[FIX] Brave Browser won’t Start

Brave browser is not as widely used as the browser giants of today’s world such as Firefox and Chrome. However, many users prefer the said browser over the others because of the various and better privacy functionalities that it provides. One of the issues that users face after installing the Brave browser on their system is that the browser does not start at all. For some people, the browser just shows a blank white page upon trying to open it while for others, it does not even open at all. Even after trying to run it several times.

As it turns out, this can be caused by a number of different causes that includes a recent update to the browser or even an obsolete version. The said issue was mostly triggered for different users on a specific build of the browser. However, there are other factors as well that might be the culprit in plain sight. We will be covering them in detail down below. So, without further ado, let us get started.

Now that we have gone through the possible causes of the issue, let us go through the different methods that you can use to circumvent the issue so that you can use the browser to its fullest. Let’s get started.

Method 1: Disable Hardware Acceleration 

As we have mentioned, one of the reasons that you face this issue could be due to the hardware acceleration feature of the browser. Hardware acceleration is basically a feature that takes the load off of the CPU alone in order to increase the efficiency of the system. While this is really helpful and is widely used, it can, in some cases, cause issues as well and thus you will have to disable it.

This can be easily disabled through the browser settings but since the browser doesn’t start at all, you can’t really access the settings. Therefore, we will be taking advantage of the browser execution parameters to disable it. This can be found in the Properties window. Follow the instructions down below to do this:

1. First of all, locate the shortcut of the browser from where you actually run it.
2. After that, right-click on it and then select Properties from the drop-down menu.
3. This will open up the Properties window. On the Shortcut tab, you will have to add the “–disable-gpu” parameter in the Target field without the quotations. It is important to note that you will have to paste this out of the quotes found in the Target field, as shown in the picture down below.

   

4. Then, click on the Apply button and finally hit OK to close the Properties window.
5. Open up the browser to see if that resolves the issue.
6. In case the browser starts properly after this, you will have to turn off hardware acceleration from the settings.
7. For this, make your way to Settings > Additional Settings > System > Hardware Acceleration.

   

8. Make sure it is toggled off.
9. After that, open up the Properties window as before and remove the “–disable-gpu” parameter.

Method 2: Disable Third-Party Antivirus

Another reason that may prevent the browser from launching is a third-party antivirus software running in the background. Antivirus applications have become really popular due to the rapid increase in ransomware and viruses in recent days and rightfully so. While they are really helpful, there are cases where they can trigger a false alarm and prevent certain apps from working properly such as the Brave browser. Therefore, in such a case, what you will have to do is disable the antivirus running in the background temporarily to see if that resolves the issue. PC Matic is one that caused a similar issue for a user.

In case the browser starts up normally with the antivirus disabled, you will have to whitelist the browser within the antivirus in order to avoid any issues in the future.

Method 3: Reinstall Brave

Finally, if none of the above solutions work out for you, the issue may very well be due to damaged installation files. In such a scenario, what you will have to do is reinstall the application on your system to get rid of the damaged files that are preventing it from launching.

You should first of all try performing an in-place installation to avoid losing your browser settings. In case that works out for you, then very well. Otherwise, you will have to completely remove the browser from your system through the Control Panel and then install it again – less favorable. In-place installation means installing the brave browser over the current installation. This updates all the files and you won’t be losing your settings. For this, just download the latest setup file and run it without uninstalling the browser. Follow the below instructions for a complete reinstall:

1. First of all, open up the Control Panel from the Start Menu.
2. Then, click on the Uninstall a program option under Programs.

   

3. This will show you a list of all the installed applications. Locate Brave from the list and then double-click it to begin the uninstallation. Make sure to remove the browsing data during the wizard.

   

4. After that, head to the official website of Brave and download the latest setup file.
5. Run it to install the browser. Once installed, open up the browser to see if the issue persists.