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I hid my extensions on Google Chrome on accident and now I can't find them or get them back.

When I open the extensions menu I get the following message: Boo... You have no extensions :-( Want to browse the gallery instead?.

Having these extensions hidden causes numerous applications to fail including my Norton virus protection.

I have checked everywhere and tried lots of tips...but still no good. I will accept any and all suggestions on what to do.

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closed as too localized by Oliver Salzburg Jun 9 '13 at 10:47


I suspect you did not actually hide your extensions since there is no such function. Instead, you either lost them or are using a different profile. Check if your other settings (chrome://chrome/settings/) are intact, for example, are your cookies still good? Is your history (chrome://chrome/history/) still there or is it wiped out? If everything is gone, you are using the wrong user-data directory. If only your extensions are gone, then somehow you lost or deleted them. Check the extensions folder in your user-data dir. –  Synetech Sep 10 '12 at 22:38
When you open chrome click on the wrench then go to tools and then extensions. Here you will see some option about your extensions. This is where I clicked and they went away. Now since then nothing works. My history, favorites, passwords will not save any new information. My history and cookies are all dated August 12 and before. They seem to collect without me seeing it because when I clean them it takes a few seconds until it finishes like something was there. Since then I cannot change my desktop backround or anything like that. These extensions seem to mess everything up. Thank you ;o) –  Gaia Sep 11 '12 at 0:21
“Desktop background”? Do you mean your Windows wallpaper? If so, then it has nothing to do with Chrome. It is only a coincidence that you happened to have all these problems a short time after having looked at the extensions page; the problem is in your Windows user profile. If you cannot change your Windows wallpaper, then your user folder has somehow become damaged or corrupt which also explains why Chrome cannot run correctly since it stores your browser data (and for some reason also the program code) in the Windows user folder. Forget Chrome; did you install any programs near that time? –  Synetech Sep 11 '12 at 0:44
Yes I mean my wallpaper. That happened right along with all the other issues. I did install a older game. Also Bing installed around same time. I took those out. No luck. I have even gone as far back as I could on a system restore point and it will not change. A Bing wallpaper backround is still up. I just cant do anything. I tried uninstalling chrome and reinstalling and it still says I have no extensions. –  Gaia Sep 11 '12 at 2:53
Of course it says you have no extensions because the extensions are stored in your profile in your Windows directory (e.g., C:\Users\Gaia\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions), but if your Windows folder (C:\Users\Gaia) is damaged, then Chrome and everything else that stores data in there won't work correctly. Your problem is not with Chrome, it's with your Windows user folder. You need to examine the changes you made to your system at that time to narrow down what messed it up. –  Synetech Sep 11 '12 at 2:59
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1 Answer

Try uninstalling and re-installing Chrome, as well as the extensions. If you are using Chrome's sync feature (sign in when you first run Chrome), then previously installed extensions should be automatically re-installed for you.

Failing that, shut down Chrome, and rename the Chrome profile folder at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\ to something like C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome.20130102 . Start Chrome again, and it will generate a fresh set of profile for you.

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