Overview
The M-Files for Chrome browser extension helps Classic Web users with file operations by allowing the web browser to open the native application and check-in changes made to it. More details about it at Installing and Enabling the M-Files for Chrome Extension
Around January 2024 Chrome (and also Edge, since they are based on the same engine) rolled out an update that changes how it reacts to API calls and it can also shut down the extension.
The result is that the extension does not seem to work.
Example symptoms:
- The user is not prompted whether to checkout or open the document as read only, instead the file simply gets downloaded and is not opened in the native application.
- The user constantly gets prompted with the desktop notification to allow access.
If you open the trusted sites after this happens, you may also see them empty, even though you just allowed the extension access and you had previously seen them correctly set.
Solution
Version 2.1.1 of the Chrome Extension was released in early March 2024.
The end users must update the extension and the accompanying native application (the "click here to complete the installation" link in the yellow banner in the Classic Web page).
Workaround
If using the desktop client or the Web client (the newer Web client, not Classic web) together with the Web Companion App is not an option, keep reading.
In the meantime, we found that enabling the developer tools for the extension page makes Chrome/Edge work as before - they do not shut down the extension and provide the stored trusted sites as expected, so the extension can keep functioning.
Here is how to do that as the end user:
- Open the extensions page of the browser (e.g., go to chrome://extensions/ in the address bar).
- Enable Developer mode (at top right corner).
- Find “M-Files for chrome 2.1.0” extension and click the link service worker.
- This opens the console window which should let the background service keep running. Continue using the Classic Web client as before.
