Safari extension does not appear in preferences

ecologist0
I uninstalled Zotero because Safari extension was missing from the browser. When I re-installed it, the extension was missing from Safari preferences section. It's just not there. I saw this thread (https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/403547#Comment_403547) and booted up in Safe Mode but the extension wasn't even there set aside solving my problem. I am using Late 2013 iMac which has MacOS Catalina 10.15.7. My Macbook Pro (Monterey, MacOS 12.3) does not have this problem. Any idea why is this happening?
  • adomasven
    Did you run Zotero at least once after reinstalling it?
  • ecologist0
    Yes and it did not help. I also installed other extensions to see whether it helps but still no.
  • adomasven
    It's hard to say what's causing this. macOS is responsible for detecting Safari extensions bundled with apps and adding them to Safari preferences. It could be some OS config or some other app you have installed interfering. You can try repeating the delete, restart, redownload and reinstall once again just in case, otherwise try creating a new macOS user account and check whether it works there.
  • ecologist0
    None of those helped. think the only solution is to wait for an update to fix it? Anyway, thanks for trying to help. I don't understand why Safari always has to be problematic for Zotero...
  • dstillman
    Because Apple switched to a buggy, proprietary system that requires browser extensions to be bundled with apps, instead of distributed directly like every other browser.

    We believe Apple improved this somewhat in Big Sur, and the next version of Zotero will limit the extension to running on Big Sur and later. If you're able to upgrade, you should try that.
  • ecologist0
    Well thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, at the moment, I have to use this desktop.

    Well, I have a dirty solution. I just installed Zotero Beta and it worked. I can see the extension on the preferences section. I tried to re-install normal Zotero just to see whether if it changes anything but when I switched to normal release it disseppeared again. I have no idea why. For the moment, I am going to use beta version on the desktop. I hope it doesn't cause any problem when there is a db update in the beta.
  • dstillman
    Oh, sorry, I forgot that we already rolled that change out in 6.0.4. So the extension will only appear on Big Sur or later now. We're leaving it available for older macOS versions on the beta, as it has been for a couple years, but we don't feel comfortable leaving it enabled for older versions in the release version due to the instability across app updates.
  • ecologist0
    Oh, so it is normal that it doesn't appear in Catalina? I see. I mean I am sure you have your reasons. I am glad that it is at least solved now.

    Just one more question. Would it create a problem for me to use beta on one Mac, release version on another? I read somewhere in the forum that sometimes you push big db updates on beta. Would that create a problem with my files?
  • dstillman
    No, that's perfectly fine. Occasionally there might be a new feature on the beta that's not yet supported on the release version, causing some data temporarily not to sync, but that's it.
  • ecologist0
    Great to hear. Thanks a lot.
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