Installing the extension
- 1. Open Chrome. From the FocusDragon Mac app, open Settings → Extensions → "Install for Chrome" — this jumps you straight to the Chrome Web Store listing.
- 2. On the Web Store page, click the blue "Add to Chrome" button.
- 3. Chrome shows a permissions dialog ("Read and change all your data on websites you visit" and similar). Click "Add extension" to confirm. These permissions are required for URL-level blocking; without them the extension can't intercept page loads.
- 4. Wait a couple of seconds while Chrome downloads and installs. A small puzzle-piece icon will briefly animate in the toolbar.
Pinning the icon
By default Chrome hides newly-installed extensions behind a puzzle-piece icon. Pin FocusDragon so you can see its status at a glance.
- 1. Click the puzzle-piece icon at the top-right of the Chrome toolbar.
- 2. Find "FocusDragon" in the list.
- 3. Click the pin icon to the right of the name. It turns blue.
- 4. The FocusDragon icon now sits permanently in your toolbar.
Granting site access on all sites
Chrome ships extensions with the narrowest possible site access — sometimes "on click" only. FocusDragon needs full access to block proactively rather than after you've already loaded the distracting page.
- 1. In the Chrome address bar, type chrome://extensions and press Return.
- 2. Find the FocusDragon card. Click "Details".
- 3. Scroll down to the "Site access" section.
- 4. Change the dropdown from "On click" or "On specific sites" to "On all sites".
- 5. Chrome may prompt you to confirm — click "Allow".
If site access stays on "On click", URL-level blocking is effectively off. The extension cannot run on a tab until you click its icon, which means distracting sites load fully before FocusDragon can do anything about them.
Enabling in Incognito (separate toggle)
Chrome treats Incognito as a sealed-off profile. Extensions are disabled there by default — you have to explicitly opt each one in.
- 1. chrome://extensions → FocusDragon → "Details".
- 2. Scroll to "Allow in Incognito" and turn it on.
- 3. Chrome warns that the extension will be able to see your incognito activity. That's required for blocking to work in those tabs. Confirm.
Even with Incognito access granted, FocusDragon's AI assistant pauses while private browsing windows are open as a privacy guard. URL-level blocking continues to work in those tabs. See the Incognito & private browsing page.
When Chrome auto-disables the extension
Chrome will sometimes silently disable extensions after long idle periods, after major Chrome version updates, or when its "Enhanced Safe Browsing" feature flags an extension's permissions as broad. The fix is the same in each case:
- 1. chrome://extensions.
- 2. Find the FocusDragon card. If the toggle is off, flip it on.
- 3. If Chrome shows a yellow banner asking you to re-grant permissions, click "Grant" and re-confirm "On all sites".
- 4. Reload any open tabs you want to be covered immediately — the extension only injects into tabs opened or reloaded after it was re-enabled.