Do Chrome Extensions Work in Brave Browser?

Do Chrome Extensions Work in Brave?

Yes. Brave is built on Chromium, the same open-source engine behind Chrome, and it points its extensions page at the same Chrome Web Store listings Chrome uses — so nearly any Chrome extension installs and runs in Brave with no conversion step. The exceptions are extensions that depend on a Google-account feature Brave doesn't include, or ones that clash with Brave's built-in Shields blocking.

• Brave runs on Chromium, the open-source project Chrome is also built on.
• There's no separate 'Brave store' — installing still happens through the Chrome Web Store.
• brave://extensions mirrors chrome://extensions almost exactly, including the developer-mode toggle.
• Manifest V3 extensions behave the same in both browsers, since it's a Chromium-level format, not a Chrome-only one.

Why Brave Can Run Chrome Extensions Without Its Own Store

Brave doesn't maintain a separate extension format or review process — it reuses Chromium's extension platform wholesale, which is why installing feels identical to Chrome. When you open the Chrome Web Store in Brave, the Add to Chrome button still says Chrome, and clicking it installs the extension into Brave the same way it would install into Chrome or Edge.

This also means permission prompts look the same: an extension asking to read and change all your data on websites you visit shows that exact wording in Brave, not a Brave-branded version. If you want a refresher on what those permission levels actually mean before installing anything new, our permissions guide breaks them down in plain language.

How to Install a Chrome Extension in Brave

Installing works exactly like it does in Chrome, since Brave uses the same store and the same installer under the hood.

1. Open the Chrome Web Store at chromewebstore.google.com inside Brave.
2. Search for the extension by name and open its listing page.
3. Click Add to Chrome (the button keeps this label in Brave too) and confirm Add extension in the popup.
4. Open the puzzle-piece icon in Brave's toolbar and click the pin next to the extension to keep it visible.
5. Visit brave://extensions any time to enable, disable, remove it, or adjust its site access.

Which Chrome Extensions Don't Work Well in Brave?

Most extensions work without any changes, but a small category runs into friction — usually because of what the extension checks for, rather than a missing Chromium feature.

How Brave's Shields Can Conflict With Chrome Extensions

Shields is Brave's built-in blocker for ads, trackers, and fingerprinting scripts, and it runs at the browser level before any extension gets a chance to act on the page. That order can cause a script an extension expects to be there to get blocked before the extension ever sees it.

Ad-blocker extensions

Usually redundant rather than broken — Shields already blocks most ads, so an ad-blocker extension on top just double-filters the same content.

Cookie-notice or consent-blocker extensions

Can conflict with Shields' own cookie-consent blocking, occasionally hiding a site's genuine functional cookie banner along with the tracking one.

Extensions that read data injected by third-party scripts

If Shields blocks the script that injects that data, the extension has nothing to read even though it's enabled and working correctly.

Fingerprinting-protection interactions

Brave's fingerprinting randomization can make a site think it's being visited by an unfamiliar browser, which occasionally trips up an extension's own site-compatibility checks.

How to Fix Extension Conflicts With Brave Shields

Lowering Shields for one site is safer than turning it off everywhere, and it's usually all that's needed to unblock an extension.

1. Click the lion icon at the right of Brave's address bar on the page where the extension misbehaves.
2. Toggle Shields down (not off globally) for that one site.
3. If the extension still doesn't work, open the advanced view and switch Trackers & ads blocking to Standard instead of Aggressive.
4. Check the Block scripts setting too — if it's on, turn it off for that site, since it can strip out code an extension relies on.
5. Reload the page after each change so the new Shields setting takes effect.

Do Brave's Android and iPhone Apps Support Extensions?

No. Neither Brave's Android app nor its iPhone app supports installing desktop-style browser extensions, which mirrors the same limitation in Chrome's own mobile apps — mobile browsers on both platforms simply don't have the extension architecture desktop Chromium has.

• Brave's mobile ad-and-tracker blocking runs natively inside the app instead of through an extension, which is why Shields still works on your phone even without extension support.
• If you rely on a specific Chrome extension for work, that workflow won't carry over to Brave (or Chrome) on a phone or tablet running the mobile app.
• Some Android tablets and Chromebooks in tablet mode run desktop Chrome or desktop Brave rather than the mobile app — check which mode you're in before assuming extensions are unavailable.

Discussions about mobile extension support come up regularly in Brave's community forum, which is a reasonable place to check before assuming a specific workaround exists.

Chrome Extensions Worth Installing in Brave

The picks below are simple, self-contained tools that don't rely on Google-account features or scripts Shields tends to block, which makes them reliable choices if you're testing what works well in Brave.

If your work involves several browser-based productivity tools, our extensions for remote work collection groups more picks like these, and our methodology page explains how we check that a listing is current before it's featured.

Switching From Chrome to Brave Without Losing Your Setup

Brave's first-run import brings over bookmarks, saved passwords, and browsing history from Chrome, but it does not automatically reinstall your Chrome extensions — you'll need to add each one again from the Chrome Web Store inside Brave.

1. During Brave's first run, use the import prompt to bring in bookmarks, passwords, and history from Chrome.
2. Open Chrome side by side and note which extensions you actually use, since this is a good moment to drop ones you'd forgotten about.
3. In Brave, visit each extension's Chrome Web Store page and click Add to Chrome to install it fresh.
4. Sign back into any extension that needs an account, such as a grammar checker or password manager — logins don't transfer automatically either.

Once your extensions are reinstalled, browse the full extension directory to fill any gaps — some Chrome-only picks have close equivalents worth comparing rather than assuming the original is your only option.