Google Chrome Won’t Open – 22 Solid Solutions to Solve it Now! 

With Google taking over every other app on our PC or phone, it’s no surprise that most PC users are pretty much used to using Google Chrome as default browser.  Mac users are not lagging behind either, as Chrome is the seconds most used app on the Mac platform after Safari. 

But Chrome doesn’t have a history of a smooth ride without any hiccup, does it? Most users will agree that the Chrome browser can sometimes act pretty weird while you try to launch it. Sometimes, it’s quite normal that Google chrome won’t open. 

So, why won’t Google Chrome open? How to fix it when all of a sudden Chrome doesn’t respond at all? Well, we will try to figure it out here! 

 

Hard Reset Chrome 

Due to the damage of certain running files in the background, Chrome sometimes can’t process the application properly. A hard reset can work pretty well in this case. Here’s how you can hard reset the Chrome application. 

For Windows: 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open - Reset Chrome

 

Press the Control + Shift + Escape button at the same time; it will bring up the Task Manager window. 

Now, you will find the Google Chrome application kind of on the top of the list, as it consumes quite a lot of memories. When you find it, simply right-click on it and select End Task. This will close it down properly with all its memories closed. Now, you need to go to the App icon again and double-click on it to restart. This way, it will get opened again. 

 

For Mac: 

For mac users, you need to go to the Apple logo on the top left corner. Select the Force Quit option from the list, and you will see the list of apps running on your machine right now. 

Simply select Google Chrome and press the Force Quit button on the bottom. There you go, Chrome is stopped forcefully. Now restart the program from the Launcher. 

 

Disable Antivirus Software 

Okay, although this may sound a bit far-fetched, the Firewall of your Anti-virus software can sometimes hamper Chrome from opening. You can check if this is the case with your PC, as well. Simply turn the Antivirus software off and check if Chrome is responding or not. 

If Chrome opens after you have turned the Antivirus software off, this means that there are some issues with the Antivirus software. It’s unusual for Anti-virus software to hamper the operation of the Chrome application. So, you better contact the software provider and ask for advice. 

 

Reset Settings 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open - Reset Settings

 

If Google Chrome is not responding and simply hung up on you, in this case, you can try resetting the settings of the app. Simply click on the three dots on the top left of the app, and scroll down to select the Settings option. 

Now, select the Advanced setting from the left panel. 

Now select Reset Settings from the Advance option. 

This way, you will find an option to restore all the settings to the original. 

Click on the Restore settings to their original defaults. This will restore all the default settings and eliminate any change in settings that you’ve done without knowing. Hopefully, this will solve the problem. 

 

Reinstall Chrome 

Another simple way to pick when google chrome is not opening is to uninstall the app from the device and reinstall it. 

For Windows 10

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Reinstall Chrome 

 

Go to the Settings > Apps, and scroll down to Google Chrome. Click to expand and select Uninstall. This way, the app will be uninstalled from your PC. For Windows 7, you need to go to the Control Panel, and then find Add/Remove Applications and select Chrome, and then press Uninstall. 

Now, when the app is uninstalled, simply reinstall it from an installation software pack. 

 

For Mac:  

To uninstall Chrome from mac, you need to go to the Finder and select Application from the left panel. Now find Google chrome and right-click on it. 

Then select Move to Bin, and you will get the app uninstalled. Now, go to an installation software pack to reinstall the app. 

 

Check if Chrome is Already Running 

This happens a lot if you are using Mac. What happens in the macOS, open apps can sometimes get moved to the extreme right side of the doc, and it doesn’t show any icon there. So, obviously, you will not recognize the software at some point if you don’t pay much attention to it. 

Then, when you try to open Google Chrome, it won’t open a new window, as it’s already opened on the side. So, you need to make sure that Chrome is not open.

To check if there’s an open window of Chrome, simply go to the Apple logo on the top left and select Force Quit.

This will give you a list of all open apps. If there’s Chrome on the list, that means it’s running already. Find it on the dock, and you can pull it up from there. 

 

Remove Unknown Apps 

If you are paying proper attention to what you are installing, you will be surprised to find many apps on your computer that you haven’t welcomed ever.

This is what happens when you install something without reading the Terms & Conditions or not noticing what exactly these applications are installing through the default installation packages. 

