Every Chrome extension has an ID: a long string of lowercase letters that stays the same for a published extension. The fastest way to see it is in the address bar of the extension’s Details page:
- In Chrome on your computer, open
chrome://extensions, or click the three-dot menu, then Extensions, then Manage Extensions. - On the extension, click Details.
- Look at the address bar. It now reads
chrome://extensions/?id=followed by the ID.
Websites cannot link to chrome:// pages, so type or paste the address yourself.
Show the ID on every extension at once
- Open
chrome://extensions. - Turn on Developer mode at the top right.
- Each extension card now shows a line that starts with ID:. The Details page shows it too, under ID.
Developer mode only adds these details and a few developer buttons. You can turn it off again when you are done.
Find the ID in the Chrome Web Store
Google’s developer guide notes that an extension’s ID “can be found in the Chrome Web Store URL of the extension” (Use alternative installation methods). Open the extension’s page in the store and look at the end of the address. For Google’s own Translate extension, the address is:
chromewebstore.google.com/detail/google-translate/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb
The last part, after the final slash, is the ID.
How to confirm an extension ID is the official one
Names and icons are easy to copy. The ID is not: each published extension has its own. To check that an extension is the real one:
- Get the official ID from a source you trust, such as the company’s own website or help pages, which usually link to their store listing.
- Open this address with the ID on the end, for example
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb. The store takes you to the listing that belongs to that ID. - On the listing, check who made it. Under Details, the Developer section names the publisher. Google’s Translate listing also says “This extension was developed by Google.”
- Compare that ID with the one on your
chrome://extensionspage. If they match, you have the official extension installed.
This matters because the store has look-alikes. Next to Google Translate, the store’s related list includes other extensions with “Google Translate” in their names, such as “Google Translate Plus AI”. Check the developer on each one before you assume it is Google’s. The ID and the developer details are what tell them apart.
Badges help too. Google’s guide Discovery on the Chrome Web Store says the Established Publisher badge goes to developers who “have verified their identity” and have a consistent positive track record with Google services and its developer policies, and that developers “cannot pay to receive either badge”. The Featured badge is shown on listings that, in the store’s words, follow “recommended practices for Chrome extensions”. A badge is a good sign, but it does not prove an extension is the brand it claims to be. The ID and developer do.
If something looks wrong, you can report the listing with Flag concern in its Details section. For more on judging a listing before you install, see our Chrome Web Store guide.
What the ID is used for
- Work and school computers. Administrators identify extensions by ID when they install them on managed computers, as Google’s alternative installation guide above shows. If IT asks you for an extension’s ID, use one of the methods on this page.
- Developers. An extension loaded with Load unpacked gets its own ID. Google’s manifest key guide explains how to keep the same ID during development by adding a
keytomanifest.json. The manifest has no field that simply holds the ID.
Phones and tablets
Chrome on Android, iPhone and iPad does not run Chrome Web Store extensions, so there is no extension ID to find there. Google’s help says that on a phone, the store offers Add to Desktop, which sends the extension to Chrome on your computer the next time you open it (Install and manage extensions).