Chrome Keeps Crashing: Windows and Android Fixes

When Chrome crashes, the first move is the same on a Windows PC and an Android phone: close every tab except the one that failed, quit other apps you have running, pause any downloads, and reload. That is the order Google itself gives in Fix Chrome if it crashes or won’t open, because the most common cause is simply running out of memory. If the crashing survives that, the cause is usually platform-specific, and the sections below take the Windows and Android halves separately.

Start with the steps that cost you nothing#

After the tab-and-app cleanup, restart Chrome properly rather than clicking the window closed. On Windows, Ctrl + q quits Chrome, and Ctrl + Shift + t reopens closed tabs in the order they were closed, so you lose nothing by quitting. If Chrome is frozen, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete, open Task Manager, find Google Chrome or chrome.exe under Processes, and select End task; on Android, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and swipe up on the Chrome card. Then restart the computer or the phone.

On desktop, look at what is actually consuming memory before you kill anything. Press Shift + Esc to open Chrome’s own Task Manager, listed on Google’s keyboard shortcuts page, and end the tab or extension that towers over the rest. If Chrome is sluggish as well as unstable, the same memory pressure usually drives both, and our guide to why Chrome runs slow applies here too.

Symptom	Platform	Likely cause	First thing to try
“Aw, Snap!” on one site, everything else fine	Both	That site, or its cached data	Reload, then open the page in another browser
Every tab dies at once	Both	Chrome or the device is out of memory	Close all but the failing tab; on desktop press Shift + Esc to find the hog
Crashes on video and graphics-heavy pages	Desktop	Graphics acceleration fighting the display driver	Settings > System, turn the acceleration toggle off, restart Chrome
Crashes seconds after launch	Desktop	Damaged profile	Reset settings, then create a new Chrome profile
Chrome opens and closes instantly on a child account	Windows	Family Safety blocking non-Edge browsers	A family organizer unblocks Chrome
Chrome closes when the phone is nearly full	Android	Less than 1 GB of storage free	Settings > Storage, then clear Chrome’s cache
“Error code: STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION” in the crash bar	Windows	Third-party software injecting into Chrome	Pause the third-party antivirus to test, then update or remove it

Work out whether it is Chrome or one website#

This is the cheapest diagnostic there is. Open the page that crashes in a different browser — Edge or Firefox on Windows, Firefox or Samsung Internet on Android. If it fails there too, the problem is the site or your connection, and Google’s advice is to report it to the site owner. If only that one site crashes, there is nothing to fix on your machine.

Windows readers sometimes get an “Error code” line under the crash message. Those codes are Windows status values, not Chrome’s own: STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION is 0xC0000005, “the memory could not be read or written,” in Microsoft’s NTSTATUS reference, alongside STATUS_BREAKPOINT (0x80000003) and STATUS_STACK_BUFFER_OVERRUN (0xC0000409). An access violation on Windows very often means another program is injecting code into Chrome, and security software is the usual suspect. Google’s current error-message help page no longer publishes a table of crash codes, so treat any article that quotes one at you with suspicion.

The Windows-side causes: extensions, graphics, profile#

Extensions are the classic repeat offender, and they exist only on desktop Chrome. Test the theory in an Incognito window, where extensions are off by default. If Chrome holds up there, go to the three-dot More menu > Extensions > Manage extensions, turn them all off, then switch them back on one at a time until the crash returns. Google also documents a repair path: if an extension shows as corrupted, select Repair and confirm with Repair extension — and if it corrupts again straight after, something else on the PC is rewriting its files. Our post on Chrome extensions that stop working covers that isolate-and-repair routine in more detail.

If the crashes cluster on video, maps or anything graphics-heavy, open Settings > System and turn off the graphics acceleration toggle, then restart Chrome. Current Chrome labels it “Use graphics acceleration when available”; older builds, and Google’s own help page, say “hardware acceleration,” so go by the setting’s position rather than the exact label. That toggle is a test, not a cure. If it stops the crashing, the real fix is on the Windows side: right-click Start > Device Manager > Display adapters, uninstall the device and restart so Windows reinstalls the driver, or use the Driver tab’s Roll Back Driver if the trouble started right after a driver update. That same System page is where Windows and Linux keep “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed,” which is why chrome.exe can still be alive after you close every window.

