About .crx extension
Every Chrome extension, app or theme on Chrome web store is distributed as *.CRX file. Actually, CRX files are ZIP files which you can unzip using any ZIP utility like 7Zip or WinRAR. You can either rename file extension crx to zip or directly open them using ZIP tools. However when you install an extension on Chrome from Chrome store, it doesn’t let you backup or download the actual CRX file of the extension. Chrome just directly installs them without leaving the extension file.Though you can access and edit extension files and codes installed in Chrome as they are stored in your local machine, sometimes you need to directly get the CRX file without installing. Though Chrome made it harder to directly download CRX files, folks out there who made use of workarounds to catch CRX files and make them download locally. Here I am going to share two such tools that lets you directly download CRX files from Chrome web store without installing on your Chrome. This work is similar to directly downloading APK files from Google Play. 1. Chrome Extension DownloaderChrome Extension Downloader is a web tool with which you can download CRX files of any extension that exist on Chrome store. You simply have to copy the extension URL or ID from store and input it into Extension Downloader and hit Download extension. Checkout how it works.You can also have a one click CRX downloader both in Chrome toolbar and address bar by installing their extension.To install their extension, head to chrome://extensions page (or by Menu > More Tools > Extension) and drag the CRX file to the page.2. Give Me CRXGive Me CRX is a Chrome extension that adds a CRX Downloader button to Chrome context menu (right-click menu) when you are on an extension page on Chrome web store. That means you need to use Chrome to use this tool.Ultimately all Chrome extension downloaders works with same logic. As I said earlier, you can rename the extension CRX to ZIP to easily open and extract files inside an extension.Author: Jaber Al NahianJaber is a Programmer and Tech Enthusiast Geek from Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is the founder and Chief-Editor of TechGainer. While he is away from his keyboard, either he's fishing or messing with wildlife. In case, you can contact him at rijans[at]techgainer[dot]com.
Key features of the .crx extension that are enabled through these drivers include:
- How To Open File With CRX Extension? - File Extension .CRX
- .CRX - How to open CRX file? CRX File Extension - FileInfo
- CRX file extension - Chrome Extension
- CRX file extension - What is a .CRX format, and how
- sryze/crx-dl: Chrome extension (CRX) downloader
- GitHub - sryze/crx-dl: Chrome extension (CRX)
- CRX file extension - What is CRX file? How to open CRX files?
Installing Chrome extensions is easy, just click the “Add to Chrome” button on the extension page, and Chrome will both download and install the extension. However, what if you want to manually install the Chrome extensions? Maybe you want to download the extension but install it on a different PC. Or you are having trouble installing Chrome extensions directly.Whatever your reasoning is, you can manually download Chrome extensions and install them whenever you like. In this post, I’ll show you how to download a Chrome extension CRX file and then install it in Chrome manually.Download the Chrome extension CRX fileCRX file is basically the name of the Chrome extension package (zipped file) that chrome unzips and installs as a Chrome extension when you click the “Add to Chrome” button. You can download the CRX file of any extension separately with the help of another Chrome extension, here’s how.You can install a CRX downloader Chrome extension that will help you download the CRX file of any Chrome extension. There are many extensions for this purpose, but I like CRX Extractor/Downloader for its intuitive usage so I’ll recommend that.Just install this Chrome extension and move to the Chrome web store page of the extension of which you need the CRX file. Now click on the extension button and then click on “Download as CRX”. Depending on the extension size it may take a few seconds for the download to begin.That’s it, the extension CRX file will be downloaded to your PC and you can even move it to a different PC to install.Manually install a Chrome extensionNow that you have downloaded the CRX file, let’s see how you can install it in Chrome. Click on the Chrome main menu and select “Extensions” from the “More tools” option.Here click on the “Developer mode” toggle at the top-right corner to enable it. You cannot install Chrome extensions manually without enabling this option.Now drag and drop the CRX file of the extension in the Chrome extensions page and you’ll be asked to add the extension like you are usually asked. To drag and drop, you can either decrease the size of the Chrome window or drag the CRX file on the Chrome taskbar button to maximize Chrome and drop it.This will install the extension and you don’t even need an internet connection to complete the installation. Ending thoughtsBefore I end, I should mention that you can use the same process to install Chrome extensions in other Chromium-based browsers as well, such as Opera. Also, make sure you drag and drop the CRX file in Chrome and don’t just open it using Chrome as the default app. Otherwise, Chrome will not allow the installation.
