diff --git a/app/electron/main.ts b/app/electron/main.ts
index bab5cd20243..fe690156540 100644
--- a/app/electron/main.ts
+++ b/app/electron/main.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,16 @@ const args = yargs(hideBin(process.argv))
       describe: 'Disable use of GPU. For people who may have buggy graphics drivers',
       type: 'boolean',
     },
+    'disable-plugins': {
+      describe: 'Disable specific plugins or all plugins if no argument is provided',
+      type: 'string',
+      coerce: arg => {
+        if (typeof arg === 'undefined') {
+          return 'all';
+        }
+        return arg.split(',');
+      },
+    },
   })
   .positional('kubeconfig', {
     describe:
diff --git a/app/electron/plugin-management.ts b/app/electron/plugin-management.ts
index 6a04019bb8a..a365cc512f9 100644
--- a/app/electron/plugin-management.ts
+++ b/app/electron/plugin-management.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ export class PluginManager {
    * Installs a plugin from the specified URL.
    * @param {string} URL - The URL of the plugin to install.
    * @param {string} [destinationFolder=defaultPluginsDir()] - The folder where the plugin will be installed.
+   * @param {string[]} [disabledPlugins = []] - An array of disabled plugins.
    * @param {string} [headlampVersion=""] - The version of Headlamp for compatibility checking.
    * @param {function} [progressCallback=null] - Optional callback for progress updates.
    * @param {AbortSignal} [signal=null] - Optional AbortSignal for cancellation.
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ export class PluginManager {
   static async install(
     URL,
     destinationFolder = defaultPluginsDir(),
+    disabledPlugins: string[] = [],
     headlampVersion = '',
     progressCallback: null | ProgressCallback = null,
     signal: AbortSignal | null = null
@@ -93,6 +95,10 @@ export class PluginManager {
         signal
       );
 
+      if (disabledPlugins.includes(name)) {
+        throw new Error(`Plugin ${name} is disabled`);
+      }
+
       // sleep(2000);  // comment out for testing
 
       // create the destination folder if it doesn't exist
@@ -119,6 +125,7 @@ export class PluginManager {
    * Updates an installed plugin to the latest version.
    * @param {string} pluginName - The name of the plugin to update.
    * @param {string} [destinationFolder=defaultPluginsDir()] - The folder where the plugin is installed.
+   * @param {string[]} [disabledPlugins = []] - An array of disabled plugins.
    * @param {string} [headlampVersion=""] - The version of Headlamp for compatibility checking.
    * @param {null | ProgressCallback} [progressCallback=null] - Optional callback for progress updates.
    * @param {AbortSignal} [signal=null] - Optional AbortSignal for cancellation.
@@ -127,11 +134,16 @@ export class PluginManager {
   static async update(
     pluginName,
     destinationFolder = defaultPluginsDir(),
+    disabledPlugins: string[] = [],
     headlampVersion = '',
     progressCallback: null | ProgressCallback = null,
     signal: AbortSignal | null = null
   ): Promise<void> {
     try {
+      if (disabledPlugins.includes(pluginName)) {
+        throw new Error(`Plugin ${pluginName} is disabled`);
+      }
+
       // @todo: should list call take progressCallback?
       const installedPlugins = PluginManager.list(destinationFolder);
       if (!installedPlugins) {
@@ -195,15 +207,21 @@ export class PluginManager {
    * Uninstalls a plugin from the specified folder.
    * @param {string} name - The name of the plugin to uninstall.
    * @param {string} [folder=defaultPluginsDir()] - The folder where the plugin is installed.
+   * @param {string[]} [disabledPlugins = []] - An array of disabled plugins.
    * @param {function} [progressCallback=null] - Optional callback for progress updates.
    * @returns {void}
    */
   static uninstall(
     name,
     folder = defaultPluginsDir(),
+    disabledPlugins: string[] = [],
     progressCallback: null | ProgressCallback = null
   ) {
     try {
+      if (disabledPlugins.includes(name)) {
+        throw new Error(`Plugin ${name} is disabled`);
+      }
+
       // @todo: should list call take progressCallback?
       const installedPlugins = PluginManager.list(folder);
       if (!installedPlugins) {
@@ -239,13 +257,20 @@ export class PluginManager {
   /**
    * Lists all valid plugins in the specified folder.
    * @param {string} [folder=defaultPluginsDir()] - The folder to list plugins from.
+   * @param {string[]} [disabledPlugins = []] - An array of disabled plugins.
    * @param {function} [progressCallback=null] - Optional callback for progress updates.
    * @returns {Array<object>} An array of objects representing valid plugins.
    */
-  static list(folder = defaultPluginsDir(), progressCallback: null | ProgressCallback = null) {
+  static list(
+    folder = defaultPluginsDir(),
+    disabledPlugins: string[] = [],
+    progressCallback: null | ProgressCallback = null
+  ) {
     try {
       const pluginsData: PluginData[] = [];
 
