{“lastseen”:”2026-02-17T20:05:56″,”description”:”_This article explains why Chrome\u2019s \u201cpreloading\u201d feature can cause scary-looking blocks in Malwarebytes Browser Guard and how to turn it off._\\n\\nModern browsers want to provide content instantly. To do that, Chrome includes a feature called page preloading. When this is enabled, Chrome doesn\u2019t just wait for you to click a link. It guesses what you\u2019re likely to click next and starts loading those pages in the background\u2014before you decide whether to visit them.\\n\\nThat guesswork happens in several places. When you type a search into the address bar, Chrome may start preloading one or more of the top search results so that, if you click them, they open almost immediately. It can also preload pages that are linked from the site you\u2019re currently on, based on Google\u2019s prediction that they\u2019re \u201clikely next steps.\u201d All of this happens quietly, without any extra tabs opening, and often without any obvious sign that more pages are being fetched.\u200b\\n\\nFrom a performance point of view, that\u2019s clever. From a privacy and security point of view, it\u2019s more complicated. \\n\\nThose preloaded pages can run code, drop cookies, and contact servers, even if you never actually visit them in the traditional sense. In other words, your browser can talk to a site you didn\u2019t consciously choose to open.\u200b\\n\\nMalwarebytes Browser Guard inspects web traffic and blocks connections to domains it considers malicious or suspicious. So, if Chrome decides to preload a search result that leads to a site on our blocklist, Browser Guard will still do its job and stop that background connection. The result can be confusing: You see a warning page (called a block page) for a site you don\u2019t recognize and are sure you never clicked.\\n\\nNothing unusual is happening there, and it does not mean your browser is \u201cclicking links by itself.\u201d It simply means Chrome\u2019s preloading feature made a behind-the-scenes request, and Browser Guard intercepted it as designed. Other privacy tools take a similar approach. Some popular content blockers disable preloading by default because it leaks more data and can contact unwanted sites. \\n\\nFor now, the simplest way to stop these unexpected block pages is to turn off preloading in Chrome\u2019s settings, which prevents those speculative background requests.\\n\\n## How to manage Chrome\u2019s preloading setting\\n\\nWe recommend turning off page preloading in Chrome to protect your browsing privacy and to stop seeing unexpected block pages when searching the web. If you don’t want to turn off page preloading, you can try using a different browser and repeating your search.\\n\\nTo turn off page preloading:\\n\\n 1. In your browser search bar, enter: `chrome:\/\/settings`\\n 2. In the left sidebar, click **Performance**.\\n 3. Scroll down to **Speed** , then toggle **Preload pages** off.\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n* * *\\n\\n**We don ‘t just report on data privacy\u2014we help you remove your personal information**\\n\\nCybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. With Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover, you can scan to find out which sites are exposing your personal information, and then delete that sensitive data from the internet.”,”published”:”2026-02-17T18:25:47″,”modified”:”2026-02-17T18:25:47″,”type”:”malwarebytes”,”title”:”Chrome \\u0026#8220;preloading\\u0026#8221; could be leaking your data and causing problems in Browser Guard”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”MALWAREBYTES:F990606F1F61649CD35DB70465D600DD”,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/product\/2026\/02\/chrome-preloading-could-be-leaking-your-data-and-causing-problems-in-browser-guard”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{“lastseen”:”2026-02-17T20:05:56″,”description”:”_This article explains why Chrome\u2019s \u201cpreloading\u201d feature can cause scary-looking blocks in Malwarebytes Browser Guard and how to turn it off._\\n\\nModern browsers want to provide…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,8,12,115,13,33,7,11,5],"class_list":["post-41190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category_news","tag-cve","tag-cvss","tag-exploit","tag-malwarebytes","tag-news","tag-none","tag-security","tag-tapic","tag-vulnerability"],"yoast_head":"\n