Google Chrome crashes on Windows 10? Here's the fix!

This issue only affects Google Chrome on Windows 10 and has not seen users reporting the same issue with macOS or Linux versions.

Google Chrome crashes on Windows 10

This issue occurs in Chrome 90 randomly, but several users have reported the same specific case. After the extension loads or when the extensions are being loaded, Google Chrome will immediately crash on Windows 10.

When this happens, a system prompt may appear and you suddenly find yourself back on the desktop. In some cases, Chrome launches properly, but extensions, settings page, and tabs fail, as shown in the screenshot below.

Problems with Chrome:

1. Browser refuses to launch.
2. Window/tab has no title.
3. The extension suddenly crashed with the message 'Click this balloon to reload the extension' .

One user had this issue, but Chrome started working properly again on the device after restarting Windows. However, restarting Windows or the browser is not enough to resolve Chrome issues in all configurations.

This bug was first reported by users yesterday on Google forums and social networking sites.

Fortunately, Google caught the problem very quickly. On the forums, a Google product expert reported that the problem was caused by the User Data folder , which is used to store information.

How to Troubleshoot Google Chrome on Windows 10

To prevent Chrome from crashing, follow these steps:

Step 1. Repair the installation of Google Chrome by running the setup file again.

Step 2. Enable sync in Chrome for history, bookmarks (bookmarks), passwords, etc.

Step 3. Close the browser.

Step 4. Open File Explorer.

Step 5. Navigate to:

%LOCALAPPDATA%GoogleChromeUser Data

Step 6. Delete the "Local State" file after backup.

If Chrome still crashes, try these steps:

Step 1. Open File Explorer.

Step 2. Navigate to:

%LOCALAPPDATA%GoogleChromeUser Data

Step 3. Backup everything and store a copy in another drive.

Step 4. Rename the 'User Data' folder to something completely unrelated.

Step 5. Restart Chrome.

If nothing works, there is also a third workaround:

1. Uninstall Google Chrome by navigating to Control Panel.
2. Delete the Google folder in C:UsersUSERNAMEAppdatalocal.
3. Delete the Google folder in C:Program Files (x86).
4. Open Registry Editor and delete the registry entries in Google.
5. Find the registry key in the following two locations: 'ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREGoogle' and 'ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREGoogle'.
6. Reinstall Chrome.

Alternatively, you can also switch to Microsoft Edge or use beta builds of Chrome where the bug has been fixed.

As for the stable release channel, the bug will probably be resolved with a small update in the coming hours.

Samuel Daniel

Update 22 May 2021