How to Disable WebRTC in Chrome Without Losing Video Calls

The privacy advice you'll find online often says to "just disable WebRTC" in your browser. Simple enough. But the moment you do, you lose the ability to make video calls in Google Meet, join Zoom meetings through the browser, use Discord's web client, or participate in any browser-based video or voice chat.

That's because WebRTC is the technology that makes all of these services work. It's not just a privacy risk — it's a core feature of the modern web.

Why People Want to Disable WebRTC

The reason people disable WebRTC is the IP leak problem. WebRTC can expose your real IP address to websites even when you're connected to a VPN. For privacy-conscious users, this defeats the entire purpose of using a VPN. And the leak happens silently — you'd never know unless you specifically tested for it.

So the instinct to disable WebRTC is understandable. The problem is that it's an all-or-nothing choice that most guides don't explain properly.

The Chrome Flags Approach

In Chrome, you can go to chrome://flags and search for WebRTC-related flags. There are options to restrict WebRTC to certain network interfaces, but the settings are technical and the flags change between Chrome versions. What worked in Chrome 110 might not exist in Chrome 120.

Even when you find the right flag, the options are usually "Default," "Enabled," or "Disabled" — with no middle ground for "protect my privacy but keep video calls working."

What You Actually Want

The ideal solution is selective WebRTC control. You want WebRTC to function normally for legitimate use cases like video calls, but you want it to stop leaking your real IP address through STUN requests. This is the difference between disabling a feature and controlling it.

WebRTC Privacy Shield does exactly this. It doesn't turn off WebRTC — it modifies how WebRTC handles IP discovery. STUN requests that would reveal your real IP are blocked, while the WebRTC connections themselves continue to work through your existing network path.

The result: Google Meet works. Zoom works. Discord works. But BrowserLeaks.com shows no real IP leaking through WebRTC. You get privacy without losing functionality.

Testing Your Setup

After installing, join a Google Meet test call at meet.google.com to confirm video and audio still work. Then visit BrowserLeaks.com/webrtc to confirm no real IP addresses are exposed. Both should pass. If your video calls work and your IP doesn't leak, you've achieved the best of both worlds.