Opt-In Software Blog

How to download a Chrome extension without installing it

  1. In the Chrome Web Store, find the extension you need, for example, uBlock Origin.
  2. The extension’s URL looks like this: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock/epcnnfbjfcgphgdmggkamkmgojdagdnn?hl=en-US&utm_source=ext_sidebar. The part epcnnfbjfcgphgdmggkamkmgojdagdnn is the extension’s unique ID.
  3. Find out your version of Chrome, for example, 141.0.7390.55.
  4. Use CURL to get the extension’s download link, replacing the extension ID (epcnnfbjfcgphgdmggkamkmgojdagdnn) and Chrome version (141.0.7390.55) with your own values:
    curl "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&os=win&arch=x64&os_arch=x86_64&prod=chromecrx&prodchannel=&prodversion=141.0.7390.55&lang=en-US&acceptformat=crx3,puff&x=id%3Depcnnfbjfcgphgdmggkamkmgojdagdnn%26installsource%3Dondemand%26uc&authuser=0"
  5. The result of the previous CURL command will look something like this:
    <HTML>
    <HEAD>
    <TITLE>Moved Temporarily</TITLE>
    </HEAD>
    <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000">
    <!-- GSE Default Error -->
    <H1>Moved Temporarily</H1>
    The document has moved <A HREF="https://clients2.googleusercontent.com/crx/blobs/AcLY-yQ8Sxe7u0UiOxVYs1X2QxXnl4NGRAS6t4jJr_viP7fvXl9ARlV4ETIu1woz6O7cdB3-RBD9cYdV3APCdHY8S6kBmmk5mSnRTo0LZ8FUJQEkbk_6NnrX0EPLsAaqxNK-AMZSmuUQPLnhgEjCRn4So0hrUrRuyQSHOA/EPCNNFBJFCGPHGDMGGKAMKMGOJDAGDNN_25_5_0_0.crx?authuser=0">here</A>.
    </BODY>
    </HTML>
    The URL from which you can download the extension is: https://clients2.googleusercontent.com/crx/blobs/AcLY-yQ8Sxe7u0UiOxVYs1X2QxXnl4NGRAS6t4jJr_viP7fvXl9ARlV4ETIu1woz6O7cdB3-RBD9cYdV3APCdHY8S6kBmmk5mSnRTo0LZ8FUJQEkbk_6NnrX0EPLsAaqxNK-AMZSmuUQPLnhgEjCRn4So0hrUrRuyQSHOA/EPCNNFBJFCGPHGDMGGKAMKMGOJDAGDNN_25_5_0_0.crx?authuser=0
  6. Use CURL to download the CRX file:
    curl "https://clients2.googleusercontent.com/crx/blobs/AcLY-yQ8Sxe7u0UiOxVYs1X2QxXnl4NGRAS6t4jJr_viP7fvXl9ARlV4ETIu1woz6O7cdB3-RBD9cYdV3APCdHY8S6kBmmk5mSnRTo0LZ8FUJQEkbk_6NnrX0EPLsAaqxNK-AMZSmuUQPLnhgEjCRn4So0hrUrRuyQSHOA/EPCNNFBJFCGPHGDMGGKAMKMGOJDAGDNN_25_5_0_0.crx?authuser=0" --output uBlock.crx