How to install Google Chrome extensions in Firefox

Martin Brinkmann
May 23, 2016
Updated • Sep 5, 2018
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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38

The following guide walks you through the steps of installing Google Chrome extensions in Firefox.

Mozilla launched Firefox 57 and started to support WebExtensions, the same system that Google uses in Chrome to power extensions, in the browser.

One of the main benefits of WebExtensions support is that Firefox users will be able to install the majority of extensions for Google Chrome; at the very least, it makes it easier for developers to migrate their extensions from Chrome to Firefox.

This guide shows you how to use an extension for the Firefox web browser to, more or less, convert Chrome extensions on the spot into Firefox add-ons that you can use in the browser.

Install Google Chrome extensions in Firefox

install-google chrome extensions firefox

Note: While you can install pretty much any Google Chrome extension in Mozilla Firefox 57 or newer, you will notice that not all of them work right now. The main reason for that is that WebExtensions is a work in progress and that support is not fully complete yet. Also, some WebExtensions make use of Chrome specific features that Firefox does not support.

Attention: Chrome Store Foxified's author revealed recently -- in September 2018 -- that he won't work on the extension anymore. While it still works right now, chance is that it won't in the future. A comparable extension is not available at the time of writing.

With the warning out of the way, let's get started.

Step 1: Install Chrome Store Foxified

chrome store foxified

The first thing you need to do is install the Firefox add-on Chrome Store Foxified which powers the conversion and installation process in the background.

The Firefox add-on replaces the "get Google Chrome" notification on the Chrome Web Store when you open it in Firefox with an "add to Firefox" button on extension pages.

Step 2: Install Chrome extensions in Firefox

add to firefox chrome extension

Visit the Google Chrome Web Store and open extensions that you are interested in. Locate the add to Firefox button and click on it.

Depending on how you have configured the Firefox add-on, the Chrome extension may be installed automatically or manually at this point.

Chrome Store Foxified can install the Chrome extension as a temporary Firefox add-on that is only installed during the browsing session.

This is a good solution if you want to test the Chrome extensions' functionality to see if it works in Firefox yet.

Another reason why that is a good solution is that you may run into Firefox add-on signing issues otherwise.

The developer of the Firefox add-on has integrated an option to sign the extensions that you install automatically, but you need to sign in to a Mozilla account for that.

Doing so is the only option if you want to use the Chrome browser extension permanently in the Firefox browser.

When you hit the add to Firefox button the first time after installing the add-on, a small notification prompt is displayed that gives you options to install the Chrome extension temporarily, or to install it permanently by signing in to a Mozilla account.

You can configure the Firefox add-on to automatically select the temporary option for you so that you don't get the prompt all the time.

Here is what happens in the background

google chrome extension in firefox

The Firefox add-on downloads the Chrome extension and converts it from crx (Google format for extensions) to xpi (Mozilla format).

It will edit the manifest.json file of the extension to make it compatible with Firefox, and save the processed file to the desktop or another location of your choosing (if you change it in the settings).

It will then install the extension and display the prompt to you or install it automatically as a temporary add-on depending on the preferences.

Closing Words

You may notice that extensions add icons to the Firefox main toolbar, and you can use those icons. The screenshot above shows the functioning Google Translate extension for Chrome in Firefox for example.

You may notice slight issues with some extensions, like a layout that is not 100% accurate yet.

While some Chrome extensions work without issues already in Firefox, others either don't work at all or are not working properly yet.

I have yet to encounter a Chrome extensions that could not be installed in Firefox, but that does not tell you anything about whether it is working or not.

Tests were run using Firefox 49 which is currently available on the Nightly channel.

It seems likely that the majority of Google Chrome extensions will work in Mozilla Firefox at one point in the not so far away future.

This could give Firefox a major edge over Mozilla considering that Chrome users cannot install legacy Firefox add-ons at all as they are not based on WebExtensions.

Chrome Store Foxified offers an elegant solution to download, convert and install Google Chrome extensions in Firefox.

Now You: Which Chrome extensions would you like to use in Firefox?

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Comments

  1. Robert Ab said on September 4, 2018 at 4:39 pm
    Reply
  2. mukul said on September 5, 2017 at 7:13 pm
    Reply

    Now chrome store foxified is not working . It shows something else

  3. Terranaut said on May 7, 2017 at 9:22 pm
    Reply

    Have installed Chrome Store Foxified as I use Lazarus Form Recovery and it has been disabled in the latest FF version. When I go to the extension in the Chrome webstore there is no “Add to Firefox” button. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling Foxified a number of times but the problem persists.