+      const disableAllPlugins = disabledPlugins.length === 0;
+
       // Read all entries in the specified folder
       const entries = fs.readdirSync(folder, { withFileTypes: true });
 
@@ -260,7 +285,13 @@ export class PluginManager {
           // Read package.json to get the plugin name and version
           const packageJsonPath = path.join(pluginDir, 'package.json');
           const packageJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(packageJsonPath, 'utf8'));
-          const pluginName = packageJson.name || pluginFolder.name;
+          const pluginName: string = packageJson.name || pluginFolder.name;
+
+          if (disableAllPlugins || disabledPlugins.includes(pluginName)) {
+            console.log(`Plugin ${pluginName} is disabled`);
+            continue;
+          }
+
           const pluginTitle = packageJson.artifacthub.title;
           const pluginVersion = packageJson.version || null;
           const artifacthubURL = packageJson.artifacthub ? packageJson.artifacthub.url : null;
diff --git a/backend/cmd/headlamp.go b/backend/cmd/headlamp.go
index d271c874dd2..c0569e3e2c1 100644
--- a/backend/cmd/headlamp.go
+++ b/backend/cmd/headlamp.go
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ type HeadlampConfig struct {
 	staticDir             string
 	pluginDir             string
 	staticPluginDir       string
+	disabledPlugins       string
 	oidcClientID          string
 	oidcClientSecret      string
 	oidcIdpIssuerURL      string
@@ -316,13 +317,18 @@ func createHeadlampHandler(config *HeadlampConfig) http.Handler {
 	logger.Log(logger.LevelInfo, nil, nil, "Helm support: "+fmt.Sprint(config.enableHelm))
 	logger.Log(logger.LevelInfo, nil, nil, "Proxy URLs: "+fmt.Sprint(config.proxyURLs))
 
-	plugins.PopulatePluginsCache(config.staticPluginDir, config.pluginDir, config.cache)
+	plugins.PopulatePluginsCache(config.staticPluginDir, config.pluginDir, config.cache, config.disabledPlugins)
 
 	if !config.useInCluster {
 		// in-cluster mode is unlikely to want reloading plugins.
 		pluginEventChan := make(chan string)
 		go plugins.Watch(config.pluginDir, pluginEventChan)
-		go plugins.HandlePluginEvents(config.staticPluginDir, config.pluginDir, pluginEventChan, config.cache)
+		go plugins.HandlePluginEvents(config.staticPluginDir,
+			config.pluginDir,
+			pluginEventChan,
+			config.cache,
+			config.disabledPlugins,
+		)
 		// in-cluster mode is unlikely to want reloading kubeconfig.
 		go kubeconfig.LoadAndWatchFiles(config.kubeConfigStore, kubeConfigPath, kubeconfig.KubeConfig)
 	}
diff --git a/backend/cmd/server.go b/backend/cmd/server.go
index 2959990c40a..863b2f3466c 100644
--- a/backend/cmd/server.go
+++ b/backend/cmd/server.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ func main() {
 		staticDir:             conf.StaticDir,
 		insecure:              conf.InsecureSsl,
 		pluginDir:             conf.PluginsDir,
+		disabledPlugins:       conf.DisabledPlugins,
 		oidcClientID:          conf.OidcClientID,
 		oidcClientSecret:      conf.OidcClientSecret,
 		oidcIdpIssuerURL:      conf.OidcIdpIssuerURL,
diff --git a/backend/pkg/config/config.go b/backend/pkg/config/config.go
index bb110b897e9..7c7c6594c18 100644
--- a/backend/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/backend/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"errors"
-	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
@@ -11,9 +10,11 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
+	pflagProvider "github.com/knadh/koanf/providers/posflag"
+	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
+
 	"github.com/headlamp-k8s/headlamp/backend/pkg/logger"
 	"github.com/knadh/koanf"
-	"github.com/knadh/koanf/providers/basicflag"
 	"github.com/knadh/koanf/providers/env"
 )
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	OidcClientSecret      string `koanf:"oidc-client-secret"`
 	OidcIdpIssuerURL      string `koanf:"oidc-idp-issuer-url"`
 	OidcScopes            string `koanf:"oidc-scopes"`
+	DisabledPlugins       string `koanf:"disable-plugins"`
 }
 
