Why this happens (and why we can't fix it from our side)
Each browser owns the extension lifecycle entirely. Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, and the rest all have logic that disables third-party extensions in various situations: major browser updates, long idle periods, security policy refreshes, profile resyncs, OS upgrades. FocusDragon has no API to keep itself enabled — once a browser decides to turn an extension off, the user has to turn it back on. We can't programmatically override that decision and you wouldn't want us to be able to.
If this is happening more than once every few months, it's worth checking whether your browser's profile is syncing with another machine where the extension was uninstalled. Sync can propagate that uninstall back to your Mac.
Chrome / Edge / Brave / Vivaldi / Arc — recovery
- 1. Navigate to chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions / brave://extensions / vivaldi://extensions / arc://extensions).
- 2. Find the FocusDragon card. If the on/off toggle in its bottom-right corner is off, click it on.
- 3. If a yellow banner says "This extension needs to be re-enabled" or "Permissions changed", click "Enable" / "Grant" / "Allow".
- 4. Click "Details" and re-verify that "Site access" is set to "On all sites" and (if you use private windows) that "Allow in Incognito" is still on. These sometimes reset when the extension is re-enabled.
- 5. Reload any tabs you want covered immediately.
Safari — recovery
- 1. Open Safari → Settings → Extensions.
- 2. If FocusDragon's checkbox is unticked, tick it.
- 3. Click "Edit Websites…" and re-confirm "When visiting other websites" is set to "Allow". Safari updates regularly reset this to "Ask".
- 4. If you use Private Browsing, re-tick "Allow in Private Browsing".
- 5. If FocusDragon is missing entirely from the Extensions list after a macOS update, open the FocusDragon app once and then re-check. The app registers the extension with the system on each launch.
Symptoms that look like a disabled extension but aren't
- Blocks failing only on tabs that were open before you started the focus session. Fix: reload the tab. The extension only injects into freshly-loaded tabs after a permission or state change.
- Blocks failing only on a specific site. Fix: that site probably isn't in your block list, or the AI hasn't classified it as a drift yet. Check the site in your block configuration, not the extension status.
- The toolbar icon disappearing from view. Fix: it's been unpinned. Click the puzzle-piece icon and re-pin — the extension itself is still enabled.