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Turn off those pesky location requests in your browser

Tired of sites that insist on knowing where you are? Here's how to disable the prompts in Chrome, Firefox and Edge.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
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Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

It seems like more and more websites these days want to get a bead on you. You've no doubt seen the pop-ups: "XYZ-Site wants to know your location." Then you have to click Allow or Block.

In most cases this is an innocuous request, as determining your location is helpful (or even required) for things like calculating a shipping price or giving driving directions.

That said, you may prefer to keep this information to yourself. Indeed, whether you have privacy concerns or you're just tired of seeing that particular pop-up, you can tweak your browser so it no longer presents location requests. Here's how.

Chrome

Step 1: Press Alt-F to open the menu, then click Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down to the bottom, click Show advanced settings, then click the Content settings button.

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Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step 3: Scroll down to the Location section, then enable Do not allow any site to track your physical location.

Step 4: Close the Settings tab.

Edge

Step 1: You don't need Edge itself for this; instead, in the Windows search bar, type Privacy, then click Privacy settings.

Step 2: Click Location, then scroll down to the section labeled "Choose apps that can use your precise location."

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Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step 3: Find Microsoft Edge in the list and change the setting to Off.

Firefox

Step 1: Click inside the address bar, type about:config and press Enter.

Step 2: Click the acknowledgement button indicating you're OK with the risks associated with changing browser settings.

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Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Step 3: In the search box, type geo.enabled. When that setting appears below, double-click it to toggle it off (or this case from "true" to "false").

Step 4: Close the about:config tab.