tabsWhat the tabs permission means for a Chrome extension
Live Chrome Web Store extensions that declare tabs: 71 802, which is 27% of the 270 859 whose permissions we have read. Counted after our catalog pass of 2026-10-10.
What it lets an extension do
See the address and title of every tab you have open tabs
Reaches your browsing data or every site
Permissions in this group reach your browsing data or every site. Plenty of honest extensions need one; check that what the extension is for explains it.
What Chrome says when you add one
When you add an extension that declares it, Chrome asks you to allow it to:
- Read your browsing history
Derived from the manifest by Chrome's documented rules; the dialog's exact wording depends on your Chrome version and language. Chrome asks again if an update requests more.
How common it is in each category
| Category | Share of extensions | Extensions |
|---|---|---|
| Productivity · Workflow | 33% | 15 263 of 45 721 |
| Make Chrome Yours · Privacy | 32% | 1 763 of 5 449 |
| Productivity · Tools | 29% | 30 644 of 106 510 |
| Lifestyle · Shopping | 27% | 2 389 of 8 708 |
| Lifestyle · Social | 27% | 1 910 of 7 160 |
| Productivity · Communication | 27% | 1 898 of 7 120 |
| Productivity · Developer | 26% | 7 506 of 28 348 |
| Make Chrome Yours · Accessibility | 23% | 1 865 of 8 075 |
| Lifestyle · Well Being | 22% | 638 of 2 878 |
| Productivity · Education | 22% | 2 546 of 11 516 |
| Lifestyle · Travel | 21% | 176 of 855 |
| Make Chrome Yours · Functionality | 20% | 2 195 of 11 127 |
| Lifestyle · Household | 19% | 93 of 493 |
| Lifestyle · Entertainment | 18% | 1 151 of 6 363 |
| Lifestyle · News | 13% | 212 of 1 631 |
| Lifestyle · Fun | 10% | 882 of 8 489 |
| Lifestyle · Art | 8% | 277 of 3 519 |
| Lifestyle · Games | 6% | 394 of 6 897 |
Counted over the live extensions of each category after our latest full pass of the store. A share is context, not a verdict: what is normal depends on what the extension is for.
Widely installed extensions that ask for it
-
Adobe Acrobat: PDF edit, convert, sign tools 343.0M users
-
迅雷下载支持 80.0M users
-
AdBlock — block ads across the web 65.0M users
-
Grammarly: AI Writing Assistant and Grammar Checker App 41.0M users
-
Adblock Plus - free ad blocker 40.0M users
-
360 Internet Protection 19.0M users
-
Read&Write for Google Chrome™ 19.0M users
-
Kami for Google Chrome™ 18.0M users
-
Claude 18.0M users
-
AdGuard AdBlocker 17.0M users
Each links to what that extension can access and how its permissions have changed.
How to check your own extensions
- Type chrome://extensions in the address bar and find the extension in the list.
- Open its details. The Permissions section lists what Chrome granted it, in Chrome's own words.
- Open its details. The site access setting shows where it can run; set it to run only on click and it reaches a page only after you press its icon.
- To uninstall it, choose Remove on the same page.
Other permissions
Every sitehistorybookmarksdownloadsdownloads.openmanagementnativeMessagingproxyprivacydebuggerpageCapturetabCapturedesktopCapturegeolocationclipboardReadclipboardWritecontentSettingsdeclarativeNetRequestfaviconidentity.emailnotificationstabGroupstopSiteswebNavigationstorageactiveTabscriptingcontextMenusalarmscookieswebRequestwebRequestBlockingunlimitedStorageoffscreensidePanelidentitydeclarativeNetRequestWithHostAccessbrowsingDatabackground
Figures come from the public Chrome Web Store, which our own crawler reads up to 2 times a day. We do not install or audit extensions and publish no contact details for their developers. Catalog pass of .
Where the data comes from: how the catalog is built