safari extensions path

How to Manage Extensions in Safari on Mac and More

Like Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari browser for Mac allows you to use extensions. I’m sure you’ve heard of browser extensions, even though you may have not used them before. In the case of Apple’s Safari browser for Mac, there are many extensions you can download and install that can greatly improve your web browsing experience. That’s because Safari extensions enhance the browser’s functionality. In this guide, I will show you how and where to manage extensions in Safari on Mac and more.

What is Safari Extension and How to Install It

As its name suggests, extensions are generally described as software modules that you can use to customize the browser you use. They extend the functionality of a web browser. A single extension installed on your browser can greatly improve the way you browse the internet and the tasks that you need to do.

For the Safari app for Mac, extensions allow you to do many things, such as display social media and news buttons, block content on websites, extend your access to apps, and more.

In case you’re wondering where to get Safari extensions, you can find and download them from the App Store. All the Safari extensions that you can find from the App Store are vetted by Apple just like any other app. So. you are sure that those extensions are safe and won’t harm your Mac in any way.

How to Install Extensions in Safari on Your Mac

Time needed:  1 minute

To install an extension for Safari on your Mac, just follow these steps.

Choose the one you would like to install.

How to See and Manage Safari Extensions

When you’ve installed Safari extensions, you may not notice some of them at once. Some stay hidden and work in the background. Others appear when you are about to do something in Safari that needs the installed extensions. For example, if you installed the Grammarly Safari extension, you will only see it working when you’re composing a text or message.

To see and manage the Safari extensions on your Mac, simply open the Safari app, then click Setting s > Extensions .

From here, you can do several things.

• Turn an extension on or off by deselecting the extension’s checkbox.
• Use the Safari extensions on your other Apple devices, as long as you’ve signed in with the same Apple ID on your other devices. In addition, you must have Safari turned on in iCloud, enabled two-factor authentication, and selected Share across devices .
• Change an extension’s settings.
• Remove an extension by selecting it, then clicking Uninstall . You may also delete the app that contains the extension.

Relatedly, iPhone or iPad users can check out our separate guide on how to manage Safari extensions on those devices.

How to Remove Unwanted Extensions

In case you’re asking yourself, “How do I remove unwanted extensions in Safari?” This only takes a few simple steps.

• In the Safari app on your Mac, Click Settings .

• If you don’t want to remove the app, you can just disable its extension.
• If you want to remove the app as well, simply click the Show in Finder button.

• Click Move to Trash .

How to Edit Safari Extensions

Another question that you might ask yourself is, “How do I edit Safari extensions?” For that matter, can you edit Safari extensions? The answer to the second question is yes. Unfortunately, however, editing Safari extensions requires you you to be knowledgeable about the Safari Extension builder.

You will also need to execute a Terminal command that extracts all the files contained in the extensions you’ve downloaded. Then, you have to edit it with the Safari Extension Builder. This is something I hope a general user won’t need to do, but if you like to tinker and customize the add-ons for your browser … more power to you.

Final Words: Remove Unused and Unsupported Safari Extensions

Safari will regularly inform you when there are extensions that slow down browsing or when they are no longer supported by Safari. Be sure to remove or delete these extensions.

There may also be instances when extensions can slow down browsing if they are installed but not enabled. So, be sure to enable Safari extensions after installing them.

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• Arnold Zafra

How to use Safari extensions on your iPhone and iPad

Along with some extensions to try.

By Barbara Krasnoff , a reviews editor who manages how-tos. She’s worked as an editor and writer for almost 40 years. Previously, she was a senior reviews editor for Computerworld.

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One of the handiest types of software in anyone’s quiver is the browser extension: those cool little applets that let your browser do what you want it to do. And one of the nicest things about iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 is that you can now add extensions to the Safari browser. Even though this is a new feature that launched with the latest iOS version, there are already a number of useful extensions available for you to add.

What follows is a rundown on how to add extensions to your Safari app — while we’ve illustrated the process using an iPhone, you can follow the same basic directions with an iPad. We’ve also included a sampling of some extensions you can try.

