Extensions disappear when I close and open Google Chrome

26
2014-06
  • PavanM

    I am running the latest version of Google Chrome 23.0.1271.97 (Official Build 171054) m on Windows 7. Any new extension I install simply disappears (not disabled, total disappearance) once I close and re-start Google Chrome. This is not happening to any of my old extensions; they stay there across Chrome re-starts.

    I tried everything Google Help suggested:

    1. I created new user profile by renaming the Defaults folder

    2. I checked for any permission change that the extensions might have undergone. This is not the case.

    3. I am not running in developer mode.

    This happens when I close all instances of Google Chrome. Even if one instance of Chrome is running, this doesn't happen. But I can't have an instance of Google Chrome always running.

    I even reported the issue to Google Chrome team to no avail and new.crbug.com is offline. And I skimmed through many threads opened for the same issue only to find souls like me. Stack Exchange is my last resort.

    • Answers
  • Andy Lech

    Do you have your extensions set to sync to a Google account?

    I have the same version and I have been having a similar problem with all my extension settings being reset every time I do a clean launch of Chrome. Here is a temporary fix that worked for me:

    1. Open your Settings by using the menu item Tools => Setting or browsing to chrome://chrome/settings/
    2. Click the "Advanced sync settings..." button under "Sign in"
    3. Change "Sync everything" to "Choose what to sync"
    4. Uncheck Extensions
    5. Click Ok
    6. Close every instance of Chrome and do a clean launch (or just reboot your computer to be safe)

    Of course, this is only a temporary fix because it makes all your extension settings local to that computer, but for me that is better that reapplying all my extension settings every time I launch Chrome.

  • PavanM

    Finally, with hints from Andy Lech's Answer, I was able to solve this problem (atleast a temporary fix). Here are the quick steps-

    • Go to Settings by typing chrome://settings in your URL bar
    • Under Sign In, select Sign in to Chrome.
    • Sign in with your Google Account Username and password.
    • A pop asking you to Confirm Sync Settings appears. Press OK, Sync Everything. Dont worry you can customize the items you want to sync to your Google account later. But make sure Extensions are checked and synced
    • Now, go ahead and install new extensions from Chrome Webstore
    • Re-start Google Chrome. Close all instances of Chrome.
    • Wait for some time. As you can see, all your extensions get loaded over a short time period I've written a detailed blog about this which can be found here

    You can read more below-

    Are your Google Chrome Extensions disappearing out of nowhere?

  • vishal sharma

    Go to Wrench Menu In Chrome -> Tools -> Extensions this will give you extensions list..
    now take your .crx file and drag on this page .. this will permanently installed extensions..


    • Related Question

    Google Chrome extensions in Firefox
  • Adrian Petrescu

    Chrome has a significantly more restricted extension API than Firefox; it mainly just consists of content scripts (with background pages) and a couple of hooks for context menus and popups and such. As such, it seems to me that a very significant subset of the Chrome API could be implemented in Firefox, either as a Firefox extension or a separate "extension compiler" like there exists for Greasemonkey scripts (which, incidentally, are another example of something that works exactly the same way as Chrome content scripts). If implemented, this would allow most Chrome extensions to install and run in Firefox.

    I Googled around a bit and found several mentions of a very old attempt at this, but all of the links to the actual Mozilla repository for it are now dead. Even if they weren't, I'd be very surprised if this early effort still worked with either Firefox 4 or the latest changes to the Chrome extension API.

    So my question is, does anybody know what the current state of the art is with regards to Chrome Extension API compatibility layers in Firefox? Have there been any extensions or extension compilers attempting to address the issues I brought up?


    • Related Answers
  • Patches

    If there is such a beast, even Mozilla developers don't know about it!

    Many Chrome "extensions" are just Greasemonkey scripts, and these can be used with the Greasemonkey extension or compiler on Firefox with no changes.

    Unfortunately, extensions that use other APIs must be ported. If you're looking to port a Chrome extension to Firefox, or planning to write one for both, take a look at Mozilla's new Jetpack extension API, which was designed to work in a manner similar to the way Chrome's extensions work, but still offer the vastly increased access to the browser the original Firefox API is known for.

  • niutech

    You can use You can use Extension Factory conversion tool in order to convert a Google Chrome extension to Firefox or Safari.