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google-chromegoogle-chrome-extension

How to disable Google Chrome extension autoupdate


How do I disable Google Chrome extension autoupdate?


Solution

  • Disabling a concrete extension update

    You can do this by editing the extension's manifest.json file:

    • On Windows: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\<EXTENSION-ID>\<VERSION>\manifest.json (find out the extension's ID by enabling Developer Mode in the extension settings page)

    • On MacOS: Open /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Extensions/EXTENSION-ID/VERSION/manifest.json in a text editor.

    • On Ubuntu for Chromium: ${HOME}/.config/chromium/Default/Preferences

    In this file, set the "update_url" property to something invalid like "https://localhost" for example. For the given url, it makes auto-updating that extension as simply impossible.

    Source: Google Product Form

    Until 2017 ( https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40471118 ), you could also disable all Google Chrome extension updates:

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Update]
    "AutoUpdateCheckPeriodMinutes"=dword:00000000
    "UpdateDefault"=dword:00000000
    

    Source: Making Google Chrome leave itself alone