Google has disabled The Great Suspender, an extension used by Chrome users who often had many tabs open because, in the words of the message users received, it “contains malware.”
This has raised users with some questions and concerns.
Also: The Best Google Chrome Extensions in 2021
First, what happened? Well, last year there were concerns that the extension contained nefarious code after the extension changed hands. More details here on GitHub.
Yesterday, Google pulled the plug on the extension, telling users that it was now blocked, and all listings of it in the Google Chrome web store now result in 404 seconds.
If you were a user, the tabs you suspended are now gone. Well, you can still restore them, but it’s a bit of a faff. It involves searching your history for the ID of the extension (klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg) and then extracting the URL from the string (it is after the uri =).
Others want to know what to do next.
There are a few extensions you can use to do similar things. Session Buddy and OneTab come to mind.
If you prefer a paid service, I’ve been using Partizion for the past few months, and I find it very reliable, and once you get used to it, it works really well.
Or, you know, you can limit the number of open tabs.