How to Enable JavaScript on DuckDuckGo

The DuckDuckGo browser is a privacy-first browser available on iPhone, iPad, Android, macOS, and Windows. JavaScript is enabled by default on every platform, and DuckDuckGo's own privacy protections (tracker blocking, fingerprint randomisation, Smart Encryption) deliberately do not block legitimate site JavaScript. If a page is blank in the DuckDuckGo browser, the cause is almost always at the operating-system level rather than inside the app itself.

This guide covers every DuckDuckGo browser scenario: enabling JavaScript on iPhone and iPad (where DuckDuckGo uses Apple's WebKit and the toggle lives in iOS Settings), enabling it on Android (where the DuckDuckGo app has its own toggle), and where things stand on the desktop apps for macOS and Windows. All steps reflect the DuckDuckGo browser's current behaviour as of 2026.

Enable JavaScript on DuckDuckGo for iPhone and iPad

On iOS and iPadOS, every browser - including DuckDuckGo, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Safari - is required by Apple to use the system WebKit engine. That means there is no JavaScript toggle inside the DuckDuckGo iOS app. The setting that controls JavaScript for the DuckDuckGo browser on iOS lives in the system Settings app, and it applies to every browser on the device at the same time.

Step 1: Open the iOS Settings app

On the iPhone or iPad home screen, tap the gray Settings icon.

Step 2: Tap Apps

Scroll down and tap Apps. iOS 26 groups every per-app system setting under this single entry.

Step 3: Tap Safari

Inside Apps, tap Safari. This is where iOS controls the WebKit engine that the DuckDuckGo browser uses behind the scenes.

Step 4: Open Advanced

Scroll to the bottom of Safari's settings and tap Advanced.

Step 5: Enable JavaScript

Toggle JavaScript on (green). The change applies immediately to the DuckDuckGo browser, Safari, Chrome, Brave, and every other browser on the device.

Step 6: Verify in DuckDuckGo

Switch back to the DuckDuckGo browser and reload the page that was broken. JavaScript is now on for every iOS browser, including DuckDuckGo.

Enable JavaScript on DuckDuckGo for Android

Unlike iOS, Android lets the DuckDuckGo browser ship its own rendering settings. The JavaScript control on Android is therefore inside the DuckDuckGo app, not in the system settings.

Step 1: Open the DuckDuckGo browser

Tap the DuckDuckGo (white duck on red) icon to launch the app.

Step 2: Open the menu

Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right.

Step 3: Tap Settings

Scroll down and tap Settings.

Step 4: Open Accessibility (or Site Permissions, depending on app version)

In recent DuckDuckGo versions on Android, JavaScript and other site-level settings live under Accessibility in some builds, and under Site Permissions in others. Both lead to the same toggle.

Step 5: Find JavaScript

Look for a JavaScript entry. The default on Android is on; if it has been switched off (often by importing a strict privacy preset), this is where you turn it back on.

Step 6: Switch JavaScript on

Toggle JavaScript on. Reload any open tab.

The DuckDuckGo browser on macOS

The DuckDuckGo browser for macOS (currently in public beta) is built on top of Apple's WebKit, like Safari and every iOS browser. Unlike Safari on macOS, however, DuckDuckGo's macOS app does not currently expose a global JavaScript on/off toggle in its preferences. JavaScript is on by default, and there is no in-app way to disable it for all sites at once.

If you need a per-site disable behaviour on the macOS DuckDuckGo browser, your options are:

Use DuckDuckGo's built-in Smart Encryption and tracker blocking, which already prevent the most invasive scripts from running.
Use the Privacy Dashboard (the small shield in the address bar) to manage per-site protections.
If you need full JavaScript control, switch to a Chromium-based browser like Brave or Vivaldi, which expose the global toggle and allow-list workflow.

The DuckDuckGo browser on Windows

The DuckDuckGo browser for Windows (also in public beta as of 2026) inherits the same design choice as the macOS app: there is no global JavaScript on/off toggle inside the app. JavaScript is on by default, and DuckDuckGo's tracker blocker handles the privacy side.

If you need a global JavaScript toggle on Windows, use a browser that exposes one - Chrome at chrome://settings/content/javascript, Brave at brave://settings/content/javascript, Edge at edge://settings/content/javascript, or Vivaldi at vivaldi://settings/content/javascript.

How to verify JavaScript is now on in the DuckDuckGo browser

The clearest test:

Open a new tab and visit any JavaScript-detection page (this site has one).
If the page reports JavaScript is enabled, you are done.

You can also confirm via Web Inspector on the macOS app:

Press Cmd + Option + I on macOS.
Click the Console tab.
Type 1+1 and press Enter. If the console returns 2, JavaScript is running.

How to disable JavaScript on the DuckDuckGo browser

If you need the opposite, see our guide: How to Disable JavaScript on DuckDuckGo. It covers the iOS-side toggle (system-wide WebKit), the Android in-app toggle, and what to do on the macOS and Windows desktop apps where there is no global toggle.

Need to disable JavaScript instead? See: How to Disable JavaScript on DuckDuckGo

You may want to consider linking to this site, to educate any script-disabled users on how to enable JavaScript in six most commonly used browsers. You are free to use the code below and modify it according to your needs.

<noscript>
For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript.
Here are the <a href="https://www.enablejavascript.io/">
instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser</a>.
</noscript>

On enablejavascript.io we optimize the script-disabled user experience as much as we can:

The instructions for your browser are put at the top of the page
All the images are inlined, full-size, for easy perusing

We want your visitors to have JavaScript enabled just as much as you do!

Why does the DuckDuckGo iPhone app not have its own JavaScript setting?

Apple's iOS rules require every browser on iPhone and iPad to use the system WebKit engine for rendering web pages. That includes Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, and DuckDuckGo - they all run on the same underlying engine. Apple controls the JavaScript switch for that engine at the system level, in iOS Settings -> Apps -> Safari -> Advanced. Apps cannot override it. So when you turn JavaScript on or off there, every browser on the device follows along. The DuckDuckGo iOS app cannot ship its own JS toggle because it would have no effect.

Does DuckDuckGo's tracker blocker disable JavaScript?

No, not by default. DuckDuckGo's tracker blocker is designed to remove third-party tracking scripts (analytics, advertising networks, fingerprinters) while leaving the site's own JavaScript intact - the videos, the menus, the in-page interactions still work. If JavaScript is on globally and a specific site is broken in DuckDuckGo, the tracker blocker is occasionally over-aggressive on edge cases; the address-bar shield lets you adjust per-site protections.

Why does the DuckDuckGo Mac and Windows app not have a JavaScript toggle?

DuckDuckGo's design philosophy on the desktop apps is that the user should not have to think about JavaScript at all - the tracker blocker handles privacy, and JavaScript stays on so the web works. They have not added a global on/off toggle the way Chrome, Brave, Edge, and Vivaldi have. If you want a global toggle on the desktop, use one of those Chromium-based browsers instead. On iOS the toggle exists, but it is at the system level (iOS Settings -> Apps -> Safari -> Advanced) rather than inside the DuckDuckGo app.

Olumide Damilola Updated: 2026-05-05

Olumide is a longtime writer who started his career as a digital marketer before transitioning into a copywriter almost eight years ago.