How to Find chrome extensions installed location ?

👤 Diwas Poudel 🕒 13 Mar 2023 📁 TECH

Google Chrome is a popular browser that is used by almost all internet users. They prefer to use the Chrome browser after becoming acquainted with it. Google Chrome supports Extensions.

Types of Extensions in Chrome
UnPacked Extension
Packed Extension
How to Find Google Chrome Extensions in Windows OS?
How to find Google Chrome Extension in MacOS ?
How to find Google Chrome Extension in Linux?
How to find Google Chrome Extension in Chromium
How do I locate a specific folder associated with a specific Chrome Extension?
How to find the locations of Chrome Extensions with the Chrome Browser?

Extensions are small software programs that can be installed in order to be used in a browser. It is created using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JS. Extensions can help you increase productivity while decreasing distractions. They are easily accessible through the browser. Chrome extensions contain the extension manifest, background scripts, content scripts, icons, and localization files.

But you're curious about where those extensions are on your computer. Then you've come to the right place. Ourtechroom will assist you in locating the chrome extension location. Chrome Extensions are all stored in the same location and folder on any system, but the location varies depending on the operating system, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux variants.

Why is it necessary to know the location where the Chrome Extension was installed?

Chrome extension installation locations are handy for several reasons:

Backup extensions: Copy the extension folder from the default position to a USB drive or cloud storage to back up Chrome extensions.
Troubleshooting: Knowing the installation location can help users find the extension files and disable or delete them to fix issues.
Manual installation: Some extensions require manual installation by placing the extension files in the installed place. Here, the position is crucial.

Developers may need to view extension files to debug or test their extensions.

Knowing where Chrome extensions are installed can help users and developers handle and troubleshoot them.

It should be noted that Chrome includes a default profile as well as a user profile. When you do not log into the Chrome Browser directly on a device, you are using the Default Chrome Profile. We will show you all of the profiles that you have on your computer in this section. Chrome profiles keep extensions, history, bookmarks, and other settings separate.

Types of Extensions in Chrome

There are two types of extensions in Chrome

1 Unpacked Extension

2 Packed Extension

UnPacked Extension

These are the extensions that are available on your computer or you have downloaded. You will have all source files within a folder.
You have to install it yourself.

Ex: If you have unpacked extension E:\extension and when you load this extension in chrome then the location of these extensions remains in the same location ie. E:\extension.

Packed Extension

These are the extensions that you have downloaded from places like Chrome Web Store and installed automatically. These extensions are compiled into a downloadable .crx file.

In this article, we will find the location of the Packed Extension of the various OS.

Also read: How to disable Chrome History Deletion?

How to Find Google Chrome Extensions in Windows OS?

You'll need to navigate to the AppData folder in order to get to the Windows Extensions directory. Here are the steps:

1 Open File Explorer and at the top type below and press Enter

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data

Here you will see the various folder and we are interested in the Default and Profile X (x can be 1,2,3 ...) folder.

fig. profile-and default chrome extension location

2 Open the Default Folder and then again Open the Extensions folder. This will contain all the extensions present in default.

all-extensions-under-default-folder — **fig. All Extensions under the Default Folder**

3. Open the Profile X folder and then again Open the Extensions folder. This will contain extensions based on the chrome user profile.

fig. all extensions under profile 5

Please take into account that this extension does not contain the actual name of the extension but rather contains a folder in a random string like rthxjnehmosdhkefmnjegmsdfdgcdnpo. This arbitrary string serves as the extension ID, which is 32 characters long identifier.

Because I have five user profiles, I have five profile folders. Profile 1, Profile 2, Profile 3, Profile 4, and Profile 5 are examples.

Note: You are utilizing the Default Chrome Profile on a device if you do not directly log into Chrome Browser on that device.

How to find Google Chrome Extension in MacOS ?

When Chrome is installed on a user's level, it can be found in the following locations:

~/Users//Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Extensions

When Chrome is installed on a root level, it can be found in the following locations:

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Extensions

When you explore the Extensions folder, you will find all the extensions installed.

If you have multiple Google accounts associated with your Mac user account, they will appear as follows:

/Library/ApplicationSupport/Google/Chrome/[Google user ID]/Extensions.

Where [Google user ID] is the username of your Google account in the above directory.

Also read: Difference between Google Chrome and Google Chrome Beta

How to find Google Chrome Extension in Linux?

On Linux variants, Chrome extensions are kept in the filesystem, specifically in the extensions folder, which is located in the user data directory of Chrome as shown below:

~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/

For Kali Linux extensions are located in the following location:

~/.config/chromium/Default/Extensions

How to find Google Chrome Extension in Chromium

For Chromium OS, the location of Google Chrome Extension is as follows.

~/.config/chromium/Default/Extensions

When you explore the Extensions folder you will find all the chrome extensions.

How do I locate a specific folder associated with a specific Chrome Extension?

Here are the simple steps for these:

1. Goto Chrome browser and type: chrome://extensions/ in the URL and press Enter.

Then you'll see a list of extensions. Then find your desired extensions. In my case ColorPick EyeDropper. As a result, we can clearly see its ID. It is: ohcpnigalekghcmgcdcenkpelffpdolg in my case.

2 Then navigate to the extension folder location with the help of above mention steps. Then search for the same id there as shown below.