 func (c *Config) Validate() error {
@@ -62,7 +64,7 @@ func (c *Config) Validate() error {
 func Parse(args []string) (*Config, error) {
 	var config Config
 
-	f := flagset()
+	f := flagset(&config)
 
 	k := koanf.New(".")
 
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ func Parse(args []string) (*Config, error) {
 	}
 
 	// First Load default args from flags
-	if err := k.Load(basicflag.Provider(f, "."), nil); err != nil {
+	if err := k.Load(pflagProvider.Provider(f, ".", k), nil); err != nil {
 		logger.Log(logger.LevelError, nil, err, "loading default config from flags")
 
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error loading default config from flags: %w", err)
@@ -96,7 +98,7 @@ func Parse(args []string) (*Config, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Load only the flags that were set
-	if err := k.Load(basicflag.ProviderWithValue(f, ".", func(key string, value string) (string, interface{}) {
+	if err := k.Load(pflagProvider.ProviderWithValue(f, ".", k, func(key string, value string) (string, interface{}) {
 		flagSet := false
 		f.Visit(func(f *flag.Flag) {
 			if f.Name == key {
@@ -146,10 +148,10 @@ func Parse(args []string) (*Config, error) {
 	return &config, nil
 }
 
-func flagset() *flag.FlagSet {
+func flagset(c *Config) *flag.FlagSet {
 	f := flag.NewFlagSet("config", flag.ContinueOnError)
 
-	f.Bool("in-cluster", false, "Set when running from a k8s cluster")
+	f.BoolP("in-cluster", "i", false, "Set when running from a k8s cluster")
 	f.Bool("dev", false, "Allow connections from other origins")
 	f.Bool("insecure-ssl", false, "Accept/Ignore all server SSL certificates")
 	f.Bool("enable-dynamic-clusters", false, "Enable dynamic clusters, which stores stateless clusters in the frontend.")
@@ -161,12 +163,17 @@ func flagset() *flag.FlagSet {
 	f.Uint("port", defaultPort, "Port to listen from")
 	f.String("proxy-urls", "", "Allow proxy requests to specified URLs")
 
-	f.String("oidc-client-id", "", "ClientID for OIDC")
+	f.StringP("oidc-client-id", "o", "", "ClientID for OIDC")
 	f.String("oidc-client-secret", "", "ClientSecret for OIDC")
 	f.String("oidc-idp-issuer-url", "", "Identity provider issuer URL for OIDC")
 	f.String("oidc-scopes", "profile,email",
 		"A comma separated list of scopes needed from the OIDC provider")
 
+	f.StringVar(&c.DisabledPlugins, "disable-plugins", "",
+		"List of plugin names to disable, or empty to disable all plugins")
+
+	f.Lookup("disable-plugins").NoOptDefVal = "all"
+
 	return f
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/pkg/config/config_test.go b/backend/pkg/config/config_test.go
index b8d6826def4..0d6fc91e4f1 100644
--- a/backend/pkg/config/config_test.go
+++ b/backend/pkg/config/config_test.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 		os.Setenv("HEADLAMP_CONFIG_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET", "superSecretBotsStayAwayPlease")
 		defer os.Unsetenv("HEADLAMP_CONFIG_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET")
 		args := []string{
-			"go run ./cmd", "-in-cluster",
+			"go run ./cmd", "--in-cluster",
 		}
 		conf, err := config.Parse(args)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins.go b/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins.go
index 431052af218..45af88bef45 100644
--- a/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins.go
+++ b/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins.go
@@ -77,20 +77,43 @@ func periodicallyWatchSubfolders(watcher *fsnotify.Watcher, path string, interva
 	}
 }
 
+// GetDisabledPlugins returns a list of disabled plugins and a boolean indicating if all plugins are disabled.
+func GetDisabledPlugins(disablePluginsFlag string) ([]string, bool) {
+	// If the flag is an empty string, all plugins are disabled.
+	if disablePluginsFlag == "all" {
+		return nil, true
+	}
+
+	// Parse the list of plugins to disable.
+	disabledPlugins := strings.Split(disablePluginsFlag, ",")
+	for i := range disabledPlugins {
+		disabledPlugins[i] = strings.TrimSpace(disabledPlugins[i])
+	}
+
+	return disabledPlugins, false
+}
+
 // GeneratePluginPaths takes the staticPluginDir and pluginDir and returns a list of plugin paths.
-func GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir string, pluginDir string) ([]string, error) {
+func GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir string, pluginDir string, disabledPluginsFlag string) ([]string, error) {
+	// Get the list of disabled plugins and whether all plugins are disabled.
+	disabledPlugins, disableAll := GetDisabledPlugins(disabledPluginsFlag)
+
+	if disableAll {
+		return []string{}, nil
+	}
+
 	var pluginListURLStatic []string
 
 	if staticPluginDir != "" {
 		var err error
 
-		pluginListURLStatic, err = pluginBasePathListForDir(staticPluginDir, "static-plugins")
+		pluginListURLStatic, err = pluginBasePathListForDir(staticPluginDir, "static-plugins", disabledPlugins)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
-	pluginListURL, err := pluginBasePathListForDir(pluginDir, "plugins")
+	pluginListURL, err := pluginBasePathListForDir(pluginDir, "plugins", disabledPlugins)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -104,7 +127,7 @@ func GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir string, pluginDir string) ([]string, er
 }
 
 // pluginBasePathListForDir returns a list of valid plugin paths for the given directory.
-func pluginBasePathListForDir(pluginDir string, baseURL string) ([]string, error) {
+func pluginBasePathListForDir(pluginDir string, baseURL string, disabledPlugins []string) ([]string, error) {
 	files, err := os.ReadDir(pluginDir)
 	if err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		logger.Log(logger.LevelError, map[string]string{"pluginDir": pluginDir},
@@ -116,6 +139,12 @@ func pluginBasePathListForDir(pluginDir string, baseURL string) ([]string, error
 	pluginListURLs := make([]string, 0, len(files))
 
 	for _, f := range files {
+		if disabledPlugins != nil && utils.Contains(disabledPlugins, f.Name()) {
+			logger.Log(logger.LevelInfo, map[string]string{"plugin": f.Name()},
+				nil, "Not including plugin path, plugin is disabled")
+			continue
+		}
+
 		if !f.IsDir() {
 			pluginPath := filepath.Join(pluginDir, f.Name())
 			logger.Log(logger.LevelInfo, map[string]string{"pluginPath": pluginPath},
@@ -154,6 +183,7 @@ func pluginBasePathListForDir(pluginDir string, baseURL string) ([]string, error
 // and plugin refresh key in the cache.
 func HandlePluginEvents(staticPluginDir, pluginDir string,
 	notify <-chan string, cache cache.Cache[interface{}],
+	disabledPluginsFlag string,
 ) {
 	for range notify {
 		// set the plugin refresh key to true
@@ -163,7 +193,7 @@ func HandlePluginEvents(staticPluginDir, pluginDir string,
 		}
 
 		// generate the plugin list
-		pluginList, err := GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir, pluginDir)
+		pluginList, err := GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir, pluginDir, disabledPluginsFlag)
 		if err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
 			logger.Log(logger.LevelError, nil, err, "generating plugins path")
 		}
@@ -176,7 +206,22 @@ func HandlePluginEvents(staticPluginDir, pluginDir string,
 }
 
