Fix Chrome won’t open or launch on Windows 11/10 PC

If you are stuck because Google Chrome browser won’t open or launch or load web pages, then the chances are that either the Chrome files have been corrupted or some plugin is taking up a lot of resources. It may end up with a message – Google Chrome has stopped working. Surprisingly, you may also see it in the Task Manager, but there will be nothing on the Taskbar. In this post, we will show how to fix this issue.

Google Chrome has stopped working

Fix Chrome won’t open on Windows PC

If the Google Chrome browser does not launch or start or has stopped working here are some ways to resolve the issue:

1. Kill Chrome from Task Manager
2. Check if your Antivirus is blocking Chrome
3. Delete User Profile in Chrome
4. Run Chrome in Safe Mode
5. Run Chrome Cleanup Tool
6. Reset or Reinstall ChromeUncheck Register this Program for Restart.

Chrome browser not opening

1] Kill Chrome from Task Manager

If Chrome won’t open, maybe its process is running the background, but you do not see the browser windows. In this case, you will have to force quit Chrome and try launching again.

• Right-click on the Taskbar and select Task Manager. If the Task Manager is not responding, you can use Alt + Ctrl + Del and then select Task Manager.
• Under “Processes,” look for “Google Chrome” or “chrome.exe.”
• Right-click and select End process.
• Try relaunching the program.

2] Check if your Antivirus is blocking Chrome

Sometimes, because of false-positive, a security program might block Chrome, and this is why its not able to launch properly.  You can either disable such software or completely uninstall them to see if Chrome can open.

3] Delete User Profile in Chrome

Open Run Prompt and type the following:

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

Hit Enter.

Look for folder name ‘Default folder’

Copy it to another drive as a backup, and then delete this folder.

Launch Chrome Again, and go to Settings > Advanced > Reset

Confirm.

You may have to sign in again with your Google account. All your data will be lost.

4] Run Chrome in Safe Mode

See if you can launch Chrome in Safe Mode. This will disable Chrome Extensions. This is just to check if any of the installed extensions are creating problems. If it launches, then you will have to manually find out the culprit and uninstall that extension.

5] Run Chrome Cleanup Tool

Since your browser does not open, you will have to try and run Chrome in Safe Mode. So if you can launch Chrome in Safe Mode, type the following and hit Enter:

chrome://settings/cleanup

This will run Chrome browser’s built-in Chrome’s Malware Scanner & Cleanup Tool. It helps you remove unwanted ads, pop-ups & malware, Unusual Startup pages, toolbar, and anything else that spoils the experience by crashing websites by overloading the pages with memory requests.

6] Reset or Reinstall Chrome

You can reset the Chrome browser or reinstall Chrome again. Make sure to delete the user profile and other files located at:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome

Run CCleaner, and then fresh-install it.

7] Uncheck Register this Program for Restart

Commenters have mentioned below that unchecking the Register this Program for Restart option helped them.

We hope one of these solutions helps you to your problem on your Windows PC. This post will help you if Chrome crashes or freezes.