How to Continue Downloading Chrome Extensions Without Using the Chrome Store
I can’t remember the last time I didn’t install an extension from the Google Chrome Web Store. However, until now, developers have been allowed to offer their extensions as inline downloads. In other words, they can put a download button on a website, you click on it and you see a typical install confirmation dialog (as if you were installing an extension from the Chrome Web Store itself), and before you knew it, you were +1 to extensions.
Goodbye inline installations
This inline install feature is known to go away because we can’t have good stuff. With a built-in installation, developers could talk about the extension on their websites however they liked. Apparently, then you wouldn’t pay so much attention to the actual description of the extension you downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. This could lead to a little confusion at best and malicious intent at worst if the developer wants to pull out the old swippy-swappy and force you to install something questionable. As Google writes :
“… we continue to receive a large number of complaints from users about unwanted extensions that cause unexpected changes in their experience with Chrome – and most of these complaints are related to confusing or misleading use of built-in installation on websites. As we’ve been trying to address this issue over the past few years, we’ve learned that the information displayed along with extensions in the Chrome Web Store plays an important role in ensuring that users can make informed decisions about whether to install an extension. When installed through the Chrome Web Store, the likelihood of extensions being removed or causing user complaints is significantly lower compared to extensions installed with a built-in installation. ”
As of today, developers will not be able to offer out-of-the-box installations for newly published extensions. For existing extensions, native installation will be disabled starting September 12, and Google will end support for all native installation APIs when Chrome 71 releases in early December 2018.
What Google Change means to you
If you visit the Chrome extension developer website and find that you can’t hit the download button and install the extension, it’s most likely a Google tweak to blame. Before unsubscribing from an extension, try manually searching the Chrome Web Store to see if the extension exists – it should , unless the developer has indicated that it is an extension that you have to download in your browser. (You really shouldn’t be doing this unless there is another way to get the specific extension you should have, and you have not confirmed that the extension is not malware in disguise.)
What is this unpublished download?
If Google, for example, pulls your favorite extension from the Chrome Web Store and you don’t care about the security issues of installing a “scammed” extension, downloading the extension allows you to bypass Google’s installation restrictions.
To get started, enter chrome://extensions/ in the address bar and click the “developer mode” switch in the upper right corner.
Take the .CRX file you downloaded earlier (if you have one) and use a service such as CRX Extractor to convert its contents into a simple ZIP archive. Unzip this archive somewhere on your computer or laptop, then click Download Unpacked in the chrome://extensions/ window and find the folder where you extracted this ZIP file. Barring any bugs, the extension should crash right in Chrome.
If you don’t know where to find the .CRX files for extensions, you can take a look at the always helpful Chrome Extension Archive . Download the .ZIP file from here, rename it to .CRX and follow the above process to manually drag and drop it into your browser. Yes, you will still have to use CRX Extractor to create another ZIP file and import the contents of that folder into your browser. You will be fine.
(Although, in reality, you should just use the Chrome Web Store whenever possible for extensions. Malware can infiltrate , but at least Google is vigilant to check it and remove it.)