 // PopulatePluginsCache populates the plugin list and plugin refresh key in the cache.
-func PopulatePluginsCache(staticPluginDir, pluginDir string, cache cache.Cache[interface{}]) {
+func PopulatePluginsCache(staticPluginDir, pluginDir string,
+	cache cache.Cache[interface{}], disabledPluginsFlag string,
+) {
+	_, disableAll := GetDisabledPlugins(disabledPluginsFlag)
+
+	if disableAll {
+		logger.Log(logger.LevelInfo, nil, nil, "All plugins are disabled")
+		// Update cache to reflect that all plugins are disabled.
+		err := cache.Set(context.Background(), PluginListKey, []string{})
+		if err != nil {
+			logger.Log(logger.LevelError, nil, err, "setting empty plugin list in cache")
+		}
+
+		return
+	}
+
 	// set the plugin refresh key to false
 	err := cache.Set(context.Background(), PluginRefreshKey, false)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -185,7 +230,7 @@ func PopulatePluginsCache(staticPluginDir, pluginDir string, cache cache.Cache[i
 	}
 
 	// generate the plugin list
-	pluginList, err := GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir, pluginDir)
+	pluginList, err := GeneratePluginPaths(staticPluginDir, pluginDir, disabledPluginsFlag)
 	if err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		logger.Log(logger.LevelError,
 			map[string]string{"staticPluginDir": staticPluginDir, "pluginDir": pluginDir},
diff --git a/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins_test.go b/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins_test.go
index e01aca81eee..ccec91b9991 100644
--- a/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins_test.go
+++ b/backend/pkg/plugins/plugins_test.go
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func TestGeneratePluginPaths(t *testing.T) { //nolint:funlen
 		_, err = os.Create(packageJSONPath)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		pathList, err := plugins.GeneratePluginPaths("", testDirName)
+		pathList, err := plugins.GeneratePluginPaths("", testDirName, "")
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Contains(t, pathList, "plugins/"+subDirName)
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func TestGeneratePluginPaths(t *testing.T) { //nolint:funlen
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		// test without any valid plugin
-		pathList, err = plugins.GeneratePluginPaths("", testDirName)
+		pathList, err = plugins.GeneratePluginPaths("", testDirName, "")
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Empty(t, pathList)
 	})
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ func TestGeneratePluginPaths(t *testing.T) { //nolint:funlen
 		_, err = os.Create(packageJSONPath)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		pathList, err := plugins.GeneratePluginPaths(testDirName, "")
+		pathList, err := plugins.GeneratePluginPaths(testDirName, "", "")
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Contains(t, pathList, "static-plugins/"+subDirName)
 
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ func TestGeneratePluginPaths(t *testing.T) { //nolint:funlen
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		// test without any valid plugin
-		pathList, err = plugins.GeneratePluginPaths(testDirName, "")
+		pathList, err = plugins.GeneratePluginPaths(testDirName, "", "")
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Empty(t, pathList)
 	})
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func TestGeneratePluginPaths(t *testing.T) { //nolint:funlen
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		// test with file as plugin Dir
-		pathList, err := plugins.GeneratePluginPaths(fileName, "")
+		pathList, err := plugins.GeneratePluginPaths(fileName, "", "")
 		assert.Error(t, err)
 		assert.Nil(t, pathList)
 	})
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ func TestHandlePluginEvents(t *testing.T) { //nolint:funlen
 	// create cache
 	ch := cache.New[interface{}]()
 
-	go plugins.HandlePluginEvents("", testDirPath, events, ch)
+	go plugins.HandlePluginEvents("", testDirPath, events, ch, "")
 
 	// plugin list key should be empty
 	pluginList, err := ch.Get(context.Background(), plugins.PluginListKey)
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ func TestPopulatePluginsCache(t *testing.T) {
 	ch := cache.New[interface{}]()
 
 	// call PopulatePluginsCache
-	plugins.PopulatePluginsCache("", "", ch)
+	plugins.PopulatePluginsCache("", "", ch, "")
 
 	// check if the plugin refresh key is set to false
 	pluginRefresh, err := ch.Get(context.Background(), plugins.PluginRefreshKey)