In most cases, unwanted software can slow down your web browser, including Chrome. This may affect the opening time of the browser, which is the last thing you need. So, you need to kind of run an audit of the apps installed on your computer to get rid of them. 

For Windows: 

Go to Settings > Apps and look for the apps that are suspicious. If you don’t recognize any software, simply click on it and uninstall it. 

For Mac: 

Go to the Finder, then select Application from the left panel. 

Right-click on any app that you think shouldn’t be there and simply click Move to Bin. You can also drag the app to the bin below to uninstall it. This way, you can get rid of any suspicious software and apps on your computer. 

 

Remove User Profile 

You can try removing the user profile from Chrome. This will work on Windows only. Go to the Run Prompt and type in the following 

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data

Now hit enter. You will be redirected to the User data folder of the Chrome application. All you need to do is to find the Default folder in it. 

Simply delete the folder, and you are done. Go back to the Chrome app and open it. It will open up. 

 

Update Google Chrome 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open-Update Google Chrome 

 

Sometimes, Chrome doesn’t load because of bugs in the browser version. You can easily get rid of it by updating the browser pretty easily. To do this, you need to click on the three dots on the top right corner of the application. 

Now select Help > About Google Chrome

Now it will show you any updated version if available. 

If there’s any update available for your browser, simply update it then and there. Hopefully, the issue will be resolved within seconds. 

 

Run Chrome Cleanup Tool 

Another option you have is to run the cleanup tool for Chrome. The cleanup tool can eliminate any unwanted pop-ups, ads, any kind of malware from the Chrome application and run the app in the Safe Mode. 

To run the Chrome Cleanup Tool, do this on your Windows PC. Open Run and type in 

chrome://settings/cleanup

Once done, you can try opening the app again, and hopefully, it will work this time. 

 

Renaming Google Chrome and Creating a New Shortcut 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Renaming Google Chrome and Creating a New Shortcut 

 

If the Chrome shortcut has been corrupted by any other program, you can create a new shortcut. Follow the following steps for this. 

Go to the C Drive of your PC and go to the Chrome application folder from the Program Files (X86). 

Now, right-click on the Chrome app and select Rename. Name it as Chrome_bak. Once done, right-click on the Chrome icon and create a shortcut to the Desktop. On Desktop, rename the shortcut as Google Chrome. 

Now, double-click on this new icon on your Desktop, and you will be able to open it normally. 

 

Delete the Chrome.dll File 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Delete the Chrome.dll File 

 

Chrome.dll is a file that contains a number of settings for Chrome, and it can get messy sometimes because of its overload of data. So, you can simply remove this chrome.dll file from your PC to make sure you can start the application from scratch. 

To do this, go to the C Drive > Program Files > Google > Application > Chrome > Update Folder. 

Now find the Chrome.dll file here and delete it right away. This way, you may be able to open the Chrome application again. 

 

Edit the Compatibility Mode 

When you are updating your Operating System from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10, the Windows system will try to run the Chrome app under the compatibility of Windows 7 or 8. You need to make sure you don’t allow the device to run in compatibility mode. 

To do this, you need to go to the Chrome shortcut app on the Desktop. Right-click on the icon and go to Properties. 

As you can see, there’s a tick mark beside the Run this program in compatibility mode for Window 8. You have to remove the tick from it. Simply click on the tick, and it will be unticked. Now, Windows will run Chrome under Windows 10 capacity, and you won’t have any problem. 

 

Allow Chrome under Firewall 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Allow Chrome under Firewall 

 

As we have mentioned earlier, Antivirus software and Firewall can hamper the Chrome application’s proper operation. Turning the Firewall off can be a solution on a temporary basis, but in the long run, you need to run it. In that case, you can make sure that the Firewall will allow Google Chrome through the wall. 

Go to the Firewall Settings on your PC, and select the ‘Allow an app through firewall’ option.

Now browse to the location of the Chrome App on your windows and select it as an exception. This way, the Firewall won’t be an issue next time. 

 

System Restore 

At times, the system settings on your device can be changed in such a way that the Chrome app won’t work anymore. You can try to revert the system settings back to the default to make sure Chrome works just fine. 

To do this, you need to press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard. It will open up the Run dialogue box. Type rstrui.exe on the dialogue box and press enter. It will get you to the System Properties option, where you will find the System Restore settings. 

