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4PDF extension for Chrome

Download Drive files
that require a Google sign-in

The 4PDF Chrome extension runs inside the browser you are already signed in to. It uses your own session, so it opens exactly the documents you can already view on Drive.

Install from the Chrome Web Store

Desktop only · Needs a 4pdf.net account

How to install

  1. Install the extension

    Press the button above, then choose “Add to Chrome”.

  2. Open the document on Drive

    Sign in to Google with an account allowed to view that document.

  3. Reload the page and save the PDF

    Press the 4PDF button, sign in to 4pdf.net, then download.

Another way: install manually

Only needed when your machine blocks the Chrome Web Store, a work computer for example. This way requires Developer mode, and Chrome will ask about it on every startup.

  1. Download and unzip

    Download the archive and unzip it into a folder. Keep that folder somewhere permanent, because deleting it stops the extension from working.

    Download the 4PDF extension

  2. Open the Chrome extensions page

    Type chrome://extensions into the address bar and press Enter. There is no link to click here: Chrome blocks every website from opening a chrome:// address, and that restriction protects you.

  3. Turn on Developer mode

    The switch is in the top-right corner. This step is required for every extension that has not gone through the store, not just this one.

  4. Click “Load unpacked”

    Select the folder you unzipped in step 1, the whole folder rather than a file inside it.

  5. Go back to the Drive document and reload

    Any tab opened before the install has no extension in it yet, so reload that page once. Then click the floating 4PDF button in the bottom-right corner, or the 4PDF icon on the toolbar.

If it does not work

No 4PDF button on the Drive page

Reload the document page once. A tab opened before the install has not received the extension.

Chrome keeps asking to turn off Developer mode

This only happens with a manual install. Click “Keep” — or remove the manual copy and install from the Chrome Web Store instead, which stops the prompt for good.

It says the document is public

For public documents the 4pdf.net homepage is faster and keeps a history. The extension is only for documents that require a sign-in.

A few pages are missing

Usually Drive is throttling briefly. The extension retries and steps the quality down on its own; if pages are still missing, wait a minute or two and try again.

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