Chrome extension action on shutdown
google-chrome, google-chrome-extension, javascript
Solution
you are right, there's no way to execute anything on Chrome shutdown. Chrome doesn't have an onClose event. Not only literally, but metaphorically speaking: When Chrome closes, it doesn't wait for any extension to close.
You can hang from `chrome.windows.onRemoved` and wait for the last window to close, but if Chrome is shutting down, it's not guaranteed your extension will have time to run it. Same thing with onSuspend, or whatever you find.
So, if your implementation works, it won't be guaranteed to work in other Chrome.
About `chrome.history.deleteAll`, I have the same problem, and will try with `chrome.browsingData`, a more modern and complete way to deal with browsing data, including history.
Problem
I'm writing a very simple Chrome extension to automatically clear my history as this isn't a built in feature. I've got it functional but just want to confirm I've done things that make sense before I wrap it up. First - is there a reason to do a chrome.history.deleteAll? This doesn't actually appear to interface with URL browsing history, instead you need to use chrome.browsingData.* for that. Should I do the former anyway? Next - after searching and searching, there appears to be no way to execute a function on shutdown. The closest I got to real info on this was someone saying when Chrome quits it terminates all extensions without prejudice. Am I missing a way to clean up history on shutdown? Finally - as I can't cleanup on shutdown, I'm cleaning up on startup, using window.onload in the background page. chrome.runtime.onStartup did not reliably work for me while window.onload did - is this an okay way to do things? Thanks in advance for any help.