I’m facing a recurring issue with the UiPath extension in Microsoft Edge.
I’m getting the following error during execution:
“Cannot communicate with the browser, please check the UiPath extension.”
The UiPath extension is already installed and enabled in Microsoft Edge. However, the automation works initially and then, approximately after every 4 hours to 6 hours, the same error occurs again.
If I reinstall or repair the UiPath Edge extension, the automation starts working again, but the issue comes back after a few hours.
I would like to understand what could be causing the communication between UiPath and the Edge browser to break after a few hours.
Could this be related to Edge policies, the UiPath Robot/Studio process, browser sessions, or any timeout/session setting?
Please suggest how I can troubleshoot this further and identify the root cause instead of reinstalling the extension every few hours.
I can also provide the complete error/log details if required.
It could be a couple of things, but let’s start with the basic - which is the method of installation. I assume you’re installing it as “Group Policy Offline” - which might work while you’re testing, but when it runs unattended, your company policies block it.
Try changing it to “Current User” only if you’re logged in as the bot account that will be running the processes unattended and see if this helps. This usually fixes it for me:
I’ve seen similar cases where the Edge extension is installed and enabled, but the communication between UiPath and Edge gets interrupted after the browser/session has been running for some time.
I would suggest checking the following:
Verify the installed UiPath Edge extension version matches the Studio/Robot version.
Check whether Edge is being restarted, updated, or managed by any corporate policies after a few hours.
Review Edge and UiPath Robot/Studio logs around the exact time the issue occurs.
Check whether the UiPath.Executor / browser-related processes are still running normally when the error appears.
Try closing all Edge instances and starting a fresh browser session instead of reinstalling the extension.
If the issue is consistently occurring after 4–6 hours, compare the timestamps with any scheduled policies, browser updates, session timeouts, or machine maintenance activities.
If you can share the complete error message and the relevant UiPath Robot/Studio logs from the time of failure, it should help narrow down whether this is an extension issue or a browser/session communication issue.
@loganathan_vr Since it works at first and only breaks after 4 to 6 hours, it usually comes down to corporate policy refresh or background processes rather than a broken installation.
In many companies Group Policy refreshes every 90 to 120 minutes. When you repair the extension in Studio, it writes to Current User in the registry, which fixes it right away. But if IT has an Edge policy blocking unregistered native messaging hosts, the next GPO refresh overrides it. You can check this in cmd when it happens:
reg query “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\NativeMessagingAllowlist”
If that key exists, your IT team needs to add com.UiPath.chromenativehost there so it stays allowed permanently.
Another common cause is Edge Startup Boost and background extensions under edge://settings/system. When the bot closes Edge, ghost background processes stay open with stale pipes. Disabling Startup Boost and turning off background apps when Edge closes usually prevents the communication pipe from getting stuck.
Also check sleeping tabs in the same Edge settings, and make sure your target URLs are excluded from sleep so the extension connection does not drop after idle time.
A recent update to Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge (Version 149) introduced a change in the browser’s model. This change affects browser extensions that are installed automatically through enterprise policies, including the UiPath Browser Extension used by our automation.
As a result, after the browser update, the UiPath extension may no longer be able to communicate properly with the browser if access to Developer Tools has not been explicitly allowed. This can lead to browser automation failures, such as the BOT being unable to launch, attach to, or interact with web pages.
To resolve this issue, we need to allow communication between UiPath and Edge through Native Messaging and ensure required browser debugging functionality is available. For this, we need to update the browser policy to explicitly allow Developer Tools access (DeveloperToolsAvailability = 1).
Open CMD in your system where this issue is coming and then you need to run these commands in CMD one by one.
Since Repair fixes it and then it breaks again after a few hours, I think a Group Policy refresh on your machine is undoing the extension settings. UiPath’s docs mention this too.
Next time it fails, check these before you repair anything:
Go to edge://extensions. Is the UiPath extension still there and enabled?
Open Task Manager. Is ChromeNativeMessaging.exe running? The Robot needs it to talk to the extension.
Go to edge://policy and see what policies are applied.
If it’s the policy, ask your IT team to check that:
the UiPath extension is in the ExtensionInstallForcelist policy
com.uipath.chromenativemsg_v2 is in NativeMessagingAllowlist (only needed if native messaging is blocked for everything)
Developer Tools is allowed for the extension, because Edge 149 and newer needs this
It’s also worth making sure your antivirus isn’t blocking ChromeNativeMessaging.exe.
Can you tell us how you installed the extension (Group Policy, Current User, etc.) and which Studio version you use? That will help a lot.
