How to Find, Open, and Pin Your Chrome Extensions

Where do you find Chrome extensions?

Every installed extension lives behind the puzzle-piece icon on the right side of the address bar, next to your profile picture. Clicking it opens a dropdown listing every extension you've added, whether or not it's currently visible on the toolbar itself.

That puzzle icon is also where you decide which extensions get a permanent spot on the toolbar and which stay tucked away. For anything beyond viewing the list, like disabling, removing, or troubleshooting an extension, Chrome has a separate, more detailed management page.

• Puzzle-piece icon: the everyday list of what's installed and a way to open any of them.
• chrome://extensions or Manage extensions: the full settings page for each extension.
• The Chrome Web Store: where you install new extensions in the first place.

How to open and pin an extension to the toolbar

A newly installed extension doesn't automatically get a toolbar spot; it starts out tucked behind the puzzle icon until you pin it.

1. Click the puzzle-piece icon (labeled Extensions) just to the right of the address bar.
2. Find the extension you want in the dropdown list.
3. Click the pin icon next to its name; it turns solid to show the extension is now pinned.
4. The extension's icon appears directly on the toolbar; select it any time to use the extension.
5. To unpin it later, open the puzzle icon again and click the same pin icon, which toggles it back off the toolbar.

Pinning doesn't change what an extension can do, only whether its icon sits on the visible toolbar or one click deeper behind the puzzle menu. Extensions you use constantly, like a password manager or a clipboard tool, are worth pinning; ones you rarely touch are fine left behind the puzzle icon.

How to open the full extensions management page

For anything beyond opening an extension, disabling it, allowing it in Incognito, or removing it entirely, Chrome has a dedicated page separate from the puzzle-icon dropdown.

1. Click the three-dot More menu in the top-right corner of Chrome.
2. Select Extensions, then Manage extensions from the submenu that opens.
3. Alternatively, type chrome://extensions directly into the address bar and press Enter.

How do I install a new Chrome extension?

Installing starts from the Chrome Web Store, not from the puzzle icon, since that dropdown only ever shows what's already installed.

1. Open the Chrome Web Store and find the extension you want.
2. Select Add to Chrome.
3. Review the permissions prompt, then select Add extension to confirm.
4. The extension appears behind the puzzle icon immediately; pin it if you want it on the toolbar.

Extensions can't be added while browsing in Incognito mode or as a guest; switch to a regular browsing window first. If you install a program on Windows or Mac that bundles a Chrome extension, it can appear in the puzzle-icon list on its own the next time you open Chrome, and you'll be prompted to Enable or Remove it.

Chrome extension menu names, quick reference

Chrome's extension menus use consistent naming across versions, but they're easy to mix up the first few times.

Which extensions are worth pinning to the toolbar?

A cluttered toolbar defeats the purpose of pinning, so it's worth being selective about what earns a permanent spot rather than pinning everything you install.

Anything used a few times a week or less is usually fine left behind the puzzle icon; pinning it just adds toolbar clutter without saving meaningful time.

Finding extensions on a Chromebook and on your phone

The puzzle icon and chrome://extensions page work identically on a Chromebook, since ChromeOS runs the same Chrome browser as a laptop or desktop. Phones are a different story.

• Chromebook: the puzzle icon, pinning, and chrome://extensions page all work exactly as described above.
• Android and iOS Chrome apps: neither supports installing traditional desktop-style extensions at all, so there's no puzzle icon to find on a phone.
• Work or school Chromebooks: an organization can block installing certain extensions or force-install others, which is why an extension you expect to find sometimes isn't available to add.

What to do when an extension is missing or broken

A few specific problems come up often enough with the extensions page that they're worth knowing before assuming something is permanently broken.

Extension icon disappeared from the toolbar

Open the puzzle icon; it was likely unpinned rather than removed. Click the pin icon next to it again to bring it back.

Extension shows a corrupted warning

On chrome://extensions, find the extension and select Repair, then confirm with Repair extension to reinstall it without losing saved settings.

Extension won't install and shows an untrusted warning

With Enhanced Safe Browsing protection on, Chrome warns before installing extensions not yet trusted by the program; select Continue to install if you trust the developer, or Close to cancel.

Extension is greyed out and can't be enabled

An organization admin has likely blocked it on a managed device; check with school or work IT rather than troubleshooting it as a local Chrome problem.