How to Add a Google Chrome Extension

This is the first in a series of tutorials which will describe how to create extensions, themes and gadgets for the Google Chrome browser and OS.

How to add an extension to your Chrome Browser

Chrome extensions allow you to customize your browser, just like Firefox extensions.

To use or create extensions requires the developer version of Google Chrome. If you do not have this version yet, it is just something that updates your browser to a newer version (build) of Chrome. It keeps all of your current settings.

Get the Developers version of Google Chrome here

Once you have your Chrome browser updated to the developer version you will now be able to install extensions.

Let’s start by adding an extension that adds a Google search box to your browser, use the link below to add the extension. (note: if you are reading this in Firefox or Internet Explorer the following link won’t work right. To add an extension to Chrome you have to be using Chrome!)

Add Google search extension

After you click that link, look at the bottom left hand of your browser, there will be a notice. It looks like this…

notice

Click the continue button and you will see this…

install-extension

Click install.

Congratulations! You have just installed your first extension.

In the upper right hand side of your browser you will see this…

installed

Now when you click the search icon, a Google search box will appear…

search-box-g

What we have just done is the first two steps one must do to get started with Chrome extensions… first we got the developer version of Chrome, secondly we uploaded a .crx file (I will explain what these are in the next lesson).

The extension we just installed will be a sample extension we will use in later lessons of how to create, update, and share Google Chrome extensions.

4 Comments

  1. Like firefox Google also made it’s extensions and this post is really useful to realize how to make use of those. Especially the screen shots were good.

  2. Hi
    Im jathu from srilanka.
    i saw some good article in google fields and its very help full for my development. i need some help from you..
    the help is i had created some chrome extensions i wanna host them in my server or in extension gallery and i wanna check if the user surfs my site from chrome and is he installed my chrome extension or not and make prompt if he is not installed..
    i think you gt my problem can u please help me out in it?

  3. The source looks to be down, does anyone have a backup or mirror link I can use. Thanks, oh I got your link ok.

  4. Arun

    It’s lovely