    1. Noitidart said on May 7, 2017 at 9:28 pm
      Reply

      There has been some changes apparently. I hope to fix them soon – https://github.com/Noitidart/Chrome-Store-Foxified/issues/60#issuecomment-299562743 – please excuse this.

      1. Terranaut said on May 7, 2017 at 10:18 pm
        Reply

        Thanks for the courtesy of your swift response and I look forward to further developments.

  4. Tod said on November 6, 2016 at 9:13 pm
    Reply

    I want to use Tunnello VPN. But it’s not currently able to access the Tunnello server. I can log in but cannot get it to change my IP address.

  5. A41202813GMAIL said on August 10, 2016 at 2:55 pm
    Reply

    I Would Love The Alternate Option – Install FF Extensions In CHROME.

    FEBE Would Be An Awesome Addition To CHROME.

    Cheers.

  6. Robyn said on August 3, 2016 at 2:35 am
    Reply

    I tried adding the beta version of Cybrhome and it WILL NOT let me sign for anything. I don’t know what the issue is. I don’t care for the Alpha version which Firefox already has. There HAS to be a way around it without adding it temporarily. I was super existed about Firefox 48 because I thought I could use this extension but so far no dice. :(

  7. Konstantinos said on July 20, 2016 at 12:45 am
    Reply

    Came to comment on that god-Fugly theme. Whoever uses this ‘theme’ has sh*t taste.

    >Sadly, it probably won’t survive the demise of XUL. Mozilla deserves to fade into oblivion if they treat their users this way.
    Lel, thank God, so we won’t see any more abominations of themes. Eye-cancer to the fullest.

  8. Noitidart said on May 29, 2016 at 8:01 am
    Reply

    Dear Martin,
    Thank you very much for writing this article on Chrome Store Foxified.

    One of the main features of the addon, is that you do not need to be logged in with a Google account to download addons from their store. Unfortunately, to sign the addon, you do have to have an account at addons.mozilla.org

    I am currently working on version 2.0 which supports Android. The WebExtension API team added support for Android, and Foxified in its current format will not work there.

    Version 2 also has better error messages. The signing process does not sign all addons, it has issues. In version 2 I try to make things more clear.

    Version 2 also has a more interactive GUI. I found that many users did not know about the “options” of foxified, so I am bringing all the buttons into the forefront.

    And of course some bug fixes. Version 2 does not have the elegant notification bar seen in v1.x – as that is a desktop only feature. In a future 2.x version I’ll bring it back. But the Firefox for Android support was my priority in v2.0

    Really appreciate this article!

    Side note:
    Please check out this other addon I recently made.

    I worked on a multi monitor screenshot addon that is pretty unique, when compared to all the other firefox screenshot addons out there. It is cross platform, and similar to Lightshot. No middelman servers in my addon though. For instance, when you upload to imgur, it uploads to imgur and returns to you the imgur link. Not a link routing through a 3rd party server like nimbus.com or prntscr.com.

    It is called NativeShot – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nativeshot/ – a cool feature is a global hotkey option (enabled by default) that replaces the system “Print Screen” button with NativeShot’s feature, works even when Firefox is not focused.

    Thanks!

  9. pHROZEN gHOST said on May 24, 2016 at 5:37 pm
    Reply

    I thought AH was dead.

    1. Lestat said on May 26, 2016 at 3:35 pm
      Reply

      I really have the feeling that that is the wrong person which you had in mind :D

      1. pHROZEN gHOST said on May 26, 2016 at 4:12 pm
        Reply

        I don’t know what you mean. I was thinking Alfred Hitchcock.

  10. pHROZEN gHOST said on May 24, 2016 at 3:43 pm
    Reply

    Someone once claimed that Firefox was not a Chrome wannabe.

    1. Appster said on May 24, 2016 at 5:29 pm
      Reply

      OK, Martin indeed wrote the article “No, Firefox won’t become a Chrome clone”. However, he is clearly critical towards Mozilla. In my opinion his writings are fairly balanced in content. This is what I appreciate about him.

      The true Mozilla apologist and Mozilla Representative, the one who will dismiss every criticism towards Mozilla as trolling, and the defender of even the most stupid decisions Mozilla has ever made, sits elsewhere. I won’t mention his name since he will come at me and complain about my “false judgement” and “lies” I spread about him. He is the owner of a fairly influential Firefox blog in the German-speaking area. It is anyone’s guess whom I mean.

