cannot search google chrome bookmarks,but can search safari bookmarks

[xiaoxin]

* What you were doing when the issue happened

I want to search google chrome bookmarks, I entered the keywords, but no related results.

* Whether you were able to replicate it a second time by performing the same action

yes

* Include any screenshots that might help us

I have try something, including turning on the bookmark searching function, reload alfred caches, reboot the computer, reboot chrome, reboot alfred, but not work.And I just have one profile in my chrome.

* Include the Alfred version & build number you are using (don't say "latest" - you'll find a version number in the Update tab of Alfred's preferences)

Alfred5.5[2257]

* Include your macOS version

Sonoma14.5

Edited June 3, 2024 by xiaoxin

[vitor]

Make sure you have given Alfred Full Disk Access, which is required to read the bookmarks.

[clp328566090]

On 6/3/2024 at 7:15 PM, vitor said:

Make sure you have given Alfred Full Disk Access, which is required to read the bookmarks.

I am certain that I have given Alfred full disk access, but Alfred still cannot access my Chrome bookmarks. Specifically, it works normally when I first start up my computer, but after a while, Alfred can no longer access my Chrome bookmarks. I have to first remove Alfred's full disk access permission, close Alfred, then re-grant Alfred full disk access permission, close it again, and reopen it. Only then might Alfred be able to access my Chrome bookmarks properly (as this method does not always solve the problem). This issue has been bothering me for a long time, and I hope it can be resolved.

 

BTW my Alfred version is 5.5(2257) and my OS version is 13.4.1

[jenson]

I had the same problem

[Vero]

On 6/15/2024 at 6:08 AM, clp328566090 said:

Specifically, it works normally when I first start up my computer, but after a while, Alfred can no longer access my Chrome bookmarks.

 

@clp328566090 It sounds like there is an issue outside of Alfred on your Mac. When it comes to macOS permissions, macOS either grants access to bookmarks data or not, Alfred doesn't choose whether or not to access it.

 

Do other permissions on your Mac work normally? E.g. accessibility for snippets and clipboard history? Or do you need to re-grant these periodically too?

 

@jenson Were you previously having the same issue, but it's now resolved? Or are you saying you're also experiencing the issue above? 

 

Cheers,
Vero

[clp328566090]

16 hours ago, Vero said:

Do other permissions on your Mac work normally? E.g. accessibility for snippets and clipboard history? Or do you need to re-grant these periodically too?

All of the aforementioned features（except Google Chrome Bookmark） are working normally on my Mac. I do not need to re-grant these permissions periodically.

[jenson]

22 hours ago, Vero said:

 

@clp328566090 It sounds like there is an issue outside of Alfred on your Mac. When it comes to macOS permissions, macOS either grants access to bookmarks data or not, Alfred doesn't choose whether or not to access it.

 

Do other permissions on your Mac work normally? E.g. accessibility for snippets and clipboard history? Or do you need to re-grant these periodically too?

 

@jenson Were you previously having the same issue, but it's now resolved? Or are you saying you're also experiencing the issue above? 

 

Cheers,
Vero

I've had this issue consistently and haven't been able to resolve it. All other functions work well, except for searching with Google tags.

[Andrew]

It seems strange that Alfred is able to access this data sometimes, but then access is then restricted.  In my local testing, Alfred is always able to access Google Chrome bookmarks.

 

I did wonder if there could be something in the Chrome bookmark data which is making it invalid, but this doesn't correlate with you being able to get Alfred to see the bookmarks again under certain circumstances.

 

@jenson when you say "except for searching with Google Tags", is this related to Chrome bookmarks?

 

I'm going to move this to Discussion and Help to see if any of our users would know what could be happening on your Macs. I'll keep an eye on any replies you might get.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[jenson]

2 hours ago, Andrew said:

It seems strange that Alfred is able to access this data sometimes, but then access is then restricted.  In my local testing, Alfred is always able to access Google Chrome bookmarks.

 

I did wonder if there could be something in the Chrome bookmark data which is making it invalid, but this doesn't correlate with you being able to get Alfred to see the bookmarks again under certain circumstances.

 

@jenson when you say "except for searching with Google Tags", is this related to Chrome bookmarks?

 

I'm going to move this to Discussion and Help to see if any of our users would know what could be happening on your Macs. I'll keep an eye on any replies you might get.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

When I saied Google Tags， I meaned Chrome bookmarks

[jenson]

my macOS version is Sonoma14.5 too

[yuankun]

I have also encountered the same problem, which has been bothering me for several days

my mac version： sonoma 14.5

[Stephen_C]

I've no idea whether this is relevant to the problem but to date it seems to be affecting only users who appear to be in China so wonder whether in some way it's related to use of a VPN.

 

Stephen

[clp328566090]

14 minutes ago, Stephen_C said:

I've no idea whether this is relevant to the problem but to date it seems to be affecting only users who appear to be in China so wonder whether in some way it's related to use of a VPN.

I think your guess makes a lot of sense. Personally, I suspect it might be related to a software called ALiLang.  @jenson @yuankun @xiaoxin

 

However, what I want to understand is that Alfred reading Chrome bookmarks should be done locally and shouldn't involve a VPN, right?

[yuankun]

I did use ALiLang. This is a mandatory software installation...

[yuankun]

I tried reinstalling Alfred today, and it was restored for a while.  A few hours later, the bookmark function stopped working again.

Edited June 19, 2024 by yuankun

[jenson]

7 minutes ago, clp328566090 said:

I think your guess makes a lot of sense. Personally, I suspect it might be related to a software called ALiLang.  @jenson @yuankun @xiaoxin

 

However, what I want to understand is that Alfred reading Chrome bookmarks should be done locally and shouldn't involve a VPN, right?

I think your speculation makes a lot of sense,ALiLang is also installed on my Mac. I really don't understand why ALiLang would affect Alfred's ability to read Chrome bookmarks.

One clue I have is that the Python3 in the macOS system directory also can't open Chrome's bookmarks URLs. I wonder if this clue is of any help to

[Xiaobai-b]

On 6/19/2024 at 8:14 PM, Stephen_C said:

I've no idea whether this is relevant to the problem but to date it seems to be affecting only users who appear to be in China so wonder whether in some way it's related to use of a VPN.

 

Stephen

I don't think this is related to VPN. ALiLang is more than a VPN. ALiLang is a software used to manage employees' computers and prevent data leakage. The software is likely continuously scanning all the files on the computer to check if any of the files are restricted from being shared. I suspect it has something to do with this functionality; perhaps the files are being locked during the scanning process?

[HarveyZhu]

I have the same problem and it lasts for half year.

Mac : 14.4.1

Alfed: 5.5.1

 

Pls don't ask weather you have grant full disk access. 

I've checked the following things:

1. "full disk access" is checked.
2. "Google Chrome Bookmarks" is checked in Alfred Web Bookmarks Sources
3.  It works normally when I first start up my computer, but after a while, Alfred can no longer access my Chrome bookmarks.
4. All other features are normal
5. Safari bookmarks can be searched by Alfred if safari bookmark item is checked

[vitor]

The biggest clue we have so far, which users on this thread have been able to figure out, is that it seems to be related to AliLang and that it also prevents other software (Python in the example) from reading the  Chrome bookmarks. Unfortunately that’s not something we can test for or fix, it can only be answered by someone with access to AliLang that is able to contact them or find the issue independently. Alfred doesn’t prevent other software from changing your computer. Like anything else, it can only work with whatever it has access to.