Tracking Token Stripper

This is a Chrome and Firefox browser extension that strips Google Analytics (i.e. Urchin Tracking Monitor) parameters, and various other click tracking tokens, from URL query strings. This is done before the web request is made and results in both more private browsing as well as more aesthetically pleasing URLs.

You can install this extension from the Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons, or Edge Add-ons.

Important

Google Chrome and the Chrome Web Store now label Manifest V2 extensions as "unsupported".

I'm not motivated to rewrite this extension from Manifest V2 to V3. The work appears to be non-trivial for this kind of extension, and after that amount of effort, it won't work any "better" than the current version.

Please see the list of alternatives below if you need another solution.

Recognized Parameters

The following query string parameters are stripped:

• Facebook
  • fbclid
• Google
  • gclid
  • utm_source
  • utm_medium
  • utm_term
  • utm_campaign
  • utm_content
  • utm_cid
  • utm_internal
  • utm_klaviyo_id
  • utm_reader
  • utm_referrer
  • utm_name
  • utm_social
  • utm_social-type
• ActiveCampaign
  • vgo_ee
• HubSpot
  • _hsenc
  • _hsmi
• Instagram
  • igshid
• Klaviyo
  • utm_klaviyo_id
• Mailchimp
  • mc_cid
  • mc_eid
• Marketo
  • mkt_tok
• Microsoft (MSN/Bing)
  • cvid
  • oicd
• Olytics
  • oly_anon_id
  • oly_enc_id
  • otc
• Wicked Reports
  • wickedid
• Yahoo
  • soc_src
  • soc_trk
• Yandex
  • _openstat
  • yclid
• Other
  • ICID
  • rb_clickid
  • stm_ variants of the utm_ parameters

Permissions

This extension requires these permissions:

• webRequest, to use the chrome.webRequest API
• webRequestBlocking, to use chrome.webRequest in a blocking fashion
• http://*/*?*, to filter http URLs
• https://*/*?*, to filter https URLs

Alternatives

uBlock Origin

uBlock Origin includes a removeparam feature that supports fine-grained matching and removal of query string parameters. The AdGuard URL Tracking Protection list provides well-maintained coverage for a large number of domains and query string tokens.

Firefox

Firefox 102 introduced built-in removal of tracking query string parameters. In Privacy & Security settings, ensure Enhanced Tracking Protection is set to Strict (required to activate the query string feature). The default set of removed query params is limited, but you can configure your own via the privacy.query_stripping.strip_list pref as a space-separated list.

Other Extensions

• ClearURLs
• URL Tracking Stripper

Logo

Urchin Logo by Jordan Irwin / Deluge.