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

This answer applies to CRX files that you:

• Downloaded from Chrome Web Store
• Are trying to load unpacked

_locales folder should not pose problems. As long as the manifest contains default_locale key, Chrome will load the unpacked extension as expected.

_metadata is the problematic folder. It contains cryptographic hashes of all extension files to protect against tampering with those files, and is automatically added by CWS. This does not make sense in the context of an unpacked extension, and has no other use, so this folder simply needs to be deleted.