The Forced Updates
Google Chrome is designed to be a secure, low-maintenance browser. To achieve this, it automatically updates not only the browser itself but also all installed extensions in the background without user intervention. While this ensures you have the latest security patches, it can be highly disruptive for developers testing older builds, or for users relying on a specific, older version of an extension before a developer introduced an unpopular change or a breaking bug. When Chrome automatically updates the extension, you lose the version you preferred.
Blocking Extension Updates
To maintain your specific software environment and stop Google Chrome from automatically updating your installed extensions, you must utilize Developer Mode and manually pack the extension.
Chrome does not offer a simple “disable auto-update” switch for extensions. The most reliable method is to install the extension locally. First, locate the extension folder on your hard drive (usually in your AppData or Library folder under Chrome’s User Data). Copy this specific extension version folder to your desktop. Open Chrome and type chrome://extensions in the address bar. In the top right corner, toggle Developer mode to ON. Click the Pack extension button that appears. Select the folder you copied to your desktop and pack it. This creates a `.crx` file. Now, drag and drop that newly created `.crx` file back into the `chrome://extensions` window to install it as a local, unpacked extension. Because Chrome views this as a developer’s local build rather than an official Web Store download, it will never automatically update it.