How to disable WebRTC in Google Chrome without using an extension or plugin?

Question

I want to disable WebRTC in Google Chrome in the browser settings, like you can in Firefox, or to block it with another program. I don't want to use an extension that can be uninstalled or disabled. Ideally, I would also like to be able to deploy this across a couple dozen workstations, hence my desire to use something that is more "permanent" than an extension. Even if there is no easily accessible "setting" for it, I am wondering if there could be a way to edit a CSS file or something. As far as I know, there is no Chrome equivalent to Firefox's about:config page, but maybe there is something similar I have yet to discover?

Sorry for the nebulous sounding question, I am just kind of flailing in the dark here, I have very limited experience with any sort of programming and focus primarily in hardware diagnostics and Windows systems/network admin, but I am interested in learning at least some basics for diagnostic purposes.

Answer 1

From what I have tried, you can do the following:

1. Locate your Chrome user preference file.

   • Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 8.1:

     C:\Users\(your_username)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Preferences
     

   • Mac OSX:

     ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Preferences
     

   • GNU/Linux:

     ~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Preferences
     

2. Exit Chrome and save a backup copy of the file Preferences somewhere else. Make sure Chrome is not running in background.

3. Open the Preferences file in a text editor (e.g. Notepad++, Sublime Text, gedit).

4. Add this line to the bottom of the file, paying attention to the format. (Just follow the format of the other lines, adding a comma if necessary.)

   "webrtc":{"multiple_routes_enabled":false}
   

If you have doubts, here is a fragment of the last lines of my Preferences file before the modification:

"spellcheck":{"dictionaries":["en-US"],"dictionary":""},
"translate_ignored_count_for_language":{"es":44,"und":2},
"zerosuggest":{"cachedresults":""}}

And here is the file after the modification:

"spellcheck":{"dictionaries":["en-US"],"dictionary":""},
"translate_ignored_count_for_language":{"es":44,"und":2},
"webrtc":{"multiple_routes_enabled":false},
"zerosuggest":{"cachedresults":""}}

And then you're done. You can verify if this is working by using this website.

Before disabling WebRTC:

After disabling WebRTC:

Note: If you accidentally made a modification that causes an error and Chrome won't start anymore, you can replace the Preferences file with the backup copy you saved earlier.

At this moment there is no ideal solution to disable WebRTC on desktop with a simple click or without using an extension, in the mobile version of Google Chrome you can go to chrome://flags/ And search for webrtc there will be some options that you can disable there.

Another solution will be to use Slimjet, this is a Chromium-based project which uses the same Blink engine as Google Chrome but offers an easy option to disable WebRTC.

Hope it helps.