diff --git a/src/extensions/extension-manager.ts b/src/extensions/extension-manager.ts
index a0ec3ad897..1e0ebf9387 100644
--- a/src/extensions/extension-manager.ts
+++ b/src/extensions/extension-manager.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { ExtensionManifest } from "./lens-extension"
 import path from "path"
+import os from "os"
 import fs from "fs-extra"
 import logger from "../main/logger"
 import { extensionPackagesRoot, InstalledExtension } from "./extension-loader"
@@ -24,10 +25,14 @@ export class ExtensionManager {
     return extensionPackagesRoot()
   }
 
-  get folderPath(): string {
+  get inTreeFolderPath(): string {
     return path.resolve(__static, "../extensions");
   }
 
+  get localFolderPath(): string {
+    return path.join(os.homedir(), ".k8slens", "extensions");
+  }
+
   get npmPath() {
     return __non_webpack_require__.resolve('npm/bin/npm-cli')
   }
@@ -35,7 +40,7 @@ export class ExtensionManager {
   async load() {
     logger.info("[EXTENSION-MANAGER] loading extensions from " + this.extensionPackagesRoot)
     await fs.ensureDir(path.join(this.extensionPackagesRoot, "node_modules"))
-
+    await fs.ensureDir(this.localFolderPath)
     return await this.loadExtensions();
   }
 
@@ -74,14 +79,17 @@ export class ExtensionManager {
   }
 
   async loadExtensions() {
-    const extensions = await this.loadFromFolder(this.folderPath);
+    const bundledExtensions = await this.loadBundledExtensions()
+    const localExtendions = await this.loadFromFolder(this.localFolderPath)
+    const extensions = bundledExtensions.concat(localExtendions)
     return new Map(extensions.map(ext => [ext.id, ext]));
   }
 
-  async loadFromFolder(folderPath: string): Promise<InstalledExtension[]> {
-    const paths = await fs.readdir(folderPath);
+  async loadBundledExtensions() {
     const extensions: InstalledExtension[] = []
+    const folderPath = this.inTreeFolderPath
     const bundledExtensions = getBundledExtensions()
+    const paths = await fs.readdir(folderPath);
     for (const fileName of paths) {
       if (!bundledExtensions.includes(fileName)) {
         continue
@@ -94,10 +102,33 @@ export class ExtensionManager {
         extensions.push(ext)
       }
     }
+    logger.debug(`[EXTENSION-MANAGER]: ${extensions.length} extensions loaded`, { folderPath, extensions });
+    await fs.writeFile(path.join(this.extensionPackagesRoot, "package.json"), JSON.stringify(this.packagesJson), {mode: 0o600})
+    await this.installPackages()
+    return extensions
+  }
+
+  async loadFromFolder(folderPath: string): Promise<InstalledExtension[]> {
+    const bundledExtensions = getBundledExtensions()
+    const extensions: InstalledExtension[] = []
+    const paths = await fs.readdir(folderPath);
+    for (const fileName of paths) {
+      if (bundledExtensions.includes(fileName)) { // do no allow to override bundled extensions
+        continue
+      }
+      const absPath = path.resolve(folderPath, fileName);
+      const manifestPath = path.resolve(absPath, "package.json");
+      await fs.access(manifestPath, fs.constants.F_OK)
+      const ext = await this.getExtensionByManifest(manifestPath).catch(() => null)
+      if (ext) {
+        extensions.push(ext)
+      }
+    }
+
+    logger.debug(`[EXTENSION-MANAGER]: ${extensions.length} extensions loaded`, { folderPath, extensions });
     await fs.writeFile(path.join(this.extensionPackagesRoot, "package.json"), JSON.stringify(this.packagesJson), {mode: 0o600})
     await this.installPackages()
 
-    logger.debug(`[EXTENSION-MANAGER]: ${extensions.length} extensions loaded`, { folderPath, extensions });
     return extensions;
   }
 }