ChromeDriver error “unknown error: cannot get automation extension”

Question

Since the 7th of February all my tests are failing with the same error; the log entry reads:

RESPONSE MaximizeWindow unknown error: cannot get automation ext         


        

Answer 1

I faced the issue, too. I have replaced the existing chrome driver which I had in my C folder with new chrome driver downloaded from https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/chromedriver/downloads, which resolved the issue.

Answer 2

Suddenly got this error -> Additional information: unknown error: cannot get automation extension from unknown error: page could not be found: chrome-extension..

This issue exists even when using ChromeDriver 2.29
What solved it though was removing this line.

driver.Manage().Window.Size = new Size(1024, 768);

A quick fix but really not the one I've been looking for. Would be great to still use the sizing mechanism.

Answer 3

Thanks for this -- it helped me after so much R&D

cannot-get-automation-extension

ChromeOptions o = new ChromeOptions();
o.addArguments("disable-extensions");
o.addArguments("--start-maximized");
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(o);

Answer 4

You need the latest version of chromedriver.exe. https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/chromedriver/downloads

This is needed for chromedriver version 57+

I was having this same issue. Once I updated the chromedriver version everything worked again.

Answer 5

it supports the higher versions of chrome driver 2.29.

pls. find the latest chrome drivers in http://www.seleniumhq.org/download/

Answer 6

I had started getting the same error in April, shortly after this question. I was able to get around it by installing a new beta version and starting like so: webdriver-manager start --versions.standalone 3.0.0-beta4 --versions.chrome=2.28

This was working perfectly until a few days ago. I tried removing the offending setSize() from my Protractor conf file and it works again. But whenever my tests start, it also spawns another Chrome window navigated to chrome://settings/help. Weird.

I checked my Chrome update history and see it updated from v61 to v62 last week, so that must have broken it. I guess I need to update my driver once more.

Update: For those that want to quickly know how to update their driver:

webdriver-manager update --versions.chrome=2.33

Don't forget to specify the driver when starting the server.