PixelBlock

PixelBlock is a Gmail extension that blocks people from tracking when you open their emails.

PixelBlock is a powerful Gmail extension designed to protect your privacy by blocking email tracking attempts. When you receive an email, trackers often attempt to detect when you open and read the message. PixelBlock identifies these tracking attempts and blocks them seamlessly. Whenever a tracking attempt is blocked, PixelBlock displays a distinctive red eye icon within the email, alerting you to the blocked trackers.

With PixelBlock, you can confidently read your emails without worrying about being monitored. It's an essential tool for anyone looking to enhance email privacy and avoid unwanted tracking in Gmail.

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By:: omar.w.qureshi
Users:: 50,000+ -10,000
Rating:: 3.70

(223)
Version:: 2024.03.12 (Last updated: 2024-03-12)
Creation date:: 2019-04-09
Risk:: High risk impact Low risk likelihood
Permissions:: *://*.googleusercontent.com/proxy/*
*://*.googleusercontent.com/meips/*
*://mail.google.com/*
webRequest
webRequestBlocking
Size:: 180.22K
Email:: om*****@gmail.com
URLs:: Privacy policy
Full description:: See detailed description
Source:: Chrome Web Store
Updated:: a day ago

Ranking

# 3,516 ▼ 558

Other rankings

#389 in Accessibility ▼ 2 #43 in tracking keyword 50 ▲ 2 #58 in block keyword 81 ▲ 8 #217 in email keyword 52 ▲ 29

User reviews

PixelBlock is praised for its effectiveness in blocking email tracking pixels, lightweight design, and has been a reliable extension for years with genuine developer support. However, recent Chrome updates have caused compatibility issues, making it block all images indiscriminately, disabling important features, and leading users to disable or abandon it. Lack of recent updates and incomplete blocking of some trackers contribute to user dissatisfaction.

Pros

Effectively blocks email tracking pixels and enhances email privacy.
Lightweight and easy to use with minimal permissions required.
Long-term reliability and usefulness appreciated by users over many years.
Developer has made honest efforts to update the extension in the past.
Highly recommended by users when working properly.

Cons

Extension is currently incompatible with newer versions of Chrome (Manifest V3) and frequently breaks.
Recently blocking all images in Gmail, even when allowed, leading to disabling the extension.
Key features like the 'Allow images below' option and the red eye icon are not working properly or missing.
No recent updates or support from the developer leading to user frustration.
Does not effectively block some tracking services like Mailtrack.io as expected.

Recent reviews

Used this for years, really loved it, I hope it is updated soon so it will work again with Chrome MV3.

Chanan Bos, 2025-03-05

As of 3rd March, the extension doesn't seem to be compatible with Chrome anymore and has been switched off in my browser.

James Doyle, 2025-03-03

Awesome, please update!

Michael Ruddock, 2024-11-14

View all user reviews

Extension safety

Risk impact

PixelBlock requires some sensitive permissions that could impact your browser and data security. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details

Critical Request access to the following domains: googleusercontent.com, google.com
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Risk likelihood

PixelBlock has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

Risk likelihood analysis details

High This extension has low user count. Unpopular extensions may not be stable or safe.
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