Chrome just flagged a hugely popular extension as unsafe

Having a Chrome extension you have relied on for years suddenly red-flagged can instantly spark concerns about malware or compromised software. That exact panic hit over 11 million users this week when GoFullPage, a staple full-page screenshot utility, abruptly disappeared from the Chrome Web Store and triggered automated safety alerts across Chromium web browsers like Chrome and Brave.

Brave, for instance, is warning users that the extension may be unsafe and recommends removing it. The warning says the extension is disabled because it “violates the Web Store policy,” as shown in the screenshot below:

That understandably set off alarm bells. Several users took to Reddit after Chrome and Brave suddenly disabled the GoFullPage extension, with some wondering whether the extension had been compromised or received a malicious update. One Reddit thread shows users reporting the same warning, while another discussion on the Chrome subreddit documents the extension being disabled there, too.

But there’s an important distinction here: GoFullPage says this isn’t a malware incident.

A member of the GoFullPage team identified as Claire responded to affected users on Reddit, saying the extension was temporarily removed because of a copyright-related issue. According to the developer, Peter Coles (via Reddit), the takedown was an overreach, Google has contacted the team, and that work is underway to restore the extension. The developer also specifically denied that GoFullPage had been sold, saying that they remain at the helm.

That explanation also puts the scary “unsafe” warning into perspective. Chrome’s wording can make a policy takedown look much more sinister than it necessarily is. At this point, there’s no evidence from the reports provided that GoFullPage was compromised or distributing malware.

Still, we wouldn’t outright ignore the warning. If you rely on GoFullPage, you can wait for the developers to resolve the issue rather than downloading an unofficial copy from elsewhere. The developers claim the extension is still available on Microsoft Edge, but we couldn’t find it in the Web Store:

For now, this looks less like another compromised-extension incident and more like a minor dispute that unexpectedly knocked a very popular Chrome extension offline.

If you need a quick alternative right now, you can invoke Chrome’s built-in DevTools trick. Open DevTools (F12 or Cmd+Option+I on Mac), press Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac), type “full”, and choose “Capture full size screenshot.” Just make sure DevTools is docked at the bottom of your screen so it captures the full layout properly. While it is not quite as seamless as clicking GoFullPage’s easy icon, it should get the job done until Google gets the official listing back online.