How to Install the Coinbase Wallet Extension

1. 1

   Reach an official source yourself

   Type the address, or navigate from your browser's toolbar. Two legitimate routes exist: the browser's own extension gallery (Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons) and the official Coinbase Wallet page at coinbase.com/wallet.

   Do not install from a link in an email, a direct message, a Telegram or Discord group, a comment, a QR code on a poster, or a "sponsored" search result. Cloned listings with near-identical names are the most common delivery mechanism for wallet-stealing extensions.

2. 2

   Verify the listing before you add it

   • The publisher name should be the wallet's official publisher, not an individual developer.
   • Look at the installation count and the age of the listing — a wallet with a few hundred users and a month of history is not the real one.
   • Read the permission prompt. A wallet needs to read and change data on pages you visit; it does not need to be your default search engine, manage your downloads or control your browser history.
   • Check recent reviews for reports of drained funds. Those complaints show up quickly.
3. 3

   Add the extension and pin it

   Choose "Add to browser" and confirm. Then pin the wallet icon to the toolbar (the puzzle-piece menu in Chromium browsers, or the extensions menu in Firefox) so you can always see whether it is installed and unlocked in the profile you are using.

   Extensions are per-profile. If you switch between work and personal browser profiles, install and set up the wallet in each one where you need it.

4. 4

   Create a new wallet or restore an existing one

   New wallet: the extension generates a fresh recovery phrase. This is the moment the wallet is created — treat the next screen as the most important one in the whole process.

   Existing wallet: choose restore/import and enter your recovery phrase. Restoring is safe only when the phrase goes into the wallet's own onboarding screen. Nothing else — no website, no chat, no support agent — ever needs it.

5. 5

   Set the password and back up the phrase offline

   • Choose a long, unique password. It encrypts the wallet on this device only; it is not a substitute for the recovery phrase.
   • Write the recovery phrase down by hand, or stamp it into metal. Keep at least two copies in separate physical locations.
   • Do not photograph it, do not paste it into a password manager's notes, do not email it to yourself, and do not store it in cloud notes or a screenshot.
   • Test your backup by restoring the wallet on a second browser profile before it holds anything of value. A backup you have never exercised is an assumption, not a backup.
6. 6

   Fund the wallet with a small test first

   Send a small amount from an exchange or another wallet and confirm it arrives. This proves the address is correct and the network is the right one before any larger transfer.

   If you use the in-wallet buy flow, note that payment methods, limits and identity checks depend on your region. Either way, check the network on the send side as carefully as you check it here.

7. 7

   Connect your first Web3 app — carefully

   Open a dApp you already trust, by bookmark rather than by search. Choose "Connect Wallet" and select the wallet. Approve the connection, then read your first transaction request line by line: amount, recipient, network, fee.

   Start with something low-stakes. A first connection is a good time to learn what your wallet's confirmation screens look like, so that an unusual one later stands out immediately.

• Bookmark the dApps you use, and reach them from the bookmark bar rather than from search results or ads.
• Never enter your recovery phrase outside the wallet's own restore screen — nobody legitimate will ever ask for it.
• Write the phrase offline, keep two copies in different places, and never photograph it.
• Read every transaction and signature request: amount, recipient, network, fee.
• Revoke token approvals you no longer use, and disconnect apps you have stopped visiting.
• Use a small-balance wallet for new or experimental protocols.
• Pair a hardware wallet for any balance you would be upset to lose.

Once the wallet is running, three habits keep it in good shape:

• Keep a written inventory. Note which wallet holds what, which dApps your address is connected to, and where the backups are kept.
• Review approvals regularly. Old unlimited token approvals are standing permissions; remove the ones you no longer need.
• Update deliberately. Take extension updates from the same gallery you installed from, and treat any update prompt that arrives by email or pop-up as hostile.

From here, the feature guide explains what each part of the wallet does, and the security guide covers the recovery-phrase model and the scams worth recognising.

Independent guide. For the official listing and product documentation, use coinbase.com/wallet.