      1. Tom Hawack said on May 24, 2016 at 5:50 pm
        Reply

        Finest cuisine :)
        I’ve always appreciated so-called “strong characters” but at the same time their excessive enthusiasm when not passion may lead them to martial, essentially subjective judgements about other opinions than theirs and, far more irritating, judgements about their very detractors. It’s not that they are bad, it’s only that they conceive pluralism as incompatible with the universal one and only truth which they happen to know. A fundamentally idealistic approach, almost a religious one if it weren’t that in their scenario god happens to be themselves, which is problematic for us all, poor ignoramus and sinners alike :)

  11. Appster said on May 23, 2016 at 9:36 pm
    Reply

    Sure, the ability to install Chrome extensions in Firefox is pretty cool. However, it will probably never become fully operational, seeing that Firefox lacks the Blink rendering engine. Furthermore I don’t understand why Mozilla cannot keep the XUL-based extensions. Firefox 48 will obviously feature both methods.
    XUL is on its way out. The Firefox of the future will only feature a WebExtensions Add-On system. This essentially removes the need to use Firefox. Why should I use a then inferior browser if I could use Chrome just as well? This is why I have to disagree with the following quote from the article:
    “This could give Firefox a major edge over Mozilla considering that Chrome users cannot install legacy Firefox add-ons at all as they are not based on WebExtensions.”
    It will only provide a temporary edge to Mozilla for obvious reasons. XUL will be deprecated in the very near future. In my opinion the Mozilla management is therefore just incompetent. They honestly think they could sway over users with maximum compatibility to Chrome. Again: Why shouldn’t I just use Chrome then? It makes no sense. By killing off XUL they will disappoint even the last power user still faithful to them. This is the hardcore fanbase, the ones who recommend Firefox to the DAUs. Mozilla, I wish you good fortune in the browser wars to come…

    1. pHROZEN gHOST said on May 25, 2016 at 8:05 pm
      Reply

      I switched to Pale Moon when it first came out. One of my PCs is an old P4 running XP.
      I have been quite happy with the Atom build. It’s fast and it still runs all my addons.
      I can’t see the Pale Moon team getting into this Chrome wannabe mentality.

      Once the Mozillians upset the die hard user community Firefox will be on its way out.

    2. Mikhoul said on May 25, 2016 at 7:50 pm
      Reply

      I agree 500% with you all the line, myself I’M migrating slowly to Vivaldi who care for Power USers and I will certainly brings many casual users (Customers) with me on the run if I’m satisfied, Since last year I begun to suggest Chrome for my casual users/customers, before it was Firefox.

  12. Nebulus said on May 23, 2016 at 8:56 pm
    Reply

    I wonder how will Mozilla convince their users in two or three years to stay with their browser and not switch to Chrome…

    1. Mikhoul said on May 25, 2016 at 7:46 pm
      Reply

      I agree, particularly with the proprietary API that Chrome addons Devs will take advantage.

      No point for a casual users to stay with Firefox over Chrome and lot of power users/Dev like me are switching over Chromium forks like Vivaldi who target especially Power Users that were abandoned by Mozarella.

    2. Jeff-FL said on May 23, 2016 at 9:04 pm
      Reply

      “I wonder how will Mozilla convince their users in two or three years to stay with their browser and not switch to *Vivaldi* ”

      FTFY :) I think Mozilla’s power users will be moving to Vivaldi. it’s just a matter of time for me.

  13. Tom Hawack said on May 23, 2016 at 8:01 pm
    Reply

    There are already so many Mozilla extensions and this ganging up with Google is not my cup of tea when I dislike the company and avoid it as much as I can, anyway far more than it avoids me. Anyway, for those who are happy about this perspective, that of erasing borders between two companies that everything differentiates, have fun.

    1. Gary D said on May 23, 2016 at 8:10 pm
      Reply

      @ Tom Hawack

      Is Google investing in Mozilla to broaden its user data acquisition base ?
      I think we need to be told :)

      1. Tom Hawack said on May 29, 2016 at 11:07 am
        Reply

        @gh,

        The Google cookie is related to Firefox’s built-in Safebrowsing feature, but disabling Safebrowsing once the cookie is installed doesn’t seem to allow removing that cookie from Firefox itself.

