If the Recruiterflow Chrome extension isn't working — won't open, won't parse a LinkedIn profile, can't read PDFs — follow the troubleshooting steps listed below. Most issues take under a minute to fix.

Before doing anything else, make sure you're on the latest version of Google Chrome and the latest version of the Recruiterflow extension. An old Google Chrome or extension version causes a surprising number of these issues.

The extension icon doesn't appear in the Chrome toolbar

Cause: The extension is installed but isn't pinned to the toolbar.

Fix:

Click the puzzle piece icon in the top-right of Chrome.
Find Recruiterflow in the list of installed extensions.
Click the pin icon next to it.

If Recruiterflow doesn't appear in that list at all, the extension isn't installed. Install it from the Chrome Web Store.

The extension panel is blank or won't open on LinkedIn

Cause: Usually the extension lost its session, the page hasn't fully loaded, or a Chrome/LinkedIn update temporarily broke parsing.

Fix — try these in order:

Reload the LinkedIn page and click the extension icon again.
Make sure you're signed in to Recruiterflow in another tab — the extension uses your active Recruiterflow session.
If the panel still won't load, uninstall and reinstall the extension.
If parsing still fails on a specific profile, fall back to the PDF flow — see Add Candidates from LinkedIn.

The extension shows a sign in screen or "not authorized"

Cause: Your Recruiterflow session expired, or you're signed in under a different Recruiterflow workspace.

Fix:

Open Recruiterflow in another Chrome tab and sign in.
Confirm you're in the correct workspace — if your team has multiple workspaces, the extension uses whichever one your active session belongs to.
Reload the LinkedIn page and click the extension icon again.

The PDF flow isn't working (Save to PDF)

Cause: The extension needs permission to read downloaded files. Without it, the extension can't pick up the LinkedIn PDF you saved.

Fix:

Go to chrome://extensions.
Find the Recruiterflow extension and click Details.
Toggle on Allow access to file URLs.
Re-download the LinkedIn profile as a PDF and try again.

The extension says the candidate already exists

Cause: This isn't a bug — it's duplicate detection. The candidate you're trying to add matches an existing profile in Recruiterflow (matched on email or LinkedIn URL).

Fix:

Open the existing profile from the duplicate warning and update it instead of creating a new candidate.
If you actually need to add this person to a different job, do it from the existing profile — duplicates inflate your database and confuse pipeline tracking.

The extension stopped working after a Chrome or LinkedIn update

Cause: Major Chrome version bumps and LinkedIn UI changes occasionally break parsing until the extension is updated.

Fix:

Open chrome://extensions, toggle Developer mode on (top-right), and click Update.
Restart Chrome.
If parsing still fails, use the PDF flow as a fallback while we ship a fix.