How to add extensions to Chrome to enhance your browsing experience

• You can add extensions to Chrome using the web browser's store.
• Chrome is compatible with thousands of extensions that add features and capabilities to your browser.
• To turn off or remove an extension, click the Extensions button in the Chrome toolbar, and go to "Manage extensions."

Extensions let you customize your Google Chrome browser in an almost unlimited array of ways. You can add extensions that add spell checking, a dictionary or language translator, custom emails, screenshots, webcasting tools, and much more. If you don't have a lot of experience with browser extensions, though, you might want to learn how to add and remove extensions, as well as how to toggle them on and off.

How to add an extension to Chrome

To add an extension to Chrome, you need to find the extension you want to add in the Chrome web store. Here's what you need to do:

1. Open Chrome and then navigate to the Chrome web store.

2. Search or browse for the extension you want to add to Chrome. Click the extension to open its details page.

3. Click Add to Chrome. In the pop-up, click Add extension.

4. After a moment, the extension will be added to Chrome. Some extensions require you to configure some settings or sign in to an account. If there are additional instructions, follow them now.

5. Find the extension in Chrome. To do that, click the Extensions button in the toolbar (it looks like a puzzle piece) and find the new extension in the pop-up list.

Quick tip: To pin the extension to the toolbar so it's always a click away, click the Pin button to the right of the extension name in the Extensions drop-down list.

How to turn off a Chrome extension

If you want to temporarily disable a Chrome extension — perhaps it's conflicting with other software or you want to stop whatever it's doing — you can turn it off without uninstalling it.

1. Click the Extensions button in the toolbar (it looks like a puzzle piece) and then click Manage extensions at the bottom of the list of extensions.

2. Find the extension you want to turn off.

3. Click the button in the lower right of the extension's info box so it swipes to the left and turns from blue to white.

Quick tip: You can return here and turn a disabled extension back on using the same button.

How to remove a Chrome extension

If you want to permanently remove an extension from Chrome — either because you no longer need it or it is causing an incompatibility with other software — you can do that with a couple of clicks.

1. Click the Extensions button in the toolbar (it looks like a puzzle piece) and then click Manage extensions at the bottom of the list of extensions.

2. Find the extension you want to remove.

3. At the bottom of the extension's info box, click Remove. Confirm you want to do this by clicking Remove in the pop-up window.