How to add extensions

• Tap on the Settings app.
• Scroll down to and select Safari > Extensions.
• Any extensions that you’ve already installed will be listed here. Tap on “More Extensions” if you’d like to see what’s available in the App Store. (You can also simply go to the App Store and search on “Safari Extensions.”)

• Once you’ve installed your first extension, you’ll see a little “puzzle piece” icon on the left side of Safari’s address bar. Tap that, and the menu that pops up will include your current extensions plus a “Manage Extensions” selection, which lets you toggle your extensions on and off.

Some extensions to try

This is a small sampling of some of the extensions that you can now access via the App Store. While there are not many extensions yet available (compared to the number of extensions for, say, Chrome), it’s a pretty safe bet that there will be lots more to come over the next few months.

Amplosion ($2.99)

AMP, which is short for “Accelerated Mobile Pages,” is a web format created by Google to optimize search results for mobile browsers. However, if you’d rather not have Google tweaking the webpages you upload, you can use Amplosion to redirect the AMP links that show up in search results into normal mobile links.

Noir ($2.99)

When you’re browsing at night and you’ve set your iPhone or iPad to dark mode, you will often hit a website that is bright enough to make your eyes water. Noir allows you to set a dark mode for all the websites you visit.

1Password (subscription needed)

1Password is a well-known and respected password manager . If you’re a 1Password user, there’s no question that you’re going to want to add this one to your mobile Safari app.

Super Agent for Safari (free)

This handy extension automatically fills out a website’s cookie consent forms based on your preferences, which can save you a lot of time and irritation.

Web Inspector (free)

Something for developers: an app that lets you inspect the HTML coding of a website, modify it, debug it, and perform other essential tasks.

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Use Safari extensions on your Mac

Safari extensions enhance and customise the browsing experience on your Mac. Here's how to install them, uninstall them or share them across devices.

Safari extensions add functionality to Safari, so you can explore the web the way you want. Extensions can show helpful information about a web page, display news headlines, help you use your favourite services, change the appearance of web pages and much more. Extensions are a great way to personalise your browsing experience.

Install extensions

Turn on extensions, turn off extensions, uninstall extensions, share extensions across devices.

Use the App Store to conveniently download and install Safari extensions. All extensions in the App Store are reviewed, signed and hosted by Apple for your security, and they’re automatically kept up to date.

Start by installing the latest macOS updates You need Safari 12 or later to get Safari extensions from the App Store.

Open Safari and choose Safari > Safari Extensions from the menu bar.

The App Store opens to the Safari Extensions page. To download and install an extension, click Get or click the price. You may be asked to sign in with your Apple ID.

Click Install.

After the extension has been installed, click Open and follow the onscreen instructions provided by the extension.

After installing an extension, follow these steps to turn it on.

Choose Safari > Settings (or Preferences).

Click Extensions.

Tick the box next to the extension's name. Find out what to do if you can't turn on extensions .

If you’re browsing privately, or using a profile or web app

When browsing in a private window in macOS Sonoma or later, all extensions that require website access will be turned off by default.

Choose Safari > Settings.

Select the extension in the sidebar, then select “Allow in Private Browsing” on the right.

Whether you’re browsing privately or not, you can also restrict the extension’s access to certain websites. Click the Edit Websites button to view the extension in Websites settings. From there you can allow access, deny access or require that websites ask you for access.

When using Safari profiles , extensions for the default profile are managed in the main Extensions tab of Safari settings. Extensions for other profiles are managed in the Profiles tab, which has its own Extensions tab for each profile. By default, extensions are turned off for each new profile.

Choose Safari > Settings (or Preferences), then click Extensions.

To turn off an extension, untick its box.

If you can't determine what an extension does, or you don't expect to use it again, you should uninstall it.

To uninstall an extension, select the extension and click the Uninstall button.

Starting with macOS Ventura, iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, you can share extensions across your Mac, iPhone and iPad:

On your Mac, open Safari and choose Safari > Settings, then click Extensions. Select “Share across devices” at the bottom of the window.

