I use 2 methods for disabling plugins without deleting them from the filesystem:
By renaming the manifest file: I rename opensearch_dashboards.json for that plugin to opensearch_dashboards-original.json
This will prevent the plugin from being discovered completely.
By giving the plugin an unsatisfiable dependency in the manifest file: I edit opensearch_dashboards.json for the plugin and add "something" to the requiredPlugins.
If the plugin’s manifest doesn’t already have a requiredPlugins, I just add it. The end result is: