Disabling Java in Your Web Browser

Java has been showing its security flaws a lot lately, pushing some OS X users to remove the platform from their Macs. Killing Java outright is great for some Mac users, but there are plenty that need it for apps like Photoshop and InDesign, so simply disabling it in your Web browser is a nice compromise, and it's easy to do.

To disable Java in Safari on your Mac, do this:

• Launch Safari
• Go to Safari > Preferences
• Click the Security tab
• Uncheck Enable Java

Safari's preferences let you disable Java for Web browsing

Here's how to disable Java in Firefox:

• Launch Firefox
• Click the Tools menu, then choose Add Ons
• Select Plugins
• Find Java Applet Plug-in, then click Disable

Firefox hides its Java setting in the Tools menu

In Google Chrome, disable Java like this:

• Launch Google Chrome
• Type chrome://plugins in the URL field, then press Return
• Find Java in the plug-ins list, then click Disable

Getting at Chrome's Java settings involves some typing

Javascript and Java aren't related, so it's OK to leave Javascript enabled. In fact, many websites won't display properly if it's been disabled.