Does LinkedIn detect your Chrome Extension?

Yes — LinkedIn checks your browser for 4,934 Chrome extensions on every page load, using a hardcoded detection list (AED) in its own frontend code (Nov 2026 snapshot). Type an extension's name or Chrome Web Store URL to see whether yours is on it in 2026 — and what our code teardown found.

Updated November 6, 2026 · LinkedIn AED snapshot Nov 2026

We didn't ask the vendors — we downloaded and read the code of 100+ of these tools. Every verdict traces to LinkedIn's own source. See how we test →

Extension detection checker

Querying 4,934 fingerprint signatures from LinkedIn local code·Snapshot Nov 2026

What the AED list is — and why it matters

AED — Active Extension Detection — is a hardcoded roster of extension IDs buried in LinkedIn's own page code. On every visit LinkedIn quietly checks whether each one is installed, so landing on this list means your account is flagged before you click anything. This checker queries that exact list (4,934 entries in the Nov 2026 snapshot).

The list keeps changing+1,325 / −2,544 since Feb

2017

461

2024

5,459

Dec 25

6,153

Feb 26

4,934

Nov 26

38 extensions in 2017, 6,153 by February 2026 — then LinkedIn rotated it: by November it had dropped 2,544 and added 1,325, leaving 4,934. Someone maintains this list as their day job.

Installed = visible

On every page load LinkedIn fetches chrome-extension://<id>/<file> for each ID on the list. A successful response flags your account — before you click anything.

Not on the list ≠ safe

A second scanner needs no list at all — it catches any extension that injects into the page. This checker covers the list; it can't clear you of the rest. Two HIGH-risk tools we tore down — Expandi and HeyReach — aren't on the list at all, yet both upload your session. See the teardowns →

Chromium only

The scan fires in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc and Opera — gated by a literal userAgent check inside LinkedIn's bundle.

How LinkedIn's detection engine works, line by line How we test See the teardowns

Being on the list is only half the question

The other half: where does your session go? “Reads your cookies” and “uploads your login” are completely different risk levels. Two architectures dominate the market — and the safer-looking one isn't always the one with the nicer marketing.

session stays local

Stays on your machine — local scrape

The extension reads data inside your own browser and uploads only the results — your LinkedIn login never leaves. Your IP and device stay consistent. (The cleanest example we found doesn't even ask for cookie access.)

session leaves your machine

Leaves for a vendor's cloud — cookie-bridge

The extension copies your LinkedIn session itself to the vendor's servers, which then act as you from their own datacenter IP — one login live on two IPs at once. This is the highest-risk design, and we found it, in code, in 20 of the tools we read.

How to tell which one you're using? Follow where the cookie's value actually goes. That's exactly what we did — see how we test →

Watch where your session actually goes

The same data-flow maps we publish in every teardown — reconstructed from each tool's code. Hover to pause, or click any diagram to open the full audit.

Waalaxy Alien CopilotHIGH risksession stays local

Full teardown

flowchart LR
  U["You +<br/>your LinkedIn session"]
  EXT["Waalaxy Alien Copilot<br/>browser extension"]
  LI["LinkedIn"]
  U --> EXT
  CLOUD["Vendor backend<br/>Stargate/Otto (import parameters and progress; session provisioning is outside this CRX)"]
  EXT -->|"Voyager API via your csrf"| LI
  LI -->|"profile data"| EXT
  EXT -->|"results only — session stays"| CLOUD
  EXT -.->|"injects page → Spectroscopy"| LI
  classDef danger fill:#fee2e2,stroke:#fca5a5,color:#7f1d1d;
  classDef ok fill:#ecfdf5,stroke:#6ee7b7,color:#065f46;
  class CLOUD ok

Runs locally — session stays in your browser · not on the AED list (still detectable)

1/6

Red nodes = your LinkedIn session or data leaving for a vendor's cloud. Grey = it stays in your browser.

You're not the only one worried

Across 9 markets, about 12,050 people a month search whether LinkedIn will restrict, limit or ban them — steady, high demand for the past three years. Most never check the one thing they can: their own extension.

Searches per quarter · EN markets

32k latest

'24 Q2'24 Q3'24 Q4'25 Q1'25 Q2'25 Q3'25 Q4'26 Q1

Not a fad — a constant, high-volume concern, quarter after quarter.

What people actually search

“linkedin account restricted”2,140/mo
“linkedin identity verification”1,180/mo
“linkedin verify identity”1,180/mo
“linkedin connection limit”1,020/mo
“why is my linkedin account restricted”770/mo
“linkedin weekly invitation limit”620/mo
“linkedin restricted account”500/mo
“linkedin temporarily restricted”400/mo

Source: DataForSEO — Google Ads monthly search volume · 2023-07 — 2026-06 · theme: LinkedIn restrictions, limits & account safety.

A red verdict isn't a ban — it's points on a scorecard

LinkedIn doesn't flip a switch. It adds up signals: a known extension installed, traces it leaves in the page, a mismatched device fingerprint, and how you behave. Each adds points toward a restriction — which is why no “safe daily limit” can rescue a tool with a detectable architecture. The honest goal isn't a magically undetectable tool; it's the smallest possible surface.

Extension on the list+Traces in the page+Fingerprint mismatch+Your behavioreach adds points

We read their code. Here's what we found.

See all teardowns

127 LinkedIn tools, torn down line by line — where your session goes, and whether LinkedIn already detects them.

AimfoxHIGH risk

Uploads your LinkedIn session to its cloud · on LinkedIn's detection list

session uploadedon AED listFull teardown

Closely AssistantHIGH risk

Uploads your LinkedIn session to its cloud · not on the AED list (still detectable)

session uploadednot on listFull teardown

DatagmaHIGH risk

Uploads your LinkedIn session to its cloud · not on the AED list (still detectable)

session uploadednot on listFull teardown

Dux-SoupHIGH risk

Uploads your LinkedIn session to its cloud · on LinkedIn's detection list

session uploadedon AED listFull teardown

Engage AIHIGH risk

Uploads your LinkedIn session to its cloud · not on the AED list (still detectable)

session uploadednot on listFull teardown

Evaboot / SN CopilotHIGH risk

Uploads your LinkedIn session to its cloud · not on the AED list (still detectable)

session uploadednot on listFull teardown

Not every risky tool is on LinkedIn's list — Expandi and HeyReach aren't, yet both upload your session. “Not listed” ≠ safe.

All extension checks (142)

Every LinkedIn tool we checked, newest first — each page answers whether it's safe on LinkedIn and whether LinkedIn detects it, with the evidence from its code.