OpenAI updated its ChatGPT Chrome extension on Thursday, October 15, 2026, so ChatGPT can now look across the tabs you have open, compare what’s on them, and, in its Work mode, act inside Chrome by filling in forms, sending messages, downloading files and grouping cluttered tabs. OpenAI says the upgraded experience is available across all ChatGPT plans, although its own guide notes that availability can still depend on rollout.
The extension isn’t new, but what it can reach is. Until now it mostly let you chat with ChatGPT beside a webpage. With this update it can see across several pages at once and take actions on sites where you’re already signed in, which makes it far more useful for comparing laptop prices or filling a long registration form, and far more sensitive if you leave it on while you bank, shop or check your email.
| Updated | 15 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Developer | OpenAI |
| Plans | All ChatGPT plans, according to OpenAI |
| Browsers | Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi |
| Side chat | Chrome, Edge, Brave and Vivaldi (not Opera) |
| Needs | ChatGPT desktop app for browser tasks |
Chat reads your tabs, but Work is the mode that clicks for you
There are two halves to the update. In an ordinary chat, you can tag Chrome from the ChatGPT web or desktop app and ask it to work with what’s open, such as three phone listings, a pair of research articles or a long policy page you don’t have time to read. The sidebar inside Chrome now carries your full ChatGPT history too, so you can pick up an old conversation without leaving the page you’re on, and on YouTube videos with captions it can use the transcript to summarise what was said.
Work mode goes further, because it controls Chrome tabs to finish multi-step jobs for you. OpenAI’s examples include completing registration forms, adding calendar events, entering data into business systems and tidying a messy row of tabs into groups. Announcing it on X, the company said “We’re bringing the power of computer use to anyone who uses Chrome”, and the Chrome Web Store listing, published by OpenAI, now shows about 7 million users.
This also explains why ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI’s own browser, has disappeared. The company announced on July 9 that Atlas would retire, it stopped working on August 9, and OpenAI pointed people who wanted browsing help to the Chrome extension and sidebar instead. If you tried Atlas after its October 2025 launch and wondered where it went, this extension is its replacement.
Setting it up takes the desktop app, not just the extension
Installing the extension alone won’t give you Work mode. According to OpenAI’s setup guide, the browser tasks run through the ChatGPT desktop app, so update that app first and then work through the steps below.
- In the ChatGPT desktop app, open Settings > Computer Use, and expand More browsers if Chrome isn’t listed.
- Select your browser, choose Install, and add the extension from the official ChatGPT listing on the Chrome Web Store. Check that the publisher is OpenAI before you click Add to Chrome.
- Go back to Computer Use and confirm the browser now shows Manage.
- Start a Work chat, type @ followed by your browser’s name, and make sure you’re using the same Chrome profile where you installed the extension.
The Chrome Web Store carries plenty of lookalike “ChatGPT” add-ons from other developers, and none of them gets the access OpenAI is describing here. The real one is simply called ChatGPT and lists OpenAI as its developer, so don’t install anything else that promises the same features.
Keep it away from your bank and email until you trust it
When you add the extension, Chrome shows a permission prompt that can include reading and changing your data on every website. OpenAI says ChatGPT still asks before it uses each new site, giving you the choice to allow once, allow that site, allow all sites or decline, and that it asks every time it wants your browsing history, with no always-allow option for history. Its guide warns users to “treat page content as untrusted context”, because a webpage can contain hidden instructions aimed at AI agents, which is one of the security risks of AI browser agents we’ve covered before.
Don’t pick “allow all sites”, however tempting it is to stop the prompts. Leave your banking websites, Opay, Moniepoint or Kuda web dashboards, email and anything with a one-time password off the list, and don’t let ChatGPT complete a payment or a transfer for you. If you share a laptop at work or use a cybercafé computer, remove the extension before you leave, because it acts with whatever accounts are signed in on that Chrome profile. You can review allowed and blocked sites at any time under Settings > Computer Use > Manage in the desktop app.
The tab-reading side is the safer place to start, and it’s where most people will get value first, such as comparing specs across three shopping tabs or summarising a long JAMB or NCC notice. Paid ChatGPT plans in Nigeria still carry 7.5% VAT on top of the subscription, so there’s no reason to upgrade just for this. Try Work mode on low-stakes chores like grouping tabs or filling a sign-up form before you let it near anything that holds your money.
