Is Google Chrome crashing, freezing, or has stopped working on your Windows 10 computer? Here are a few troubleshooting steps that you can try to resolve this issue. Let’s get started!

Are You Using Any Antivirus Software?

Antivirus software can interfere with Google Chrome and Chrome in return, freeze or completely shut down. So, the first step in our troubleshooting is to verify if your antivirus software blocking Chrome.

To verify if your antivirus program is blocking Chrome, disable it temporarily and use Chrome. If you are using Defender, the built-in antivirus software that comes with Windows 10, here is how to turn it off. Remember to turn it back On after testing Google Chrome’s performance.

Update: In most cases, disabling Antivirus may not be enough. You might need to uninstall the software temporarily and try using Chrome. (Thanks to Thomas Beling)

Try Creating A Separate Chrome Profile

If your Google Chrome profile is corrupt, you might face issues like Chrome slowing down, or crashing. Chrome can even completely stop working. To figure out if your profile is the villain, create a new profile and try using Chrome. Here is how to create a new Chrome profile:

1. Open Google Chrome
2. At the top right, click the button with your name or People.
3. Click Manage people.
4. Click Add person.
5. Choose a photo and a name.
6. Click Save.

Google Chrome will now ask you to sign in to your Chrome account to sync bookmarks, and passwords, etc. I recommend using Chrome for a while and verifying if everything is working as expected before logging into Chromesync.

Check These Too!

I have read through dozens of discussion threads on Google’s official forum for Chrome, looking for possible causes and solutions for this issue. Here is a list of things that you can try, before completely re-installing Chrome:

• Check all the accessories plugged into your computer. I saw a few users reporting that unplugging Logitech C310 Webcam from their Windows 10 computer fixed the issue for them.
• Try disabling Trusteer Rapport Endpoint Protection
• Check and verify that all your device drivers are up to date; especially the network drivers and WiFi drivers. Here is the official documentation from Microsoft.

Uninstall Google Chrome and Install Again

The next step is uninstalling Google Chrome and re-installing it. Backup your data (if you are not using Chromesync) before doing this. Find instructions on installing Chrome on Windows 10 here.

If you are re-installing Chrome, here is a registry key that you might want to look for, and delete, according to a product expert from Google:

1. In Windows, Start > Run > Regedit
2. Click Edit > Find
3. Enter HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\GoogleUpdate.exe
4. Click Find next
5. In the search results on the right, right-click GoogleUpdate.exe
6. Click Delete
7. Try again to run ChromeSetup.exe or install Google Chrome

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