Convert PDF Chrome extension does not appear/install (Acrobat XI)

Report · Dec 26, 2012

When I installed Acrobat XI, the Chrome extension to convert webpages to PDF does not install or appear in Chrome. I tried repair installation from Help menu of Acrobat, it still did not resolve the question. The extension also does not appear on the extension list, in case you're wondering its deactivated.

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers

Report · Mar 30, 2014

I think there might be some confusion about what you are asking since I think that the Adobe Acrobat Create PDF extension is only available for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI (11) and I don't think that you will find it in the version 10 directory (although I could be mistaken since I do not have version 10). One you update to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Pro XI (11), and also apply the latest updates to Google Chrome, then the extension should be enabled. I am running Google Chrome version 33 and have Adobe Acrobat Pro version 11.0.6.70 and the extension works alright for converting basic webpages. The Adobe installation directory that contains a copy of the extension depends on your operating system and installation and whether or not you have a 64-bit machine. For example I am running Windows 7 64-bit and I was able to find a copy of the "WCChromeExtn.crx" extension file in the directory: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\Browser\WCChromeExtn"

On the other hand if you are asking how to install the "WCChromeExtn.crx" Adobe Acrobat Create PDF extension without updating Adobe Acrobat Pro, that is a much more advanced procedure. If you have Windows 7 typically certain file types and locations that will not be indexed so you may not find what you are looking for with Windows search. That is why someone suggested using a third party search indexer to find the extension file. Another person suggested extracting the file from the Adobe update, and I also think that is the way to go. However the method that was described previously is very complicated and uses a lot of unnecessary scripting for what you really need. I propose that you download the latest update directly from Adobe and then extract the extension from the update file. Here's how to do that in Windows:

1. Download the latest update file from Adobe (e.g. "AcrobatUpd11006.msp")

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Windows

2. If you are interested in some background on Windows Installer files, check out these links and read about MSP files and extracting resources, otherwise go to the next step:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/AdminGuide/basics.html#installer-file-types

http://www.jsware.net/jsware/msicode.php5

3. Rename the incremental update MSP file extension to CAB (e.g. from "AcrobatUpd11006.msp" to "AcrobatUpd11006.cab")

4. Use an archive utility such as WinRAR, WinZip, or 7-Zip to open the CAB file and extract the "WCChromeExtn.crx" CRX extension file

5. Drag and drop the extension CRX file onto open Google Chrome window extension page to install and configure (chrome://extensions/)

There are some other forum topics and a blog post that deals with some installation issues with the Google Chrome extension:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1332770

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1165998

http://blogs.adobe.com/acrobat/tip-google-chrome-the-adobe-acrobat-create-pdf-extension/

http://blogs.adobe.com/acrobat/tag/chrome/

I hope that this might help you with getting the extension installed.

I currently am having some issues with the Adobe Acrobat Create PDF extension for Google Chrome when I try to convert secure https webpages, the output of the PDF converter does not retain my logon information, and does not convert the secure webpage. The resulting output of the converted https webpage is either a logon screen or a blank pdf with only the URL listed at the bottom. I hope that this might get fixed with an update or if anyone else might know of a workaround or solution. Thanks.

Report · May 10, 2014

I'm using AcrobatX Pro vs 10.1.9.22 running in Win7 SP1 32 bit, Chrome vs 34.0.1847.131 m. AcrobatX Pro and Chrome are both up to date and I do not want to purchase upgrade to Acrobat XI at this time. I have been trying to get 'Acrobat create a pdf ' to work in Chrome for over a year with no success. I usually go back to IE but with recent IE security issues I'm trying to stick to Chrome.

A search of C did not find WCChromeExtn.crx, a search of original X Pro install disc did not find it, and it does not exist in the Data1.cab. The only exts found were for IE and Firefox, in both Data1.cab and install disc.

BigBlueSky: You wrote 'if you are asking how to install the "WCChromeExtn.crx" Adobe Acrobat Create PDF extension without updating Adobe Acrobat Pro, that is a much more advanced procedure. If you have Windows 7 typically certain file types and locations that will not be indexed so you may not find what you are looking for with Windows search. That is why someone suggested using a third party search indexer to find the extension file.'

It sounds like you are you saying that it does exist in X Pro but I can't find it because it is not indexed. I find it hard to believe that it exists when it doesn't even show as an option to install from the original purchased install disc. I think I did a thorough search and did not find it.

