Frequently Asked Questions

Head to the download page and follow the steps there to install the Shimeji Browser Extension.

When you activate a character you are asked to login, using the "Sign in with Google", it will open a Google authentication popup. Make sure your browser is not blocking popups, and no other tool is blocking the request. If you still doesn't succeed to login, consider making use of the Shimeji Editor instead. This tool doesn't require authentication, but you have to upload shimeji sprites yourself. You could also bring your own shimeji — previewing a package there doesn't require signing in either.

To make the orange mushroom visible in your Chrome menu permanently, click the puzzle-icon in the top-right corner of Chrome and then pin the extension by clicking the pushpin-icon

Click the orange mushroom icon in the upper-right corner of Chrome (Icon not visible?) and click on Spawn Shimeji to call a new one.

If you see this message, you are visiting a web page that didn't support shimejis. Most common case is that you are trying to call a shimeji from your Chrome Start Page, for example after opening a new tab, which is not possible. First navigate to a regular web site and then call a shimeji.

First, make sure the extension is enabled for all websites you visit. To do so, right-click the orange mushroom icon in the upper-right corner of Chrome (Icon not visible?) and then go to "This can read and change site data" and choose "On All Sites".
It could also be the case that you have to spawn a shimeji if there are none. Also checkout: Why does the character not show up? and I got a message "The current page doesn't want shimejis".

If your shimeji is visible but doesn't do anything, right-click on the shimeji and give a command. You can also just wait, because shimejis will have random behavior and sometimes sit, stand, or look at your mouse cursor for many seconds before doing something else.

Go to the shimeji directory and pick your favorite character.

You can have as many shimejis as you want, just spawn another shimeji. You can even have multiple characters by getting more characters slots.

Pick a shimeji from the shimeji directory and click the activate-button. A window will pop up where you need to sign in. Repeat the proces for another shimeji. If you have reached your maximum character slots you will see a message about how to get more slots.

No, the Shimeji Browser Extension is currently not supported on mobile devices.

Yes, you can get the Shimeji Browser Extension for free. We run ads to fund this site.

To turn off the extension you can click on the orange mushroom icon at the top-right cornor of Chrome (Icon not visible?) and toggle OFF the switch box.

To fully uninstall the extension, go to the Chrome Store and click "Remove from Chrome", but you can also turn off the extension temporarily.

Yes, the Shimeji Browser Extension is just for fun. It's a browser extension available from the Chrome Webstore and is reviewed by the Google team. Nothing is installed on your computer itself. If you want to learn more about how we handle data, please read our privacy policy.

No, the Shimeji Browser Extension will not track any of the websites you visit. But we do track, in an anonymized way, how many active users are using the extension. Read our privacy policy for more details.

No, the Shimeji Browser Extension is not a virus. It's available from the Chrome Webstore and reviewed by the Google team. It's an extension for your browser and nothing is installed on your computer. In our privacy policy you can read about how we handle data with care. If people are talking about shimeji being a virus they mean that the characters sometimes keep duplicating a lot and you end up with many shimejis on your screen. In that case you can easily turn off shimejis and turn it back on.

When you have commanded shimejis to remove elements from the page, you have to refresh the page to get the elements back. You can also visit the site again.

First note that all shimejis are fanart, thus created by the users of the shimeji community, and not created by us. Therefore you can request a character but it is not guaranteed that it will be created eventually. Moreover it take a lot of time to create one. Nevertheless you can vote for your favorite character. See request a shimeji.

It lets you try out a shimeji package without installing anything extra. Go to Bring your own shimeji, select a .zip or .rar file, and it's unpacked right there in your browser so you can preview each character in the extension. Keep it to yourself, or add it to the directory to share it with everyone.

Yes! Go to Bring your own shimeji and drop in your .zip or .rar package. You can preview it right there before deciding anything. Happy with it? Sign in with Google and click Add to the Directory to publish it right away — there's no review queue. Please only share packages you made yourself or have permission to share, and credit the original artist if it isn't your own work.

No, previewing a package on the Bring your own shimeji page just needs the Shimeji Browser Extension installed — no sign-in required. You only need to sign in with Google when you decide to add a character to the directory.

Bring your own shimeji imports a complete package that already exists — for example one you downloaded somewhere else — and lets you try it out immediately. The Shimeji Editor is for building a shimeji from scratch: you upload individual sprite images yourself and configure the animations and behavior from there.

Either is fine as long as you have permission. When you add a character to the directory, you're asked whether you made it yourself or found it online — pick whichever is true. Fan-made shimejis are almost always shared this way. Don't forget to credit the original artist.

Yes, if you have digital drawing skills you can create your own shimeji. Check out the Shimeji Editor. You will see that the animation of shimejis consist of individual images. Create these images yourself and upload them in the Shimeji Editor to bring your character to life. Ready to share your creation with the world? Add it to the directory.

The shimeji browser extension is created by Jarno Le Conté in 2015. The release of the initial version of this web site shimejis.xyz was in 2017. Later several new releases of both the extension and the web site followed. From 2026 onwards users can submit their own shimeji packages to the directory.

For bug reports, feedback, or anything else, reach out at info [at] shimejis [dot] xyz.