When the Google Chrome browser first launched for Windows, Linux and macOS, the installation file was a mere 11.4 MB. Today, the “stub” installer alone—which downloads further data from the internet—exceeds 200 MB. Alongside useful additions like developer tools or cross-device tab syncing, modern browsers now come with a significant amount of “bloatware”.
Google Chrome, for instance, constantly shares usage data with Google to help the company optimise its products. A few years ago, Microsoft faced criticism for integrating a US-based technical payment provider into its Edge browser. Even the open-source Mozilla Firefox now includes AI integrations, though thankfully, these remain optional for now.
But why have our browsers become so cluttered with features?
Browsers as Free Data Collectors
Although every internet user requires a browser, all mainstream solutions are initially free of charge. However, providers like Google generate massive revenue through tracking usage data, shopping suggestions and other mechanisms. These supposedly “free” browsers effectively turn their users into the product.
For many, the browser is also the gateway to services like Google Search, Google Drive or AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT. Google charges companies to have their functions embedded directly into the software. Consequently, browsers like Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge are full of small “outposts” for other services and providers, often without the user even noticing.
Do you find the extra AI features in apps and browsers annoying?
The ongoing “AI boom” is bringing many GenAI features to web applications, programs, and more.
We recently wrote about how to escape the “walled garden” of big tech companies.
While these extra features might not seem intrusive, what happens invisibly in the background leads to significant data traffic and higher energy consumption. This results in unnecessary “data waste” at data centres worldwide, leading to increased resource consumption and CO2 emissions.
How AI integrations and trackers increase our carbon footprint
A large part of our digital carbon footprint comes from buying new hardware and the energy required for IT infrastructure or web browsing. “Carbon-heavy” activities like streaming video or using large language models (LLMs) have also become part of daily life for many. (You can find helpful tips on how to reduce these emissions in our linked articles.)
Alongside conscious actions, the number of unintentional background processes is rising sharply. Using a smartphone app often triggers ad trackers and banners that can account for the majority of the app’s data traffic. Furthermore, every Google search now automatically triggers a request to an AI model. This has caused the emissions from using AI models to far outpace the emissions from training them.
We are seeing a similar trend in browsers. Google has integrated its AI search directly into the address bar, while modern browsers offer built-in shopping features. Only a small fraction of the tracked user data is actually used for browser optimisation or maintenance. In short, there is a lot of “browser ballast” working in the background that offers no benefit to the user.
How JustTheBrowser removes the bloat
Corbin Davenport is an American journalist and independent developer. He offers a free tool called “JustTheBrowser“, which puts the desktop versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge on a “diet”. Davenport achieves this by using Group Policies, which are usually hidden from the standard browser settings. These are typically intended for IT administrators to manage all browsers across an organisation simultaneously.
“I started playing around with web browser administration profiles in 2025,” Corbin told us. “I wanted to remove distracting data from Microsoft Edge on my Mac. I then thought: ‘This could be useful for others if I look at other browsers and support multiple operating systems!'”
Using JustTheBrowser is entirely legal and does not compromise security. The tool simply uses Group Policies to deactivate features such as AI search in the Chrome address bar or the aforementioned shopping integrations. A full list of features is available on the project’s website.
What are ‘Dark Patterns’?
The term “dark patterns” refers to design choices intended to deliberately trick users into taking actions that are against their interests.
In the case of Microsoft Edge, there were reports in 2024 that the browser repeatedly displayed a pop-up in which a button to import data from other browsers was pre-selected.
If users quickly clicked away from this pop-up, the Microsoft browser automatically received usage data from other browsers.
When asked why an independent developer’s tool is necessary, Corbin explained: “Many of these settings can actually be found in the browsers. They are just buried deep in menus or hidden via ‘dark patterns’. I’m not entirely sure why, though with Microsoft, there are constant signs that they want to drive usage of their own products like Office apps or MSN. Deactivating these obviously means less revenue for Microsoft.”
How to use it
For macOS and Windows, you can run JustTheBrowser via the Command Prompt or the macOS Terminal. Simply copy the following commands published by Corbin Davenport:
- For macOS and Linux Terminal:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/just-the-browser/main/main.sh)" - For Windows Command Prompt:
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/just-the-browser/main/main.ps1")))
These lines do not immediately change your browser; they simply download and run the program. In the command interface, you select which browser you want to adjust by typing the corresponding number. After a brief moment, the Group Policies are applied. On macOS, depending on your version, you may need to manually enable the new profile in your System Settings.
If no information appears, try running the program again, ensuring it has administrative privileges. If it still doesn’t work, JustTheBrowser may be incompatible with your current browser version. In this case, we recommend either updating your browser or waiting for a new version of JustTheBrowser (you can subscribe to updates on GitHub).
Mobile browsers and AI search engines
As of March 2026, JustTheBrowser is unfortunately not yet available for mobile versions. However, because the foundations of Chrome and Firefox are open-source, alternative versions can be found on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Browsers such as Vivaldi, SeaMonkey or LibreWolf offer similar “de-bloated” features.
Note that JustTheBrowser cannot suppress AI integrations within search engines themselves, as these are built into the websites of Google, Bing and even Ecosia. If you are looking for “green” search engines, we have compiled a list of alternatives in our linked article.
