How to install Opera extensions in Google Chrome

Martin Brinkmann
Jun 23, 2013
Google Chrome
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7

Opera 15 and the latest Google Chrome versions share the same core which means that they support for many features. This includes who extensions are working in both browsers, and even though that is the case, it is not that easy to install Chrome extensions in Opera or Opera extensions in Chrome.

It needs to be noted that most extensions should run just fine in both browsers. Only extensions that use browser specific features won't work.

Opera is working on a "Download Chrome Extensions" add-on for Opera which has not been released publicly yet. The problem that Opera users face is that Google is not displaying a download or add to button on its Web Store if a browser that is not Chrome is used to access it.

We may have to wait a bit longer until Opera Software releases the extension downloader for Chrome so that Opera users can install the majority of extensions available for Chrome in the Opera web browser.

download Opera extensions

Chrome users on the other hand do not have these restrictions. While they cannot install Opera extensions directly in their browser, a little bit of tweaking is all that is needed to do so.

Here is what you need to do:

  1. Open the add-ons store in Opera 15. It is necessary to do so as you will be redirected to the "old" add-ons store otherwise. You can only install extensions that have been designed for Opera 15 or newer in Google Chrome.
  2. Click on one of the extensions that you are interested in to open its profile page in the browser.
  3. Right-click on the Add to Opera button and select save linked content as from the context menu that opens up.
  4. The extension is saved as an .nex file, the new format Opera uses for Blink engine extensions.
  5. Open the folder you have saved it to and rename the file extensions to .crx instead, the format that Chrome uses.
  6. Open Google Chrome and then the extensions page in the browser: chrome://extensions/
  7. Drag and drop the downloaded and renamed extension into the window to install it in Chrome.
  8. You will receive a confirmation dialog detailing the rights the extension requests, just as if you were installing a Chrome extension.

Good news for Chrome users is that they may find extensions in Opera's add-on repository that they won't find in Google's Chrome Web Store due to restrictions and policies.

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Comments

  1. Madhuparna Sukul said on August 5, 2022 at 8:08 pm
    Reply

    This doesn’t work anymore.. It throws a CRX_REQUIRED_PROOF_MISSING even for .crx files.

  2. jack said on August 8, 2018 at 2:25 am
    Reply

    Help ,can not figure out exactly where to drop the file.Please be more specific or rather a picture.
    Thanks.

  3. chesscanoe said on October 27, 2016 at 9:06 pm
    Reply

    Opera 41 has replaced my former default Chrome 54, now that Opera is as stable as it is, with features unavailable in Chrome. Thanks to a recent oblique tip by a Ghacks replier, I now can use all my favorite Chrome extensions in Opera by first installing “Download Chrome Extension” from
    https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/download-chrome-extension-9/?display=en . Then go to the Chrome store at
    https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions
    and install the extensions you want. All of my choices worked in Opera 41.

    Edge, or IE11 or Firefox are still exclusively required for a few sites I visit, but Opera 41 is now worthy as my default browser, in my opinion.

  4. Maddy said on June 30, 2013 at 10:48 am
    Reply

    Nice guide, is there any way to import mozilla firefox’s plugins to Google Chrome?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on June 30, 2013 at 12:13 pm
      Reply

      No there is none.

  5. BobbyPhoenix said on June 23, 2013 at 5:12 pm
    Reply

    Hopefully a bookmark extension like Neater Bookmarks for Chrome can be used in Opera seeing how Opera doesn’t have a native bookmark icon/menu.

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