Managing Extensions

For the most part, SketchUp extensions don’t require you to do much management. If you install a SketchUp extension through the Extension Warehouse, the extension and SketchUp work together pretty seamlessly.

However, you might need to check on an extension or handle an issue once in a while. For example, here’s when the tips and steps in this article come in handy:

• A developer adds a feature, fixes a bug, or otherwise updates an extension.
• Your SketchUp interface has become cluttered with extensions, and you’d like to clear up the extensions you don’t use often.

Whatever your extension issue, this article may help you manage it. The following sections introduce SketchUp's extension-management features and explain how to handle common issues.

Managing extensions in the Extension Warehouse or within SketchUp

You can manage extensions in the Extension Warehouse on the My Extensions page. Also, within your copy of SketchUp, the Extension Manager enables you to manage your extensions and offers a few features that control how your copy of SketchUp works with your extensions.

The following table outlines what extension-management features you find on the Extension Warehouse My Extensions page (online) and what features you can control in Extension Manager.

Updating extensions

A developer might update an extension to add a feature, fix a bug, or make an older version of an extension compatible with Ruby 3.0.

To update extensions in the Extension Warehouse, follow these steps:

1. In SketchUp, select Extensions > Extension Warehouse and sign in to the Extension Warehouse.
2. Select My Extensions from the user menu. The Extension Warehouse opens to the My Extensions tab shown in the following figure. This tab shows all the extensions you’ve installed through the Extension Warehouse. (If you installed an extension manually from another source, that extension won’t appear here. See Adding Extensions to SketchUp for details about manual installation through SketchUp Preferences.)
3. To update all your extensions at once, click Update All at the top right of the My Extensions tab. To update a specific extension, click the Update option to the right of the extension’s name.

If you install an extension through the Extension Warehouse (rather than manually), the Extension Manager knows when an extension update is available.

When an extension has an update, a couple of alerts let you know:

• A message appears on-screen.
• A little red circle appears next to the Manage tab, as shown in the following figure. The number in the circle reflects the number of updates.

To update an extension in the Extension Manager, follow these steps:

1. In SketchUp, select Extensions > Extension Manager. The Extension Manager window appears.
2. Click the Manage tab at the top.
3. Click the Update button next to the extension that you want to update. Or to install all the updates at once, select the extensions you want to update and click the Update option that appears at the very top of the column.

Enabling and disabling extensions

Disabling an extension unloads it from SketchUp. You might want to disable an extension in the following circumstances:

• An extension can take up resources even when you’re not using it, so disabling unneeded extensions can help SketchUp run as fast as possible.
• Disabling extensions can declutter SketchUp’s menus and toolbars. If you rarely use an extension, you can disable it so that it’s out of the way until you need it.

To disable an extension in the Extension Warehouse:

1. In SketchUp, select Extensions > Extension Warehouse and sign in to the Extension Warehouse.
2. Select My Extensions from the user menu. The Extension Warehouse opens to the My Extensions tab.
3. Disable any extension by clicking its Disable option. After you disable an extension, it becomes grayed out, moves to the bottom of your My Extensions tab, and has an Enable option, which you can click to re-enable the extension.

Alternatively, you can enable or disable an extension in the Extension Manager. Follow these steps:

1. In SketchUp, select Extensions > Extension Manager. The Extension Manager window appears.
2. Click the Enabled or Disabled button next to the extension whose status you want to change.
3. Click the Apply Changes button, and your extension is enabled or disabled. To back out of the change, click the Discard Changes button.

Uninstalling or removing extensions

If you need to uninstall one or more extensions, the Extension Warehouse makes this task quick and easy:

1. In SketchUp, select Extensions > Extension Warehouse and sign in to the Extension Warehouse.
2. Select My Extensions from the user menu. The Extension Warehouse opens to the My Extensions tab.

3. You can uninstall all your extensions in one move by clicking Uninstall All in the top right of the My Extensions tab. Or, you might uninstall a single extension that you no longer use by clicking its Uninstall option.

    

   Tip: When you uninstall an extension, it’s grayed out and moves to the bottom of the My Extensions tab, like the 3D Text Editor extension shown in the earlier figure. If you change your mind later, click Install to reinstall the extension. Or if you’re completely and totally done with the extension, click Remove to delete the extension from your My Extensions tab.

    

To uninstall an extension in the Extension Manager, follow these steps:

1. Select Extensions > Extension Manager. The Extension Manager window appears.
2. Click the Manage tab at the top.
3. On the Home tab, click the Uninstall button next to the extension that you want to uninstall. After a few moments, your extension is removed from your copy of SketchUp. If you ever want to reinstall the extension, you can quickly access the extension on your My Extensions page in the Extension Warehouse.

Managing trust and signatures

Starting with SketchUp 2016, registered extension developers can claim their software by signing it digitally. This signature says, “I made this,” but in a secure coded format. In other words, when an extension is signed, the extension file contains a signature file that is securely tied to the developer’s Extension Warehouse account. An extension may be unsigned if you installed it manually.

The Extension Manager enables you to see whether an extension is signed. If you have an unsigned extension, you can tell SketchUp whether you trust the file, which determines whether the extension can be enabled at startup. Follow these steps:

1. Select Extensions > Extension Manager. The Extension Manager window appears.
2. In the Extension Name column, you see whether an extension is signed. Click the right-pointing arrow to see an extension’s details, and you can view the extension’s signature information and designate an unsigned signature as trusted.

Choosing loading policy preferences

You can choose an extension loading policy that determines what extensions can and cannot be loaded when SketchUp starts.

SketchUp has three loading policy modes:

• Identified Extensions Only: In this mode, SketchUp loads an extension only if a registered SketchUp developer digitally signed the extension.

• Approve Unidentified Extensions: This mode lets you choose which extensions load each time SketchUp starts. You see a list of found extensions and Ruby files in the Load Unidentified Extensions? dialog box. Select which of these you want to allow to load. SketchUp will remember which extensions you have approved. You see the approval dialog box each time you start SketchUp so you can change your approvals before any extensions are loaded.

   

  Note: Identified extensions do not appear in the list when SketchUp starts. They load automatically.

   

• Unrestricted: This mode is the least secure. All extensions and Ruby files load when SketchUp starts, and the Load Unidentified Extensions? dialog box won’t open. Use this mode only if you trust all the extensions that you have installed.

You can switch between modes at any time. However, to unload extensions that SketchUp has already loaded, you need to restart.

To choose your extension loading policy, follow these steps:

1. Select Extensions > Extension Manager.
2. In the Extension Manager window that appears, click the gear icon in the upper right.
3. In the Settings window that appears, select your desired loading policy and click the Confirm button.