Are you browsing a dark website or .onion site? Here, privacy is the main game. Most likely, you will receive pop-up notifications from .onion sites indicating that you need to disable JavaScript before continuing. To do that, read this article on how to disable JavaScript in Tor on your PC and mobile. However, while disabling JavaScript is beneficial for your privacy, it may restrict the functionality of certain websites. Read this guide for further details.
About JavaScript and Tor
The Tor project launched Tor, an open-source software that promotes anonymity. It routes your internet traffic through a network of nodes, thereby complicating its origin. The Tor browser is based on the Mozilla Firefox browser with additional security features to protect your privacy.
However, by enabling dynamic content and interactive features, websites can become interactive and enhance the user experience with JavaScript, a versatile scripting language. But, enabling JavaScript exposes users to certain privacy risks. It gathers information about your surfing patterns, jeopardizes your anonymity, or takes advantage of flaws in the code.
Why You Should Disable JavaScript on Tor When Browsing the Darknet
When you use Tor, your traffic passes through a series of encrypted relays, creating an onion router. It helps to conceal your IP address and location from the third party and allows access to the deep web and dark web. However, when you enable JavaScript, certain functions and scripts expose personal information about you and exploit vulnerabilities in your Tor browser. Therefore, disabling JavaScript can reduce the attack surface, making it more difficult for websites to track you while using Tor.
The Tor browser by default activates JavaScript, but you have the option to disable it. However, keep in mind that disabling JavaScript can affect the functionality and user experience of certain websites, as many rely on it for specific features.
Here, we’ve outlined two methods for disabling JavaScript in the Tor Browser on PC to increase your anonymity and lessen the likelihood of tracking or exposure.
How to Disable JavaScript in TOR from the Settings Menu
- Open the Tor browser on your system and click on three lines to open the application menu.
- Click on Settings from the pop-up menu to open the settings page.
- Now click on the Privacy and Security tab from the left side panel.
- Scroll down to look for the security option here and select safest option.
How to Disable JavaScript in Tor via Advanced Settings
- Open the Tor browser on your system, type, and enter the aboutconfig in the URL bar.
- You will now see a warning message. Click on the “Accept the risk and continue” option to proceed.
- After that, enter JavaScript.enabled into the search bar and select the true option that appears next to JavaScript.enabled.
NOTE: Ensure that the Show Only Modified Preferences box remains unchecked when you select the true option.
- True will switch to false, indicating that TOR has now disabled JavaScript.
If you want to enable JavaScript in the Tor browser, then follow these steps and double-click on the false options. Once you click on false, it will change to true, indicating that JavaScript is running on your Tor.
How to Disable JavaScript in Tor on Mobile?
The official Tor browser is not available on iOS devices, but there are other Tor-powered browsers you can use on your iOS device. Here we have shared the steps to disable JavaScript in Tor on your Android device.
- Open the Tor browser on your Android device and hover over the settings tab.
- Look for the security option and toggle off the enabled JavaScript option.
- All websites in the Tor browser now disable JavaScript.
What Happens When You Disable JavaScript in the Tor Browser?
When you disable JavaScript in Tor, it affects your browsing experience. You are limiting the functionality of sites that rely on JavaScript for interactivity and performance. These websites appear broken or lack features such as handling user input, parsing forms, and dynamically loading content. Additionally, certain buttons, forms, or dropdown menus on your web page are unresponsive.
Moreover, disabling JavaScript in the Tor browser limits the use of animation and transitions. Many sites use JavaScript with HTML to make animations that produce a smooth and visually attractive user experience. These animations won’t function as intended, leading to a static and less engaging browsing experience without JavaScript.
FAQs
Q: What is TOR?
Ans: Tor: The Onion Router is a privacy network that allows anonymous web browsing. It uses secure, encrypted protocols to make sure that your online privacy is protected.
Q: How to disable JavaScript for a specific website in Tor?
Ans: Here are the steps you can follow while disabling JavaScript for all other sites.
- Hover over to the options tab in the NoScript extension.
- Click on the trusted option you will see under the general tab.
- After that, hover over to the Per Site Permissions tab and type the website name you want to add.
- Then click on the + tab to add it to the list and make sure it is in the Trusted category.
- Now, JavaScript will run on that website while being blocked for all other websites.
Q: Is it important to disable JavaScript when browsing the dark web on Tor?
Ans: Well yes. Disabling the JavaScript reduces the attack surface, making it harder for a website to track or identify you when using the TOR network. So, when you are using the dark web for any purpose, your first and foremost requirement is to conceal your identity from being tracked. Turning off the JavaScript on the Tor browser would be good for dark net browsing.
Sum Up
If you are looking for high-level security and privacy while browsing the dark web, then you must disable JavaScript. But keep in mind that it will slightly alter the browsing experience. In this post, we have described how to disable JavaScript in Tor on your computer and Android devices. Don’t forget to share your feedback with us or any thoughts or queries.