When Chrome crashes within seconds of launching, suspect the profile. Settings > Reset settings > “Restore settings to their original defaults” keeps your bookmarks and passwords, but it is not free: it disables extensions and themes, clears cookies and site data, and resets your search engine, homepage and startup tabs. If that does not hold, add a clean profile from the profile icon at the top right > Add Chrome profile. As a last resort, uninstall Chrome with the “delete browsing data” box checked and reinstall — on Windows, Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features is the route that works the same on Windows 10 and 11. For the full step-by-step Windows sequence, including the malware scan under Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Scan options, see our dedicated walkthrough on fixing Chrome crashes on Windows.

When Chrome opens and closes instantly on Windows#

One cause looks like a broken install and is not. Microsoft Family Safety’s web and search filters only work in Microsoft Edge, so on a Windows account that is a child member of a Microsoft family group, other browsers get blocked and Chrome launches and vanishes. Nothing you do inside Chrome changes that. A family organizer has to sign in at account.microsoft.com, open the member’s card, go to the Windows tab, find Chrome under “Apps, features, and games,” and unblock the app. This applies only to managed child accounts; on an ordinary account, look elsewhere.

Android: storage, cache, and what not to bother with#

Chrome on Android has no extensions and no performance settings, so ignore any advice that sends you there. Google states plainly that you cannot personalize Chrome’s performance on Android or iOS — Memory Saver, with its Moderate, Balanced and Maximum levels, is desktop-only.

Start with storage. Google Play’s own marker is that a device may be low on space if you get a storage notification or have less than 1 GB free, so check Settings > Storage and clear some room. Then clear Chrome’s app-level cache, and here the path genuinely differs by phone: on Pixel and stock Android it is Settings > Apps > See all apps > Chrome > Storage & cache > Clear cache; on Samsung One UI it is Settings > Apps > Chrome > Storage > Clear cache. Samsung notes that its own steps vary by software version, so if the labels differ slightly, look for the app’s storage screen rather than following the taps literally. Clearing cache deletes temporary data; clearing storage or data wipes the app’s data outright.

Chrome’s own browsing data is separate and lives inside the app: open Chrome, tap the three-dot More menu next to the address bar, and choose Delete browsing data. The default duration is 15 minutes, and More options lets you pick specific data types. Deleting cookies while signed in to Chrome does not sign you out of your Google Account.

Two things to skip. Do not mass-close background apps hoping to free memory — Android Help says the opposite, that you will not run out of memory or battery by leaving apps open, because Android manages it. And do not update, roll back or reinstall Android System WebView to fix Chrome: since Android 10 those have been separate apps, and Chrome itself requires Android 10 or later, so WebView is not in the picture. If other apps are falling over too, the problem is wider than the browser, and our guide to Android apps that keep crashing is the better starting point.

Keep Chrome current without chasing version numbers#

A stalled update strands you on a build with known bugs. Check with More > Help > About Google Chrome, which forces a check and then offers Relaunch; if there is no Relaunch button, you are already current. Chrome saves and reopens your tabs and windows on relaunch, though Incognito windows do not come back. There is no point memorizing a version number: Chrome moved from a four-week to a two-week release cycle in September 2026, so any number goes stale fast.

Check the floor too. Chrome needs Windows 10 or later, or Android 10 or later, and Chrome 109 was the last version to support Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, so those PCs will keep breaking on modern sites no matter what you do. Windows 10 users do not need to move: Chrome’s deprecation date for Windows 10 is listed as not yet scheduled. And if you have been switching on experiments at chrome://flags, use its Reset all button — that page warns that enabling those features can lose browser data or affect your security and privacy.

Work down the list and stop as soon as Chrome stays up. Most people are done inside the first two sections; the ones who are not usually find a single extension, a display driver, or a phone with no room left on it. If you want Chrome to send Google the details of each crash, the toggle sits under Settings > You and Google > Google services, but read what it collects first: a crash report can include memory from the moment of the crash, which may contain page contents, passwords or payment information.