
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Restart Chrome and remove the extension. Now that you've deleted the registry entry, you 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.
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Remove Chrome browser management policies. 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]
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- 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.

Section 2 of 3:

Mac

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1
Remove any Chrome policy management profiles from your Mac. 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.^{[4]
X
Research source} 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.
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.
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Clear Chrome's user defaults. 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.
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Delete additional Chrome management files. If you still can't delete the extension permanently, check for and delete the following files:
- /Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome.plist
- /Library/Managed Preferences/com.google.Chrome.plist
- ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome Cloud Enrollment/*

Section 3 of 3:

Troubleshooting

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1
The developer switch isn't working or isn't visible. 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.
- 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.
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.
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You don't want to manage this instance of Chrome anymore. 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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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.

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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.

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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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