Manage warnings about unsafe sites

You may get a warning if the site that you try to visit is unsafe. These sites are often called phishing or malware sites.

Get warnings about unsafe sites

Phishing and malware detection is turned on by default in Chrome. When you encounter phishing, malware, unwanted software or social engineering sites, you may get a red warning that says 'Dangerous site'. If you see this warning, we recommend that you don't visit the site.

To protect you from unsafe websites, Google Safe Browsing maintains a list of websites that might put you at risk for malware, abusive extensions, phishing, malicious and intrusive ads, and social engineering attacks.

To detect and warn you about known and new unsafe sites in real time, you can also turn on Enhanced Safe Browsing. Learn about Safe Browsing protection level in Chrome.

Tip: Download with caution. Some sites may tell you that you have a virus to get you to download harmful software. Be careful not to download any harmful software.

What warnings about unsafe sites mean

Unsafe sites are usually websites that trick you to do something dangerous online, like try to make you give away your passwords or personal information. They can harm your device or cause problems when you browse online.

These sites may be:

  • Phishing
  • Social engineering
  • Trying to install malware or unwanted software on your computer
Manage warnings about unsafe sites

If you don't want to be warned about unsafe content, you can turn off Google Play Protect. This also turns off all your Android device's protection against harmful apps and content. 

For security, we recommend that you always keep Google Play Protect on.

Turn Google Play Protect off or back on
  1. On your Android device, open Google Play Store Google Play.
  2. Tap Menu Menu and then Play Protect.
  3. Turn Scan device for security threats on or off.

When you visit an unsafe site

You can visit a page that is showing a warning. This is not recommended.

  1. On your Android device, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. On the page where you get a warning, tap Details and then Visit this unsafe site.
  3. The page will load.

Did you mean [site name]?

If you get this message, Chrome thinks that the web address may be for a different site to the one that you expected.

The message may also say 'Is this the right site?' or 'Fake site ahead'.

You get this message when the site that you try to visit:

  • Appears similar to a safe site that you usually visit.
  • Tries to trick you with a URL that is slightly changed from a known safe site.
  • Has a URL that is slightly different from a URL in your browsing history.

If you think that a page was flagged in error and you want to proceed to the site, select Yes, continue.

My site or software is marked dangerous or suspicious

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