        Best way to proceed if you decide to NOT use safebrowsing :

        1- Disable all Safebrowsing occurences in Firefox’s about:config (this can be added to your user.js file) :

        // disable safebrowsing
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.enabled”, false);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled”, false);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.appRepURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.downloads.enabled”, false);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.downloads.remote.enabled”, false);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.gethashURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.malware.reportURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.provider.google.appRepURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.provider.google.gethashURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.provider.google.reportURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.provider.google.updateURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.provider.mozilla.gethashURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.provider.mozilla.updateURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportErrorURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportGenericURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportMalwareErrorURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportMalwareURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportPhishMistakeURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportPhishURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.reportURL”, “”);
        user_pref(“browser.safebrowsing.updateURL”, “”);

        2- Restart Firefox;
        3- Exit Firefox;
        4- Delete the cookies.sqlite file in your Firefox profile ; THIS WILL DELETE ALL YOUR COOKIES, Google’s included
        5- Restart Firefox

        Of course every visit of a Google site will recreate a cookie but this time Firefox’s cookie manager will be able to delete new Google cookie. You can also use the excellent Firefox add-on called ‘Self-Destructing Cookies’

        Never experienced this persistent Google cookie myself, perhaps because Safebrowsing is disabled here and that all cookies had been deleted after that.

      2. Appster said on May 29, 2016 at 9:56 am
        Reply

        @gh: Of course I can verify my claims. :-)
        To be exact, it is the so-called PREF cookie. It is connected to a Google domain (google.com) and contains a unique ID number. The PREF cookie is known to be used by the NSA and GCHQ in order to spy on people. Moreover it will appear after every single Firefox restart, which means that it will be recreated even if it was deleted previously.
        The good news is: If you know how, you may be able to disable it. For more information check out these links on the topic (from which I got my information):
        http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6301114/how-pref-cookie-google-com-appears-in-firefox
        https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=368255

      3. gh said on May 29, 2016 at 6:31 am
        Reply

        “Firefox contains a non-deletable Google Super Cookie. Even when you deactivate cookies entirely it is still there.”

        Would you please elaborate — asking because I’ve not witnessed this.
        When is this supercookie created?
        How did you discover it?
        Where should I look to find evidence of its existence?

      4. Graham said on May 24, 2016 at 7:02 am
        Reply

        @Gary D
        Mozilla’s 5-year contract with Google ended a couple of years ago. They’re partnered with Yahoo! now.

      5. Appster said on May 23, 2016 at 8:57 pm
        Reply

        @Gary D and Tom Hawack: Firefox contains a non-deletable Google Super Cookie. Even when you deactivate cookies entirely it is still there. I don’t think this needs further explanation. Everyone who believes that Firefox is more private than Chrome is naive.

      6. Tom Hawack said on May 23, 2016 at 8:28 pm
        Reply

        Gary D, I have no idea of a hidden plan, I’m not into the plot hysteria so with you I’d care to be told, if applicable.
        Rather I have the feeling we’re just in a life scheme where the strongest smiles to the weakest, waiting for the profits of sympathy which take a little longer than those obtained by struggle but which last much longer. To resume, diplomacy is sometimes a gentleman’s agreement to beat the opponent in a civilized way. And we all know that strength and virtue are not corollary :)

  14. Khidreal said on May 23, 2016 at 7:47 pm
    Reply

    but what is this? Opera browser? gosh… maybe in the next 2 years mozilla is announcing that there is no point on having an add ons page when you have chrome’s one and they will shut down firefox extensions page… because, seriously, this idea for me just seems stupid…
    firefox has already great extensions and basically almost all the extensions that are actually useful already have been ported… ofc, this makes the life easier for extension devs, but seriously, having to go into chrome’s add on page with a browser that has nothing to do with chrome and download the extensions? just seems odd to me…

  15. Peter said on May 23, 2016 at 6:51 pm
    Reply

    That addons tab looks so wrong..

    1. Appster said on May 23, 2016 at 8:07 pm
      Reply

      It’s the alternative Add-Ons manager which you can select using “Classic Theme Restorer”.

      1. Appster said on May 23, 2016 at 9:00 pm
        Reply

        @ns: True that. Sadly, it probably won’t survive the demise of XUL. Mozilla deserves to fade into oblivion if they treat their users this way.

      2. ns said on May 23, 2016 at 8:44 pm
        Reply

        Thank god for CTR!

    2. T J said on May 23, 2016 at 8:04 pm
      Reply

      @Peter

      “That addons tab looks so wrong…”

      Instead of making a bald statement like this, please explain WHY it looks so wrong so that we lesser, unobservant, mortals can learn something.
      That’s the whole point of forums: education,enlightenment, understanding.

  16. Marcin said on May 23, 2016 at 6:43 pm
    Reply

    What a good news this is ! Thank you for the info, Martin.

  17. anon said on May 23, 2016 at 6:18 pm
    Reply

    WebExtensions are great. Chrome extensions like moarTLS Analyzer (source code) will be able to run easily in Firefox without the need to rewrite code.

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