How to turn off JavaScript in the Tor Browser

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With the Tor Browser you can anonymously browse the web or the dark web. While there are multiple legit reasons to disable JavaScript in the Tor browser, one of them is to prevent JavaScript exploits. For some situations, you might want to turn off JavaScript completely. But why isn’t JavaScript disabled by default in the Tor browser?

While you can read the full answer here, it comes down to the fact that a lot of websites don’t work as expected when you disable JavaScript. In earlier versions of the Tor Browser you could do this easily by switching on a checkbox in the options section. In later versions, they removed this option. You can still turn off JavaScript in the Tor Browser but we need to dig a little deeper.

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How to disable Javascript in the Tor Browser

We have found 3 easy ways to disable JavaScript in the Tor browser.

Method 1: Disable JavaScript with the built-in NoScript addon

  1. Start the Tor browser

  1. Click the NoScript “S” icon, next to the address bar

  1. Click on the options icon, the third button on the left

  1. On the ‘General’ tab, uncheck the ‘script’ checkbox under ‘Default’

Method 2: Install the JavaScript Switcher addon to add a button to the browser to easily toggle JavaScript on and off

Click the following link to go directly to the addon page and continue with Step 4 or follow the instructions from step 1: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/quick-js-switcher/.

  1. Click the 3 lines icon to open the Tor browser menu and select the add-ons option

  1. Type ‘JavaScript Switcher’ in the input field above the addons

  1. Click the first search result

  1. Click the blue ‘Add to Firefox’ button

  1. Give Javascript Switcher the required permissions by clicking the ‘Add’ button

  1. You can now easily toggle JavaScript on and off per website

Method 3: Manually disable JavaScript in the Tor browser configuration

  1. Type about:config in the address bar and hit enter
  2. Click on the I accept the Risk! button to go to the big unorganized list with application settings
  3. Type in the search bar javascript.enabled and double click on the value to change the default value from true to false

JavaScript should be disabled now, if you want to check it for yourself you can follow our guide on how to check if JavaScript is enabled. If you want to enable JavaScript in the Tor Browser follow our other guide.

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1 Comment

  1. Easiest method:

    Menu > Options > search “java” > select “safer” or “safest” setting.

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