Next, followed your suggestion and downloaded the AcrobatUpd11006.msp (this update is for Acrobat XI, which I don't have, but the ext file was there so I continued), renamed to a .cab file, opened it and found the extension.

When I tried to drop and install onto chrome extensions open page I first got a web page not found error message, several times. I selected 'Developer mode' in chrome extension page and tried again and got new error messages: Package is invalid: 'CRX_FILE_NOT_READABLE' or, Package is invalid: 'CRX_MAGIC_NUMBER_INVALID'. Can't figure out why I got the 2 different error messages when trying the same thing?

Any other suggestions? I really appreciates all your prior help and suggestions, thank you!

Report · May 13, 2014

For people looking / trying to locate the WCChromeExtn.crx file, this is where it is located on a Windows 7, machine running with Acrobat XI (11.0.06) :

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\Browser\WCChromeExtn.crx

Just drag and drop the file onto the Chrome extention page, to install it, and you should be good to go. Luck luck.

Report · May 14, 2014

The drag and drop works only with Acrobat 11. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME if using an earlier version.

If using anything earlier than XI, you will not find the file anywhere on your hard drive, indexing has nothing to do with it, and it doesn’t exist on the installation disc either. Even if you download the current update for XI in order to get the missing WCChromeExtn.crx, you will not be able to place it onto the Chrome extension page.

I use Acrobat X Pro and there is absolutely no way to use the Chrome extension with it. After downloading most current update for XI, changing the file to .cab type, opening the Zip folder, and locating the file, it would not drop onto the Chrome ext page. A call to Adobe support confirmed it cannot be done and there is no other way for X users to use the extension with Chrome.

Hope this helps prevent a lot of wasted time and frustration for others. t would be nice if Adobe would update older versions of Acrobat with the ability to use the extension.

Thanks to all who have tried to help with the issue.

Report · May 19, 2014

Thank you. I have Adobe Acrobat X as well, also running on Windows 7. So this explains why none of the suggested steps work. There is a Reader plug in, and I disabled the Chrome PDF Viewer which I found annoying, so I'm better off than when I first started this project. But bummer can't go all the way with it, as I would like to use Chrome in place of Firefox as my default browser. Thanks again for all the efforts, suggestions.

Report · Nov 08, 2014

Hi, I repeared the installation of Acrobat XI pro, then I found "WCChromeExtn.crx" under the path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\Browser\WCChromeExtn".

Unfortunately when I tried to add it to Chrome Extensions (by drag and drop), Chrome gave me the following error message "You attemped to downgrade the extension". Thus I couldn't install it at all.

Any Idea on where to find an up-to-date version of this file or how to solve the issue?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Report · Aug 19, 2013

This is simple, my friend also got the same problem. I wander around the internet for checking the solution and suddenly the idea stricks, why to check the solution outer the ring? it is already with you. While installation is in progress it extracts "Data1.cab" to your temporary location and you can find "WCChromeExtn.crx" in that extracted cluster of other files. Now after adobe installation is over just open Google Chrome->Manage Extentions and drag&drop the .crx file. You will be asked for installation and it is done. Enjoy!!!

Report · Dec 14, 2013

In my computer I found it in this directory:C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins\WCChromeExtn

File name is:WCChromeExtn.crx

If you can not find it you can download it from the follwing link:

http://www.4shared.com/rar/YjXfC-uO/WCChromeExtn.html

Open the extensions page in chrome and drag the file named WCChromeExtn.crx to the extensions page to install it.

Report · Mar 02, 2014

I am having problems and This Link that you listed is OLD and NOT working is there an update that WORKS?

I NEED the File WCChromeExtn.crx as my computer is NOT listing it Anywhere.

THanks

Report · Nov 17, 2014

I am having the exact same problem as frogfish...

Report · Feb 07, 2015

Reinstalling/repairing Adobe (Pro XI) did not do the job, and I could not find the installer file locally either. However, just reinstalling the extension via the Chrome extensions web store (instead of through installing Adobe) did the job for me... Just sharing this as I had the same problem and this was the solution that worked for me... Chrome Web Store

Report · Apr 19, 2015

I echo frogfish and dichundmich -- I've tried all the suggested fixes and received the same message as frogfish.