The Aggressive Security Purge
Google Chrome features a built-in security tool called “Enhanced Safe Browsing.” To protect users from malicious browser add-ons that steal data or inject advertisements, Google constantly scans the Chrome Web Store and removes violating extensions. If you have one of these extensions installed, Chrome will automatically disable or completely delete it from your browser in the background without asking for your permission. While this protects the majority of users, it can be infuriating if you rely on a niche, unverified extension for a specific workflow, or if you are a developer testing your own unreleased extension, only to find Chrome keeps wiping it out overnight.
How to Stop Chrome from Deleting Your Extensions
To prevent Chrome from autonomously removing your installed add-ons, you must downgrade the browser’s security settings to stop it from cross-referencing your extensions with Google’s active blacklist.
1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the three vertical dots in the top right corner and select Settings.
3. In the left-hand navigation pane, click on Privacy and security.
4. In the main window, click on Security.
5. Under the “Safe Browsing” section, you will see three tiers of protection. If “Enhanced protection” is currently selected, this is likely what is proactively deleting your extensions.
6. Change the setting to Standard protection. (This checks for dangerous downloads and websites, but is far less aggressive about silently removing existing extensions than Enhanced mode).
7. If Chrome is still disabling a specific developer-mode extension even on Standard protection, you may need to select No protection (not recommended). Warning: Selecting No Protection turns off all malware and phishing alerts in the browser. Do this at your own risk.
How to Protect Developer Mode Extensions
If you are writing your own extension and Chrome keeps disabling it with a “This extension is not listed in the Chrome Web Store” warning, you need to ensure Developer Mode remains active.
1. Click the three vertical dots > Extensions > Manage Extensions (or navigate to chrome://extensions/).
2. In the top-right corner, ensure the toggle switch for Developer mode is turned On.
3. As long as Developer Mode is active, Chrome will generally allow “Unpacked” extensions (folders of code you load manually) to remain installed, though it may occasionally prompt you to disable them if it suspects they are malicious.