If you are like me, you surely installed quite a few add-ons for Internet Explorer 9, simply to extend its functionality and get more out of it. However, by doing so, you also impact its performance. Depending on how many and what add-ons you install, the load and navigation speed can sensibly increase. Luckily, Internet Explorer 9 has a very cool functionality which allows you to evaluate the performance impact of add-ons and disable those creating problems. Let's see how this works.

Internet Explorer 9 Asks About Disabling Add-ons

Sometimes, after you installed quite a few add-ons, Internet Explorer 9 asks you directly, if you want to speed up browsing by disabling some add-ons. If this happens, click on "Choose add-ons".

The "Choose Add-ons" window opens, where you see a list with the add-ons that increase the times it takes to start Internet Explorer 9, to open a new tab or to navigate the web. For each add-on, you see its impact in seconds.

For the add-ons you no longer plan to use, simply click the Disable button next to them. When done disabling add-ons, click Done and resume browsing the Internet.

If you also want to remove the add-ons you just disabled, check out this guide: How to Remove or Disable Add-ons.

Manually Audit Add-ons

It can happen that Internet Explorer 9 doesn't see any issues with your add-ons and never recommends you disabling some of them. In this case, you can "audit" them by yourself and choose to disable or remove some of them. This is how you do it:

First, click on the Tools button (the wheel like button on the top-right). Then, click on "Manage add-ons".

The "Manage Add-ons" window is now open. In the "Toolbars and Extensions" section, browse through the list of add-ons. There are two columns called "Load time" and "Navigation time". For some add-ons, these columns are populated with some values. These values represent the impact the add-ons have on the load and navigation time.

If you are not happy with the impact certain add-ons have, simply disable or remove them. How to do this? Just follow our guide on How to Remove or Disable Add-ons.

Conclusion

This functionality is very useful and unique among browsers. At the date of writing this tutorial, no other major browser audited the impact add-ons have on general performance. A feature definitely worth replicating.

For more interesting tips about Internet Explorer 9, check out the articles recommended below.