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

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 (below).

Verify the File Yourself (Optional)

Compare the checksum of your downloaded file with the one published on our download page. If they match, your file is byte-for-byte identical to what we released.

Current version: modern-events-calendar-lite-v7.36.4.zip
SHA-256: 363e6fc659ebf32c6e2dbd2c4d0be065902200d44119431383f7ffc26a683ec1

Windows (PowerShell):

Get-FileHash "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\modern-events-calendar-lite-v7.36.4.zip" -Algorithm SHA256

Windows (Command Prompt):

certutil -hashfile "modern-events-calendar-lite-v7.36.4.zip" SHA256

macOS / Linux (Terminal):

shasum -a 256 modern-events-calendar-lite-v7.36.4.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.

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.