What is a browser extension?
Browser extensions are add-ons or plugins that you can install to have extra features or to have a better control of the web. These are powerful tools developed by thousands of software teams for different browsers. First extensions appeared in 1999. Hundreds of thousands have been made since.
Customize it
Extensions are small packs of code for browser customization. They help power-up your browser to handle many new tasks – from text translation and adblocking to fake news verification. Some extensions give you a better and a safer browser experience, others exist just for fun.
What browsers use extensions?
Most popular browsers have extensions. Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox pioneered this market, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge joined a bit later.
How many extensions are there?
Hundreds of thousands. Google Chrome is the leader with almost 200,000 extensions developed for this browser.
Are extensions safe?
Extensions can be pretty dangerous as they can contain malicious code. Also, many extensions have massive user bases which makes them a sweet spot for all types of internet crooks.