Extensions are one of the most important and great parts of the Google Chrome Browser. Google Chrome is mainly designed to run extensions in order to make it very extensible, flexible, and featureful. Google Chrome is designed like an operating system and extensions are the user applications of the operating system.
In this tutorial, we will examine the Google Chrome extension in a detailed way. We will start from scratch by installing extensions and then learn update, enable, disable, hide extensions.
Google Chrome Extension Manager
Google Chrome provides an Extension Manager which can be accessed from the chrome://extension address. This address can be typed into the address bar like below. Alternatively, the Extension Manager can be opened from the Settings->More tools->Extensions like below.
The extension manager will look like below. We can see that there is a Search Extension bar in order to search and find an extension according to its name. This can be helpful if you are using a lot of extensions. There is also the Chrome Apps category which lists installed Chrome Applications provided as a builtin or 3rd party. In this list following information about the extensions is provided.
Extension Name is the official name of the extensions.
Description will provide short information about the extension function.
Details will open details of the extension which provides mode information like version, size, permissions, site access and also some configuration about incognito and remove button.
Remove button is used to remove the given extension easily.
Slider on the extension can be used to enable or disable the extension.
Search Extensions bar can be used to search extensions with their names and short descriptions.
Install Chrome Extension
Google Chrome extensions can be installed from https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions address which the marketplace for the Google Chrome extensions. We will use the left upper search box in order to search and find extensions. In this case, we will search for translate term.
The search results will be listed below. The search result will be listed according to relativity and popularity. Then we can use the Add to Chrome button in order to install a given extension.
List Chrome Extension Information
Extensions are listed in the previously explained Extensions page. More information about a specific Google Chrome extension can be listed by clicking Details button about the extension.
The extension detail page will provide the following information.
- The description will provide a short description of the extension
- The version will provide the version number of the current extension.
- The size provides the storage space the extension uses which is less than 1 MB in this example.
- Permissions provide the required permission for the extension like access web sites, read and modify data, copy, paste, etc.
- Site Access provides whether this extension has specific site access.
- Allow in Incognito will enable or disable this plugin in incognito or private mode. By default disabled for all extension to run in incognito.
- View in Chrome Web Store provides the URL for the extension in the Web Store.
- The source specifies the developer type of this extension. There is two value
third-partyorGoogle.
Allow Chrome Incognito To Run Extension
By default, Google Chrome Extensions do not run on the Incognito mode. Incognito mode or private mode is explicitly created to preserve the privacy of the user and some extensions can break user privacy protection. But if we need to run a specific extension in the incognito mode we can enable the extension for the incognito mode from the extension detail page. Just slide the slider to enable the extension in the private or incognito mode.
Disable Chrome Extension
Google Chrome extensions are enabled by default after the installation. But in some cases, we may need to disable the extension. Disabling will not remove the extension permanently but prevent to work until enabled. This can be useful if we want to make some tests about the plugin or it may interfere with different plugins or specific cases. We can disable a Google Chrome extension from the extension list like below. We will just slide the slider to disable the given extension. When the extension is disabled the slider color will turn to the gray and if enabled it will be blue. Below we disabled Google Docs Offline extension.
Alternatively, we can disable a specific Google Chrome extension from the extension details page. In the detailed page, the On and Off configuration will enable or disable the plugin. Off is the disabled situation. We will turn off the slider like below in order to disable the extension.
Remove Chrome Extension
If we do not need the extension furthermore we may remove the extension permanently. If we will need it later disabling is a better way which can be enabled later. We can remove extension from the extension details page of from extension list. First we will remove by using the extension details page thweew the Remove extension button which is located on the bottom.
Alternatively we can remove an extension from the extensions page by using the Remove button like below.
The last step is we need to confirm the removal of the extension by clicking the Remove like below.
Report Abuse About Chrome Extension
Google Chrome provides hundred of thousands of extensions which are created by different parties. Some of the extensions are not secure even they are reviewed by Google. If we detect malicious events we can report this to Google as abusive. Just follow the removal steps and enable the Report abuse checkbox like below and click to the Remove button.
Hide Chrome Extension From the Menu Bar
Most of the Chrome extension icons are located in the menu bar of the Google Chrome browser. If you are using a lot of extensions this will hurt your browsing experience or create different problems. We can hide the extension icon from the menu bar easily. Keep in mind that this will not remove or disable the extension and the extension will run like previously just the icon will disappear from the menu bar. Right-click to the extension icon you want to hide and select the Hide in Chrome menu like below.
Extension Manager Extension
Extension Manager is a Google Chrome extension that provides easy extension management. It can be downloaded from the Google Chrome market place like a regular extension. Alternatively, you can use the following URL open the Extension Manager install page.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/extension-manager/gjldcdngmdknpinoemndlidpcabkggco?hl=en
Just click to the Add to Chrome button like below. This will install the Extension Manager.
Extension Manager provides basic features with useful and practical features like below.
- One Key fast enable/disable an extension
- Lightning Group: Quickly enable/disable extension groups according to the scene (except for locked or theme class extensions)
- Smart Sort: intelligent sorting according to your frequency of use (default sort by name)
- Right-click Menu: provides shortcut functions such as lock, uninstall, option configuration, the home page, APP running, etc.
- Smart Search: Quickly find the extension you need with keywords or phrases
- Reminder: display the extended status in real-time, remind reset after use, reduce resource consumption (except for locked or theme class extension)
- View Selection: Provide list view and grid view, in line with user habits
- Group management: general group and fixed group, flexible management
- Extension Naming: Give your extension an alias you like
- Automatic matching: You can turn extensions on and off according to different websites