Extension installed from Chrome Webstore throws error "Package is invalid. Details: 'Cannot load extension with file or directory name _metadata…'

Question

When a CRX is added to the Chrome web store, Google adds a directory _metadata to the crx. Older versions of Chrome do not know about this directory (tested on Chro

Answer 1

You can try to unzip the CRX (change the suffix name to ".zip" if needed) and then in chrome: Settings -> Extensions check "Developer mode", choose "load unpacked extension.." and select the extracted folder.

P.S. I had to rename the folders starting with "_" (underscore) and remove the line "default_locale":"en", from the manifest JSON in order for that to work