How to Remove Safari Extensions on Mac and iPhone

How do you remove a Safari extension?

On a Mac, Safari extensions live in Safari > Settings (or Preferences) > Extensions. Turning off the checkbox disables an extension instantly; fully removing it usually means uninstalling the app that provides it, since most Safari extensions ship inside a regular Mac app from the App Store.

On an iPhone or iPad, the same idea applies through Settings > Safari > Extensions. A toggle switches an extension off, but deleting it for good means deleting the app it came bundled with, the same way you'd remove any other app.

• Turn off = flip the switch or checkbox; the extension stops running but stays installed.
• Remove = uninstall or delete the app that contains the extension.
• Check Chrome too if you use the same extension across both browsers.

How to remove a Safari extension on Mac

Apple builds Safari extension management into a dedicated settings pane rather than a puzzle-icon dropdown, so the whole process happens in one place.

1. Open Safari and, from the Safari menu in the menu bar, choose Settings (or Preferences on older macOS versions).
2. Click the Extensions tab in the settings window.
3. Select the extension you want to remove from the sidebar list.
4. Deselect its checkbox to turn it off immediately, or select the extension and use the uninstall option next to it to remove it entirely.
5. If no direct uninstall option appears, open Finder > Applications, find the app the extension came from, and move it to the Trash; this removes the extension along with the app.

If you're not sure what an extension does or don't expect to use it again, Apple's own guidance is straightforward: uninstall it rather than leaving it disabled indefinitely.

Should you disable or fully uninstall a Safari extension?

These aren't the same action, and mixing them up is a common source of confusion when an extension "won't go away."

Disabling is the right move when you want an extension off temporarily, for example while diagnosing whether it's causing a webpage to break. Uninstalling is the right move once you've decided you won't use it again, since a pile of disabled-but-installed extensions still shows up in the Extensions list and can be confusing to sort through later.

How to remove a Safari extension on iPhone

iOS handles extensions through the Settings app rather than through Safari itself, and turning one off doesn't remove the app it belongs to.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll to Safari and tap it (on newer iOS versions this may sit under Apps > Safari instead).
3. Tap Extensions.
4. Tap the extension you want to manage, then turn off its toggle to disable it.
5. To remove it completely, go to your Home Screen, press and hold the app the extension came from, and choose Delete App.

Deleting the parent app removes its Safari extension automatically; there's no separate "delete extension only" option on iOS, because the extension is packaged as part of the app rather than installed on its own.

Mac vs iPhone: quick comparison

The concepts are the same on both platforms, but the exact screens differ enough to trip people up switching between devices.

Extensions, private browsing, and Safari profiles

A few Safari-specific behaviors around extensions catch people off guard, especially anyone coming from Chrome's simpler on/off model.

Private Browsing turns off extensions by default

In recent macOS versions, any extension that needs website access is off by default in a private window. Turn one back on for private browsing from Settings > Extensions, select the extension, then check Allow in Private Browsing.

Per-site access control

Click Edit Websites in the Extensions pane to allow, deny, or require the extension to ask before it can access a specific site, rather than granting it blanket access everywhere.

Safari profiles

If you use Safari profiles, the default profile's extensions are managed in the main Extensions tab, while each other profile has its own separate Extensions tab. New profiles start with all extensions turned off until you enable them there.

Removing a Safari extension you also installed in Chrome

Password managers, translators, and writing assistants are commonly installed in both Safari and Chrome by the same person, since the extension exists for both browsers separately. Removing one from Safari has no effect on the copy running in Chrome; each browser tracks its own installed extensions independently.

If your goal is to stop using an extension entirely rather than just in Safari, work through removing it from Chrome as a separate step, since the two removal processes don't affect each other at all.

What to do when a Safari extension won't turn off or disappear

A short list of problems accounts for most of the confusion people run into removing a Safari extension.

• Extension still appears after deleting the app: quit and reopen Safari, since the Extensions list doesn't always refresh instantly.
• Toggle won't turn on: check System Settings > Privacy & Security on Mac, since macOS sometimes blocks a newly installed extension until you approve it there.
• Extension is missing from the list entirely: it may have been installed for a different Safari profile; check each profile's own Extensions tab.
• Can't find the delete option on iPhone: remember extensions delete along with their parent app, so look on the Home Screen, not inside Safari's own settings.