Chrome Story

Disable ‘Viewing Live Page’ on Google Chrome

Is Chrome showing a ‘viewing live page’ notification while visiting websites? Here is what it means and how to turn off this message.

viewing live page

‘Viewing Live Page’ & ‘Preview’ Notifications

If you are seeing “Viewing Live Page” or “Preview” on Google Chrome address bar, do not worry. Your phone is not hacked or compromised. The message is an alert from Google Chrome, nothing more.

If you want technical details about this feature, refer to this page.

Turn off Viewing Live Page / Preview Notifications

To get rid of the ‘viewing live page’ or ‘preview message:

  1. Open a new tab and go to chrome://flags/#paint-preview-startup 
  2. From the drop-down, select Disabled.
  3. Restart Google Chrome.

You will no longer see this alert on your Chrome browser. If you do, drop me a comment and we can investigate it further.

In

28 responses to “Disable ‘Viewing Live Page’ on Google Chrome”

  1. vonDubenshire
    Arthur Gray

    FYI as of Chrome Canary on Android this flag no longer assists for me.

    Version 105.0.51 25.0

    Reply
    1. Dinsan – Bangalore, India – Digital Minimalist & Content Developer. Drinks Tea and writes Stuff (mostly about Chromebooks). My views are mostly copied from others.
      Dinsan

      Let us hope that they will add an option within Chrome Settings to disable this. I’ll update the article when I find out more.

      Reply
    2. Abused by Google

      Exactly.
      It is impossible to remove ‘Viewing Live Page’ which is interestingly targeting a limited number of selected users and controlled by Google manipulators on the othe end.
      An invasion of privacy. It interferes with private browsing every time. I donot consent.
      What we need is litigation.

      Reply
      1. Renata Aitken

        Dinsan knows damn well this does not work and Viewing Live Page cannot be removed.
        ‘VIEWING LIVE PAGE’ is used by Google fir for marketing and tracking users. Fact.
        An absolute abuse and infringement if Privacy Act.
        Yes, litigation is the necessary solution.
        Dinsan might like to stop advancing hacking tools

    3. Phil Caldwell

      Yes I agree that flag doesn’t work because it doesn’t exist there is a thing called preview demo but there isn’t any preview startup that we can disable it simply doesn’t exist

      Reply
  2. sheelinsays
    Sheelin

    Solved an annoying problem. Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Dinsan – Bangalore, India – Digital Minimalist & Content Developer. Drinks Tea and writes Stuff (mostly about Chromebooks). My views are mostly copied from others.
      Dinsan

      Happy to hear that!

      Reply
    2. Amit

      Its temporary relief.. u will encounter it again.. Hell

      Reply
  3. Jon

    I get this view live page thing and it flashes as well. Similar to a screenshot flash. At least I know what it is now. Thanks!

    Reply
  4. snarevox – the underground doesnt stop..
    mike

    this reddit post claims the fix isnt permanent but it “does something for a little bit..” does anyone know how true that is or maybe how long it lasts or whatever? thanks in advance! https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/pjbl6j/help_every_time_i_open_chrome_it_says_preview_in/hv8es4p?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

    Reply
  5. Mike

    Chrome used to be great but then they added stupid tab grouping and now this.. it’s like the chrome Devs are determined to ruin it

    Reply
  6. abdurrazzak11998
    Razzak

    you are right. I’ll update the article when I find out more

    Reply
    1. wads24
      Wads

      This doesn’t resolve the issue on Android Chrome app. Maybe that’s just a fix for desktop app

      Reply
  7. Voonc

    Paint preview captured successfully ,,what does that mean,my phone has been compromised from the beginning, it’s as if a phoney developer or so to speak is guiding my phone,can that be possible on my Samsung galaxy 13 updated a day ago

    Reply
    1. Amo

      Dude, SAME!! It’s literally like someone else is controlling my phone!! And I also have a Samsung!! 🤬

      Reply
  8. kona stead

    Fully agree that its some BS!
    Is there a solution?
    i often use a secured streaming site for listening to recordings and occassionaly it will drop out and its because of this issue. I then hvae to relog back in and find out where i was at in the recording.

    Reply
  9. Mark

    I have Android 13 Samsung Galaxy s20 ultra I disabled the flag and it still keeps previewing live page and it’s driving me nuts!! Thank you so much for your time

    Reply
  10. King Cuffey – Canada – I'm a sick gamer🎮🕹️ and I never back down. Also enjoy football and PlayStation 5 AND ANDROID GAMES.😎😎 I'm multigenre type guy and always look for new social groups to join and be apart of! Let's go !!😃😃
    Eric

    Same thing here no fix
    https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/pjbl6j/help_every_time_i_open_chrome_it_says_preview_in/j5ggv67?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

    Reply
  11. Jennifer Billingsley

    I went to this, it is disabled but I’m still getting the viewing live page message. It doesn’t work!

    Reply
    1. markrhorney
      Mark H

      Did you do it on “Paint Preview Demo”, the instruction wasn’t clear. They left out this important part as people are seeing lots of drop down menus to other things and think it’s the first one. It’s not. It’s only “Paint Preview Demo” they should do it for.

      Reply
  12. Kim

    I have disabled the paint preview and restarted chrome. This worked for a while but after my last chrome update it no longer works.

    Reply
  13. Paul

    This is the last straw for me on Android. If I’m on a forum creating a post, go search for some stuff and if I don’t come back in time the preview/live page gets rid of what I have written. Very infuriating. Total anti user feature.

    Reply
  14. Irene Wightman

    Bought Samsung 2 weeks ago, big mistake. Can’t msg or use Web while viewing pop up is on because irs right across middle of keybiard, absolutely hate this Samsung. Tried the paint address and it worked fir about 3 days, absolute disgrace, think this phone will end up in bin when I can afford to buy new one.

    Reply
  15. markrhorney
    Mark H

    Can I please mention that this person should never consider a job in writing instructions for a living. They’ve left out one important instruction considering we are left with lots of drop down menus when viewing this page.

    Please ensure that “Paint Preview Demo” is ‘disabled’ to disable that annoying live page message.

    Reply
  16. Hazel

    Mine is disabled and I still get live view & preview.

    Reply
    1. Robert L Wicker

      Same for me. I think I’m going to do it again and do a force stop.

      Reply
  17. Leonard Tabas

    Mine is disabled and I still get live view & preview

    Reply
  18. Leonard Tabas

    Problem solve I’m watching now?

    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply