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Google blocking extensions not listed in the Chrome Web Store for Windows users

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Google announced today that it’s now blocking local Chrome extensions to protect Windows users from malicious software. This means that only extensions coming from the Chrome Web Store can be installed on Chrome for Windows. As an additional safety precaution, Google says that previously installed extensions may automatically be disabled and cannot be restored until they’re hosted in the Chrome Web Store.

In a recent blog post, the search giant welcomed developers to contact it if they felt that their extension was wrongfully disabled. The company is also encouraging exiled software developers to submit their extensions to the Chrome Web Store to make them accessible to users.

Google’s new policy only applies to Windows users running the stable and beta versions of Chrome. It will not impact people using Windows’ Canary and Dev channels, as well as users running Mac, Linux or Chrome OS variants of Google’s browser. So if you’re a Windows user and Chrome is your browser of choice, you may want to check your extensions to see if anything has been disabled.

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