The Great Suspender, one of the most useful extensions for Google Chrome and also one of the most popular, has been removed from the Chrome Web Store. It seems that the extension is running malicious code, and Google has decided that the best decision is to remove it completely. Unfortunately, users who actively use it suffer, because with the removal of the extension disappears and all the tabs they kept suspended with its help.
The Great Suspender was a popular extension among Chrome users with little RAM
The Great Suspender extension was especially useful for those who use the Chrome browser on systems with little RAM. Thus, they can “suspend” several tabs in the background to be “awakened” when they are needed, the browser consequently using less memory. However, it seems that in 2020, the person who wrote the original extension sold it to an unknown entity.
After a while, the extension was found to be running malicious code in the background, but after users complained online, the code was removed from the extension. But Google did not forget and eventually decided to remove the extension from the offer of its store for Chrome. The problem is that this decision was made without notifying users in advance, as Google Chrome automatically deletes extensions from users’ computers that are marked as dangerous.
With the extension, the tabs suspended by The Great Suspender disappeared. Fortunately, there are ways to bring them back. Looks like you can search the History string for “klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg” and reopen them that way. There are several other alternative methods to recover them, according to the GitHub page of the extension.
Fortunately, there are plenty of other alternatives on the Chrome Web Store for those who need this feature, who don’t use malicious code that could track their online activity without users knowing.
Robert J. Smith is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including JoyStiq and Android Authority. In regards to academics, Robert earned a degree in business from Fordham University. Robert has passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.