Chrome Says “This File Isn’t Commonly Downloaded”, Is MEC Lite Safe?

ℹ️ Live version of this article: The current file version and its SHA-256
checksum are updated automatically on our docs site. Always compare against
the checksum shown there:
View current checksum →

Short Answer

Yes. This is a reputation notice, not a malware detection. Chrome shows
this warning for recently released files that don't yet have a large download
history. Every time we release a new version of Modern Events Calendar Lite,
the file is brand new — so Chrome needs time to "learn" that it is safe again.

Why This Happens

Chrome's Safe Browsing tracks how often a specific file is downloaded
worldwide. A newly released plugin ZIP has no download history yet, so Chrome
displays a cautionary message:

"This file isn't commonly downloaded and may be dangerous."

This does not mean a virus was found. It means: "not many people have
downloaded this exact file yet."

How We Make Sure Every Release Is Safe

• Every release is scanned with 70+ antivirus engines on VirusTotal before

publishing (0 detections).

• Our domain is monitored in Google Search Console — no security issues.
• The package contains only standard WordPress files (PHP / JS / CSS) — no

executables, no hidden scripts.

• Each release has a fixed SHA-256 checksum you can verify yourself (see below).

Verify the File Yourself (Optional)

Run one of these commands on your downloaded file, then compare the result
with the checksum published on the
live article.
If they match, your file is byte-for-byte identical to what we released.

Windows (PowerShell):

Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\modern-events-calendar-lite-v*.zip" -Algorithm SHA256

Windows (Command Prompt) — replace the filename with the exact file you downloaded:

certutil -hashfile "%USERPROFILE%\Downloads\modern-events-calendar-lite-v7.X.X.zip" SHA256

macOS / Linux (Terminal):

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/modern-events-calendar-lite-v*.zip

How to Keep the Download

If you verified the checksum (or simply trust the source), you can keep the
file from Chrome's Downloads panel:

1. Press Ctrl + J (or click the downloads icon in Chrome).
2. Find the blocked file and click Keep (on some versions: click the arrow

next to the file → Keep).

3. Install the plugin from WordPress admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.

Please keep Safe Browsing enabled — it protects you on every other website.
The warning above is only a caution about download popularity.

What We Are Doing About It

We report every new release to Google Safe Browsing for reputation review.
The warning usually disappears a few days to a few weeks after each release,
once enough users have downloaded the new version.

Updated on: 12/09/2026