VPN Extension for Chrome
The vpn.now extension for Chrome is an encrypted proxy that protects your browsing inside Chrome. It does not cover other apps on your computer. To protect everything on the device, use the full vpn.now app.
Get the vpn.now app for Chrome
The fastest way to get started is our app: install it, sign in, and press connect. The manual steps below are here if you would rather set things up by hand.
Set up vpn.now on Chrome
The whole process takes about five minutes. You will need a free vpn.now account before you start.
Step 1: Install from the Chrome Web Store
Open the Chrome Web Store, search for vpn.now, and click Add to Chrome. The extension icon appears next to the address bar. Pin it so it stays one click away.
Step 2: Sign in to your vpn.now account
Click the extension icon and sign in with your vpn.now email and password. The extension counts as one device on your plan, just like a phone or a laptop would.
Step 3: Pick a location
Choose a server location from the list. Pick somewhere close for the best speed, or pick a specific country if you need your browser traffic to exit there.
Step 4: Switch it on
Flip the toggle to connect. The icon changes color when the proxy is active. From then on, everything you do in Chrome travels through the encrypted connection.
Prefer to configure things by hand? See the manual setup guide.
What the extension protects, exactly
When the extension is on, every page you open in Chrome travels through an encrypted proxy. Websites see the proxy server's IP address instead of yours. The Wi-Fi network you are on sees an encrypted stream, not the sites you visit. DNS lookups for your browser traffic go through the proxy too, so the local network does not see those either.
Everything outside Chrome is not covered. Your email app, system updates, music apps, and games all connect directly, just as they did before. That is not a flaw in our extension. It is how browsers work. An extension lives inside the browser sandbox and can only handle browser traffic.
If you want every app on the device protected, you need the full vpn.now app, which sets up a tunnel at the system level. See vpn.now for Windows or browse all our apps to find your platform.
Chrome profiles, sync, and managed devices
Chrome keeps separate profiles for, say, your personal and work identities, and each profile has its own set of extensions. If you switch between profiles, turn the extension on in each one you want protected. A profile without it installed browses with no proxy at all, even on the same computer.
Chrome Sync is a separate thing the proxy does not touch. Your bookmarks, history, saved passwords, and open tabs sync to your Google account whether the extension is on or off, because that data goes to Google before it ever reaches the network. The proxy hides your IP and encrypts traffic in transit; it does not change what Chrome chooses to sync. If that matters to you, review Chrome's own sync settings.
On a work or school computer, Chrome is often managed by an administrator. If Add to Chrome is greyed out or the extension disappears after install, a device policy is blocking it. In that case use a personal Chrome profile, or install the full vpn.now app if your machine allows it.
How the extension connects
The extension uses an encrypted HTTPS proxy. Chrome hands your browser traffic to the extension, the extension wraps it in TLS encryption, and the wrapped traffic goes to a vpn.now proxy server. The server forwards your requests to the sites you visit and returns the responses the same way.
This is different from the system tunnel our full apps use. That tunnel works at the system network layer and carries every packet from the device. The proxy works at the browser layer and carries only what Chrome sends it. Both encrypt your traffic in transit. Read how VPN encryption works if you want the details.
DNS rides along too. While the extension is on, Chrome resolves site names through the proxy connection instead of the local network's DNS server. That closes a common gap where a network can log the names of the sites you look up.
What you need
- Google Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux, or ChromeOS
- A vpn.now account, free or paid
- Permission to install extensions, which some school and work profiles block
Having trouble? Our setup help section covers the most common issues, or you can contact support.
Chrome VPN questions
Does the extension protect my whole computer?
No. The extension only protects traffic inside Chrome. Other apps, like your email client or games, connect as usual. For whole-device protection, install the full vpn.now app, which uses our VPN protocol.
Is this a full VPN or a proxy?
It is an encrypted proxy for browser traffic. A full VPN creates a tunnel at the system level and carries traffic from every app. A browser extension cannot do that, so we say exactly what it is.
Does the extension work on the free plan?
Yes. The free plan covers one device, and the extension counts as that device. To run the extension and a full app at the same time, you need a paid plan with a higher device limit.
Do you store my browsing activity?
Never. We do not store browsing activity, DNS queries, or traffic contents on any plan. Aggregate connection counts are kept for 30 days to run the service, then purged. Our transparency page spells out exactly what we keep.
Will the extension slow down my browsing?
A little, sometimes. Your traffic takes an extra hop through the proxy server, and encryption adds a small cost. On most connections the difference is hard to notice. Picking a nearby location keeps speed high.
Does the extension work in Incognito mode?
Only if you allow it. Open chrome://extensions, find vpn.now, click Details, and turn on Allow in Incognito. Chrome disables extensions in Incognito by default, so without this step your Incognito windows browse without the proxy.
My work or school Chrome blocks extensions. What can I do?
Managed Chrome profiles can block the Web Store by policy. Try a personal Chrome profile, or install the full vpn.now app if your computer permits it. We cannot override an administrator's device policy, and we would not want a tool that could.
Protect your Chrome device today
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