NPAPI plugins like Java can no longer work in Chrome (but there are workarounds for Flash by using PPAPI Flash Player on Linux including for Chromium). NPAPI support was removed from Linux in Chrome release 35. On September 23, 2013, Google announced that it will be deprecating and then removing NPAPI support.The default bundled PPAPI Flash Player (or Pepper-based Flash Player) was available on Chrome OS first, then replaced the NPAPI Flash Player on Linux from Chrome version 20, on Windows from version 21 (which also reduced Flash crashes by 20%), and eventually came to OS X at version 23. On August 12, 2009, Google introduced a replacement for NPAPI that is more portable and more secure called Pepper Plugin API (PPAPI).Support for Java under OS X was provided by a Java Update released on May 18, 2010. Java applet support was available in Chrome with Java 6 update 12 and above.

Flash is kept up to date as part of Chrome's own updates. Since 2010, Adobe Flash has been integral to Chrome and does not need be installed separately. Chrome supported, up to version 45, plug-ins with the Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI), so that plug-ins (for example Adobe Flash Player) run as unrestricted separate processes outside the browser and cannot be sandboxed as tabs are.Consumer Reports recommended users install dedicated ad-blocking tools instead, which offer increased security against malware and tracking. Sites that employ invasive ads are given a 30-day warning, after which their ads will be blocked. In February 2018, Google introduced an ad blocking feature based on recommendations from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Google introduced download scanning protection in Chrome 17.

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