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                  Chrome Extensions Disappearing? Click Repair

   Adam Engst

   I use the [1]LastPass password manager partly because of its
   long-standing integration with Google Chrome and other Chromium-based
   browsers like my current favorite, [2]Brave. Several times over the
   past year, however, LastPass would inexplicably disappear from login
   fields and the Brave pinned extension bar. Since it prevented me from
   logging in to sites, I noticed quickly.

   As soon as I looked at Brave's extension page, the solution was both
   obvious and easy. In the LastPass box, a warning noted, 'This extension
   may have been corrupted.' and there was a red Repair button. Clicking
   it displayed a Repair dialog, and clicking Repair Extension in that
   dialog reinstalled the extension and brought LastPass back to life.

   The first time this happened, Brave claimed that several other
   extensions were also corrupted, and running through the two-click
   repair process fixed them too. From what I've been able to glean
   online, 'corruption' merely means that one or more of the extension's
   files have changed unexpectedly. That's undoubtedly a security
   feature'a browser shouldn't run code that the user hasn't approved in
   some way.

   As to what could cause an extension's files to change, I don't
   know'I've seen GitHub discussions suggesting there could be bugs in the
   browser or in the extension, but nothing definitive. None of the
   discussions are current, which indicates that any such bugs have long
   been fixed. And yes, I've scanned my system for malware, so I'm
   reasonably sure there's nothing evil working in the background.

   Regardless, the moral of the story is that if any of your extensions
   disappear or stop working in a Chromium browser like Google Chrome,
   Brave, Microsoft Edge, or Opera, choose Window > Extensions and [3]see
   if they have Repair buttons. If so, you know what to do. If the problem
   recurs immediately, there's something else going on, and I'd recommend
   uninstalling and reinstalling the extension to see if that clears
   things up more effectively.

References

   Visible links
   1. https://www.lastpass.com/
   2. https://brave.com/
   3. https://support.google.com/chrome_webstore/answer/2664769?hl=en

   Hidden links:
   4. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2021/08/LastPass-repair-in-Brave.png

.