You Should Enable This Chrome Feature That Flags Suspicious Websites

Emily Long Emily Long Freelance Writer ExperienceEmily Long is a freelance writer based in Salt Lake City. After graduating from Duke University, she spent several years reporting on the federal workforce for Government Executive, a publication of Atlantic Media Company, in Washington, D.C. She has nearly a decade of experience as a freelancer covering tech (including issues related to security, privacy, and streaming) as well as personal finance and travel. In addition to Lifehacker, her work has been featured on Wirecutter, Tom’s Guide, and ZDNET. Emily has also worked as a travel guide around the U.S. and as a content editor. She has a masters in social work and is a licensed therapist in Utah. Read Full Bio October 22, 2026 Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google Credit: picture alliance/Getty Images Key Takeaways Google Chrome has a new safety feature that will warn you if you navigate to a suspicious website that looks like others known for malicious behavior. The new "suspicious site" alerts indicate possible risk of harm based on patterns consistent with other known malicious sites. You have to enable Enhanced Protection in your Chrome settings. Table of Contents If you use Google Chrome, you can turn on a new safety feature that will warn you if you navigate to a suspicious website that looks like others already known for malicious behavior. The alerts are part of Enhanced Protection mode in Chrome's Safe Browsing, which checks your activity against potentially harmful sites and warns you if you're at risk of encountering malware, phishing, intrusive ads, or social engineering attacks. How Chrome protects against malicious websitesMost internet users are familiar with the full-page alerts that appear if you navigate to a site that's known to be malicious. These red "dangerous site" warnings indicate a high risk of harm to the user and can't really be ignored since they take up the entire screen and urge you to go back to safety. The new "suspicious site" alerts indicate possible risk of harm based on patterns consistent with other known malicious sites. This means that Google isn't as confident that the website is actually dangerous, but it looks a lot like others that are spreading malware or running phishing scams. These suspicious site warnings are smaller pop-ups with the text "This site doesn't seem right" and two button options: Mark as safe or Back to safety. The different colors, text, and formatting make it easy for users to distinguish between what Google deems dangerous versus suspicious. You can enable Enhanced Protection in your Chrome settingsSafe Browsing in Chrome has three options: standard protection, enhanced protection, and no protection at all (which isn't recommended). Standard protection checks your browsing activity, extensions, and downloads against Google's list of unsafe sites, which is updated periodically. By contrast, enhanced protection works in real time and uses AI analysis. Note that enhanced protection does require you to share more information about your activity to Google, and the data are linked to your Google Account. What do you think so far? While privacy-conscious users may be hesitant to send more info to Google, enhanced protection is likely worthwhile for those who aren't as savvy to advanced scam tactics (and therefore more likely to enter credentials or financial information on or download a file from a malicious website). To enable Enhanced Protection and receive suspicious website warnings, go to Settings > Privacy and security in Chrome and toggle Enhanced protection on under the Safe Browsing section. Lifehacker has been a go-to source of tech help and life advice since 2005. Our mission is to offer reliable tech help and credible, practical, science-based life advice to help you live better. Our Mission Our Team Newsletter © 2001-2026 Ziff Davis, LLC., A ZIFF DAVIS COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Lifehacker is a federally registered trademark of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of Lifehacker. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant.