How to manually install a Chrome extension
A quick guide to sideloading a browser extension from a .zip file — no store required.
1. Download the extension
Grab the .zip from Voidlab or wherever it lives. Save it somewhere you can find again.
2. Unzip it
Right-click the archive and extract it. Keep the extracted folder somewhere permanent — deleting it later will disable the extension.
3. Open the extensions page
In Chrome, Edge, Brave, or any Chromium browser, paste chrome://extensions into the address bar and hit enter.
4. Turn on Developer mode
Flip the Developer mode toggle in the top-right corner. New buttons will appear.
5. Load unpacked
Click Load unpacked and pick the folder you extracted in step 2. The extension will show up in your list and start running immediately.
Troubleshooting
- Manifest missing: Make sure you selected the folder that contains
manifest.json, not its parent. - Extension disabled on restart: Some browsers warn about unpacked extensions. Re-enable it from
chrome://extensions. - Only install from sources you trust — sideloaded extensions get the same permissions as any store extension.