Tuesday 19 March 2019

windows registry - How to block un-installation of extensions in Chrome/Chromium, using ExtensionInstallForcelist?

In order to prevent de-installation of the chrome extension "stayfocusd" In a windows 10 pc with both Chrome Version 67.0.3396.62 (Official Build) (64-bit) and chromium Version 67.0.3396.62 (Official Build) (64-bit) installed, I took the following steps:




  1. Downloaded the synced version of Chromium from: https://chromium.woolyss.com/




  2. Went to: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/ and installed stayfocusd



  3. Pressed start, typed> "regedit">enter

  4. In the registry browsed to: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies

  5. Right mouse Button (RMB) clicked on "Policies"

  6. Clicked: New>Key>

  7. Named the new Key "Google"


  8. repeated the process untill I created the following path in the registry: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist




  9. Then in the white field next to it RMB>New>string value



  10. Named the string 1

  11. Gave the string the following value: laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji (That is the 32 character-ID of the stayfocusd extension)

  12. repeated the process for the following folder in the registry: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist

  13. Yielding:


This picture but then for both folders to illustrate the process.



  1. Closed Chromium

  2. Rebooted the pc.


Then I opened Chromium again, but I was still able to uninstall stayfocusd without any problems.


Does anyone have any suggestions on what I did wrong, or what I forgot, or another way to prevent de-installation of the stayfocusd extension?


Problem analysis:


0. Currently I think the problem might be that I do not add a reference to the location where the stayfocusd extension is hosted as in some of the examples of the documentation is done here:



Windows (Windows clients): Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist\1 = "gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx"


Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist\2 = "abcdefghijklmnopabcdefghijklmnop"



However I do not understand/cannot find how to supply that equivalent link for the stayfocusd extension. And I would think that its source to perform a re-installation should not be a determining factor in whether it would be able to prevent de-installation, but that is an assumption, which I am currently not able to test because I did not find that equivalent hosting link yet.



  1. Another cause of the problem might be that I had to manually create the policy folders for google, which could be an indication that the chromium browser does not look at that location for its policies at a different registry location.


To test this I have searched for the "ExtensionInstallForcelist" but was unable to locate the folder in the registry before I had manually created them. Now that I have created them I do not know how to continue searching after it finds the first instance that I have created, so I cannot check if there is an additional location where the "ExtensionInstallForcelist" folder existst which I did not create.


Any suggestions are much appreciated!

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