On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Safari > Extensions, then turn on Share Across Devices.

To uninstall an extension from all devices, you must uninstall it on each device.

Safari no longer supports most web plug-ins. To load web pages more quickly, save energy and strengthen security, Safari is optimised for content that uses the HTML5 web standard, which doesn't require a plug-in. To enhance and customise your browsing experience, use Safari extensions instead of web plug-ins.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

How-To Geek

How to install and use safari extensions on iphone and ipad.

Safari extensions are a powerful new feature in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. Let's take a look at how to install, enable, and start using them.

Quick Links

What are safari extensions on iphone and ipad, how to find and install safari extensions on iphone and ipad, how to enable safari extensions on iphone and ipad, how to use safari extensions on iphone and ipad.

Apple introduced a few interesting features with iOS and iPadOS 15, but one of the most useful is extension support in Safari. The upgrade levels it with its desktop counterpart in terms of power, and you can take advantage of that power now.

Safari extensions on your iPhone or iPad work very similarly to extensions on the macOS version of Safari. They have the same level of power as desktop extensions, giving you much more control of your web browsing experience than has ever been possible in iOS or iPadOS before.

Apple introduced support for these extensions in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, so before you start using them, you'll need to update your device to iOS or iPadOS 15 or later.

Installing Safari extensions is an easy process on both iPhone and iPad. The process of actually finding them can be a little tricky. Some extensions, like the 1Password extension , are included with the app, while others are standalone extensions.

Either way, you'll find extensions in the App Store. As of September 2021, there isn't a separate section for extensions, so you'll need to look at a listing in the App Store to see whether it includes an extension or not.

To install the 1Password extension, for example, you would open the App Store, then search for "1Password" in the search bar at the top of the screen. Then you tap the app's listing and scroll down until you see the Supports section.

If an app either is an extension or includes one, you'll see "Safari Extension" listed under the Supports heading. Install the app, and it will install the extension alongside it.

To browse a selection of the available extensions, you can open settings, scroll down to the Safari settings, then go to Extensions. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap More Extensions to see a list of extensions within the App Store.

This isn't a complete list of Safari extensions, but it's a nice starting point to see what's available.

One tricky aspect of Safari extensions on both iOS and iPadOS is that they aren't enabled by default. Before you can actually use an extension, you'll need to enable it.

The process is the same on both iPhone and iPad. Open Settings, select the Safari settings menu, then tap Extensions.

Under Allow These Extensions, you'll see a list of all the extensions you've installed and whether they're enabled or not. To enable an extension, tap on it, then enable the option slider at the top of the screen.

If there are any Permissions settings for a given extension, they'll appear at the bottom of the screen after you enable it. For 1Password, for example, you'll see a list of websites you've allowed the extension on as well as the option to enable it on all websites.

Some extensions like content blockers work in the background, so you never need to actively use them. Other extensions have options or functionality you want to use within Safari.

Fortunately, using these extensions is as easy on iPhone and iPad as it is on Safari on a Mac. That said, the process differs slightly between iPhone and iPad.

Using Safari Extensions on iPhone

Starting with iOS 15, the Safari navigation bar has moved to the bottom of the screen, though you can move it back to its original home if you prefer. No matter where the navigation bar is for you, find it and tap the website settings (double A) icon.

In the menu that appears, you'll see Manage Extensions near the top. Below it, you'll see some of the extensions you've enabled. Tap an extension here to use it.

In the case of 1Password, for example, if you tap its menu entry, the app will prompt you for your master password, then show you available logins for the website you're currently browsing.

Using Safari Extensions on iPad

Using extensions in Safari on iPad is easier. In the navigation bar at the top of the screen, you'll see a puzzle-piece icon that will bring up the Manage Extensions screen.

You'll also see icons for certain extensions, almost as you would in a desktop browser. Tap an extension's icon to use it or to access certain settings.

With your extensions set up, you may also be interested in using widgets on your iPad Home Screen .

Related: How to Use Home Screen Widgets on iPad