Simply click on the System Restore option, and it will revert the settings back to the previous settings before the recent changes. Hopefully, it will solve the ‘Chrome not opening’ problem.

 

Reset Your Computer Network 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Reset Your Computer Network

 

If nothing seems to work from the above, you can try resetting your network settings on your PC. Press the Windows key and go to the Settings. Now select Network & Internet. From here, you will find an option named ‘Network Reset’. Select this one, and you will reset the network settings of your PC. 

In this way, you may get the Chrome app to open without any issues. 

 

Run as Administrator

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Run as Administrator

 

At times, Google Chrome won’t boot because of some privileges and rights issues. A good solution to this problem can be opening the app as an administrator. Running the app as an administrator is pretty easy in Windows OS. 

All you need to do is simply right-click on the chrome icon and select Run as administrator. 

This way, in most cases, the app will run easily. 

 

Restart your PC

Another simplistic solution is to restart the device. Whether it’s a Windows PC or a Mac, rebooting the device can reload every compatible Setting that may solve any bug or glitch without any issue. 

Simply go to the windows button and select Restart. Do the same if you are using a Mac by clicking the Apple logo on the top left and selecting Restart. 

Once it’s booted up, check if Chrome is working correctly. 

 

Open Chrome in Incognito Mode 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Open Chrome in Incognito Mode 

 

Installing too many extensions and plugins can directly affect the performance of the browser. To find out if the extensions are the reasons behind Chrome refusing to open, you can choose to run Chrome in Incognito mode

You can easily select Incognito mode as the temporary way to run Chrome. To do this, you need to right-click on the Chrome shortcut app and select properties. Now, go to the Shortcut tab and find the target path. It will be a long address. 

Once you find the address, you need to add ‘-incognito’ at the end of it. Make sure you put a space before that. Now click Apply and Ok. After clicking Ok, there will be a dialogue box asking you to confirm that you need to provide administrator permission to change these settings. 

Just press Continue, and you will be good to go. Now, you can try opening the Chrome app from the shortcut icon and see if it still refuses to boot. If it opens, that means you need to take care of the extensions on your Chrome app. 

By the way, if you want to get back to setting up the regular Chrome app as the default one, simply go to the same path and remove the ‘-incognito’ part from there and Apply it. 

 

Remove Extensions 

Now, if the previous trick worked, this means that Chrome is not opening because of multiple extensions being installed. So, what you need to do, is go to Chrome through the Incognito mode, select the three dots on the top right and select More tools > Extensions. 

Now, remove the extensions that are not quite important for your regular work one by one by toggling the On/Off button on the right. 

 

Turn Off Hardware Acceleration 

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Turn Off Hardware Acceleration 

 

If turning the Chrome extensions didn’t work, you can also try turning the Hardware Acceleration off in the Chrome settings. What this does it will try to launch Chrome by involving minimum hardware operation. 

This may make sure that you can launch the app in no time. To turn it off, you need to select the three dots on the top right corner of the Chrome browser and select Settings. Then go to Advanced and then select System. 

Here, you can toggle off the option – Use hardware acceleration when available. This way, you may find that Chrome is opening as usual. 

 

Disable Autohide Taskbar

How to Fix Google Chrome Won’t Open -Disable Autohide Taskbar

 

Although this solution doesn’t bet on anything, many users have shared this experience in forums that disabling Autohide Taskbar has done the trick for them. To disable Autohide taskbar, you need to go to the Windows icon and select Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. 

Find the option ‘Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode’ and toggle it off. Hopefully, it will solve the issue. 

 

Scan For Malware and Virus 

Finally, you can go for a complete check-up for Malware and Viruses on your computer. You can’t deny the fact that the Chrome app may have been subject to a malware attack and got corrupted. To solve this, you need to make sure you have the proper reading of the PC for any Malware or virus. 

You can use any Anti-virus software you can get and run a complete check-up on your PC. If there’s an infection caused by Viruses or Malware, it will immediately detect it. 

Depending on what type of Anti-virus software you are using, you may get to treat the infected files or just delete them. In case you have to delete the infected files, you may need to reinstall Chrome to run it. 

 

Final Words

Being quite a popular and multi-tasking web browser, Chrome has to endure a lot compared to most other browsers. This can obviously cause glitches that stop it from acting normally. We hope these solutions will definitely unfreeze the app in no time! 

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