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I'm trying to add the Rapid Interface Builder extension to chrome using the rib.crx file I downloaded from https://01.org/rapid-interface-builder/downloads/2012/rib-preview-1-chrome-extension

Unfortunately, every time I open the crx file with chrome I get the following error:

Apps, Extensions and scripts cannot be added from this website.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

Barry Michael Doyle
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    Looks like some good answers are given for crx files, anybody know how address this issue with userscripts (e.g. example.userscript.js)? – Keyslinger Mar 18 '18 at 03:00

6 Answers6

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Instead of opening the file, you have to: extract it (crx are zip files), then visit chrome://extensions, enable developer mode, and load unpacked extension.

The reason for this is: lots of people try to abuse chrome apps/extensions to install nasty applications to your browser. So Chrome tries to make it impossible to automatically side-load these apps without you making sure that is really what you want to do.

So.. typical caveats of installing software apply when using this approach.

mmocny
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  • I'm unable to extract the file - it's not an option, I'm able to compress it. I'm using Windows 8 if that helps with answering. – Barry Michael Doyle Apr 15 '14 at 19:23
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    The "Load unpacked extension" option is not a great solution for Windows any more, because of a nagging popup, see http://crbug.com/337734. – Rob W Apr 15 '14 at 19:28
  • I got it. Had to open it with WinRar to extract it. I also had to edit the manifest.json file to include ""manifest_version": 2," in it's contents. – Barry Michael Doyle Apr 15 '14 at 19:53
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    on macOS this didn't work when I renamed it to *.zip and tried extracting with Finder but it did work on the command line with `unzip Extension.crx -d Extension` – Frederick Squid Sep 26 '18 at 13:55
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    in my case it is downloading `.js` file instead of `.crx` file? what should i do? – Zeeshan Ahmad Khalil Jun 20 '19 at 06:39
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You can now also just drag-and-drop the .crx file onto the chrome://extensions page and it will install, too.

Edit 2019-01-10: Make sure to enable Developer mode for extensions. If this was not enabled, refresh the chrome://extensions page after enabling it.

Edit 2018-08-24: This works on Windows, too.

Edit: This doesn't work on Windows. Verified on OSX and ChromeOS. From what I've read, this will work on Linux, too.~

ToddR
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  • Have you tried it with .crx files not packed by your Chrome install? – Xan Aug 25 '15 at 15:13
  • @Xan yes, I packed in on OSX stable (44.0.2403.157) and then dragged and dropped onto ChromeOS stable (44.0.2403.155). However, I get the disabled warning on Windows stable (44.0.2403.157 m). I'll edit my answer to reflect that this works on everything except Windows (pretty certain it'll work on Linux). – ToddR Aug 26 '15 at 16:30
  • The above answer is rather old. Just tested it on windows and it works now. – AnorZaken Jun 07 '17 at 03:08
  • It doesn't work for me. I still get the following error when I drop-and-drop the .crx file: `Apps, Extensions and scripts cannot be added from this website.`. The only way I could get it to install was to unpack the .crx file first. – Dan Stevens Jan 06 '19 at 13:22
  • @DanStevens sounds like a problem on your end. Just tested on OS X and Windows 10 with Chrome 71.0.3578.98. You have to have Developer mode on and be in the Extensions page. I'll edit my answer to include the Developer mode requirement. – ToddR Jan 10 '19 at 14:48
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    I found that after enabling Developer mode, I had to refresh the extensions page before it would accept the extension. If I just enabled Developer mode and not refresh I would still get the error. – Dave Rager Feb 20 '19 at 16:28
  • wow I was trying everything! just had to refresh lol – gannex May 04 '22 at 05:40
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(I initially experienced the same problem you described.*) This solution worked for me in Windows 10 (build th1511) x64:

  1. Open Chrome as you normally would.
  2. Go to the "Extensions" page (chrome://extensions; or click Menu button at top right corner → From 'More tools' drop down menu select 'Extensions').
  3. Drag and drop the .crx file onto the extensions page in Chrome -onto the list of extensions. You should see a dialog stating "Drop here to install". This must be present. (If you do NOT see this, reposition your mouse - it may be too far to the side of the page.)

It should load successfully and you should see the extension in the list immediately afterward.

*I received the same error you described when attempting to load the .crx file (packed extension) by right-clicking/double-clicking it and selecting "Open With" "Chrome", and by dragging/dropping the file onto a regular webpage in Chrome.

str8arrow
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In the Extensions page, just enable Developer mode. From there you can drag and drop any .crx file there and installation prompt will follow suit.

Developer mode turned on

Veger
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Makari Kevin
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Open Chrome with this parameter --enable-easy-off-store-extension-install, then go to extensions and enable Developer mode. Now you can install .crx files without any problem.

Barry Michael Doyle
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Farzad Karimnejad
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go on extension, and your first step is on developer mode, 2 step update extensions, and last drop IDM extension file on google chrome.

Kashif Ali
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