How to Disable WebRTC in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Others

Rob Githinji  - Tech Expert
Last updated: November 17, 2023
Read time: 14 minutes
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This article provides steps on how to disable WebRTC from your browser. Learn all about this feature and why you may want to turn it off.

WebRTC constitutes a critical communication component for most web browsers, empowering users with audio/video communication functionalities. However, despite all its usefulness, it can threaten your online privacy by leaking your IP address, which can be big trouble for VPN users. Therefore, you should know how to disable WebRTC whenever you wish to go anonymous online. This guide elaborates on how to disable WebRTC on Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and other popular browsers.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is valuable for maintaining online security and privacy. However, even the most robust VPN can fail at ensuring complete privacy due to WebRTC leaks. That’s where you need to disable WebRTC to maintain your online anonymity.

The primary function that a VPN performs to achieve online privacy is hiding your actual IP address. However, websites can take advantage of WebRTC technology to make a direct connection between your browser and its servers. These connections can potentially leak your IP address, thus rendering your VPN useless. Consequently, third parties such as hackers and advertisers can access your location, ISP, and device if they get your IP address.

WebRTC is intended to work on all browsers, so it doesn’t matter what you use. Fortunately, it is effortless to disable it.

Wondering how to do that? Don’t worry. This article explains the different ways to deactivate WebRTC to stay private online. You’ll also discover how a trustworthy VPN such as NordVPN will keep you safe.

What is WebRTC?