More and more people are switching from mainstream browsers like Google Chrome to security-focused alternatives like Brave, which has become hugely popular in recent years.

This is hardly a surprise, given the way Big Tech handles user data and privacy. Additionally, browser security is essential if you want to stay safe online.

If you’re new to Brave, however, you might want to know how to get the most out of it. Here is a list of tips and tricks to further improve your privacy and security without affecting browser performance.

1. Strengthen Brave Shields

If you’ve used Brave for a long time, you know the Shields feature is what makes this browser so great, as it blocks trackers, ads, fingerprints, and upgrades all connections to HTTPS.

The default settings offer a lot of protection and privacy, but upgrading them can be a good idea, especially if you end up on a dodgy site for some reason.

You can easily access Shields by clicking on the Brave icon in the address bar. For a more detailed view, type brave://settings/shields and press Walk in.

Here you can enable or disable Shields and configure the browser to aggressively block trackers and ads, force it to block all scripts and cookies, and enable advanced fingerprint protection.

Keep in mind that some pages may not load or work properly if the blocking is too aggressive.

2. Configure privacy and security settings

Apart from improving protection in Shields, you also need to configure privacy and security settings.

To do this, press the three small bars in the upper right corner, click on Settings from the drop-down menu, then navigate to Privacy and Security. Alternatively, you can just type brave://settings/privacy in the address bar.

In this area, you can tinker and customize the settings as you see fit. For example, you can access Cookies and other site data and force Brave to automatically clear all cookies when you close a window, or you can ensure that the browser sends a “Do Not Track” request with your traffic.

Brave collects very little data from its users but sends telemetry information. If you are not comfortable with this, you can disable Allow privacy-preserving (P3A) product reviews and Automatically send daily usage ping to Brave.

And to adjust permissions (location, camera, microphone, etc.) and change content settings, just scroll down and click Site and shield settings.

Data has been described as the oil of the 21st century. It’s become a valuable asset for businesses, so it’s no wonder our information is being collected and resold aggressively.

The worst offenders in this regard are social media sites, but there are many other legitimate reasons to avoid social media. Fortunately, Brave makes this very easy with its social media blocking feature.

To access this feature, scroll to Social media blocking in the settings menu, or type brave://settings/socialBlocking in the address bar.

Here you can block login buttons and embedded posts from Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you turn them off, you won’t see any social media integrations on the web.

4. Use Brave’s private window with Tor connectivity

Brave is a pretty unique browser for several reasons, one of them being the fact that you can access Tor with it – just click New private window with Tor in the main menu bar or press Alt+Shift+N on your keyboard.

Tor, short for The Onion Router, is an open-source privacy project that anonymizes browsing by directing traffic through an overlay network of volunteers.

Accessing the Internet through Brave’s Tor window will hide your IP address from the websites you visit and make it very difficult for your ISP to determine what you are doing online. The downside is that Brave will feel sluggish and run a lot slower than usual since your traffic goes through many relays in Tor.

Technically, you can also use Brave to access and browse the deep web, but we strongly recommend using the official Tor Browser instead (like Brave, Tor Browser is completely free).

5. Add Extensions

Although Brave has many cool and useful features, adding privacy and security-focused extensions can further improve your browsing experience.

Brave is Chromium-based, which means you can add almost any extension you use in Chrome. So feel free to visit the Chrome Web Store and install the extension of your choice.

So, which Brave extensions should you consider to improve privacy and security?

For starters, J2TEAM Security. This extension blocks malware, phishing, and scam sites, making it a great addition to your browser. You might also consider installing FlowCrypt, which adds PGP encryption to Gmail. Both of these extensions are free, very easy to use, and will most definitely add another layer of security to Brave.

Besides these two, you can also try uBlock Origin or a similar ad blocking extension if you are unhappy with the performance of Brave’s built-in ad blocking feature.

It’s always a good idea to research any extension you’re interested in as some have major security issues. Also, note that adding too many extensions can slow down the browser.

In any case, you can check which extensions you have installed by clicking on the small puzzle icon in the upper right corner and selecting Manage extensions in the drop-down menu.

Get the most out of Brave

Leaving one browser for another is never easy. No matter how similar all browsers may be, our fingers (and our brains) love familiarity, so switching is rarely a seamless experience.

That said, switching from a mainstream browser to Brave is the right choice no matter how you look at it. Brave is safer, more private, and faster than most browsers. Still, making small tweaks can go a long way to improving your security and privacy and thus improving your overall browsing experience.

If you beef up Brave Shields, change security settings, block social media sites, add handy extensions, and use Tor when needed, you’ll likely stay safe while maintaining your privacy.