How to Fix “Google Chrome is Unresponsive” Error?

‘Google Chrome is unresponsive, relaunch now’ is an error that typically appears in the Google Chrome browser when opening a link from an external program like an email or any other mail client. This is a common problem reported by various Windows users. As per the users when they try to open a link the error message popup on their screen and upon clicking on Yes, it won’t help and they still appear when they try to carry out the same function.

This is very troublesome as when the error appears it force you to reboot the Chrome browser and you may lose your potential data. Luckily there are fixes that help you to fix the error, but before jumping directly to the fixes to resolve the Google Chrome error, it is necessary for you to understand what causes the error. So below we have shortlisted the possible scenarios which cause the “Google Chrome is unresponsive. Relaunch now” error.

• Internet Connection issue – The poor or unstable network connection can likewise bring about showing an error while visiting a site or downloading a link from an external. Thus, check if the internet connection is not working properly is or change to another network connection or connect with the ISP to solve internet related problems.
• Outdated Chrome version – In many cases, you can see the issue because of a situation while utilizing the outdated chrome browser. The outdated version doesn’t have the most recent security mechanism and isn’t viable with the specific website page. So, check for the chrome browser’s latest updates and install the latest updates.
• Problematic Browser Cookies – Sometimes certain browser cookies may be answerable for creating issues and cause errors when carrying out any action. In such a situation, clearing the browser cookies or utilizing the incognito mode might work for you.
• Corrupted Data and Cache – Many browsers use plenty of temporary data gets collected over time and gets corrupted over time and starts a conflict with the proper functioning of the chrome browser. So, clearing the browsing data and cache stored will help you to solve the error in your case.
• Extension interference – If you are using the 3^rd party extension on your Chrome browser then they may be causing errors and bugs with the program where the contents can’t be reloaded. In this situation removing or disabling the undesirable extension might work for you.
• Antivirus program confliction – The security program installed on your system might be blocking the email client from downloading the link as a safety measure and assuming the link as a malicious threat and as a result you see the error message chrome browser is unresponsive, relaunch now.

As of now, you are aware of the potential scenarios, here are various underlying fixes that worked for other users. Try the solutions given one by one to troubleshoot Google Chrome’s unresponsive error.

Close Chrome & then try Opening the Link

If Google Chrome is not responding, and whenever you open a link from your mailbox a relaunch message comes up, whenever you click any link from your email folder, these messages pop up, while Chrome is running in the background.

A simple process can be to shut down Chrome completely before clicking on the link from the email folder. By this, Chrome will be started in a normal way and you would be able to open the links without any issues.

Temporarily, you could also copy the URL from your email inbox and paste it into your Chrome. In this manner, Chrome will open normally and you would be not facing any issue.

Remove or Disable Browser Extensions

If the first solution is not effective to solve the error, then the error is most likely to appear due to the third-party extensions installed on your chrome browser. So, check for the unwanted extensions installed and remove them one by one. Moreover, if you require running any extension assure updating it to the latest version.

Try disabling the extension one by one and after that check if Google Chrome is unresponsive. Relaunch now is fixed or not. If you still seeing the error then enable the useful extension.

Below follow the steps to disable the extensions:

1. First, open the Google Chrome web browser.
2. In the address bar type “chrome://extensions” and then click on the Enter button

   

3. Here you will see all the Extension lists that you had installed, so you have to click on the blue toggle button of all the extensions one by one from the panel to disable them.

   

4. Once you have done, now restart your Chrome web browser and open the URL using a third party and check whether you still get the error or not. If you don’t get any error message, it simply means that you have some issue with your extension.
5. So, if want to find particular problematic extensions then you have to go to the same path and enable all the installed extensions one by one and try downloading the link after each. Once you get the problematic one then removes it completely.

If in case this won’t work for you to solve the error then head to the next possible solution.

Reset Chrome to the Default Settings

If you have tweaked the chrome browser settings then this might be a reason for responsible for the error. However, the chrome browser offers an option to reset it to the default settings.

Doing this makes the chrome back to its default state and remove all the modified settings that might be causing the unresponsive chrome error. Luckily this won’t affect the saved bookmarks and the passwords on Google Chrome.

Follow the steps to do so:

1. Open Google Chrome browser by double-clicking on its shortcut.
2. Move to the right side of the screen, where you can see three dots. Click on it to open Settings

   

3. Go down the menu and click on the Advanced
4. From the menu opened, again scroll to the bottom and click on the option Restore Settings to their Original Defaults.

   

5. Then to reset Chrome click on the Reset settings option.

Close Chrome and restart it again, and try opening the link to see if the error still appears or not.

Clear Google Chrome Cache

The corrupted browser cache conflict while opening a link from the external program like an email. So, in this case, clearing your chrome browser cache might work for you to solve the error by clearing the cache.

Follow the instructions given:

1. First, open the Google Chrome web browser.
2. Now, in the top right corner you will get a hamburger so click on it.
3. And then click on History and again click on the History icon

   

4. On the left side of the screen, you will get Clear browsing data to click on it. And then hit the Clear Data option.

   

5. Once you are done, restart your chrome browser and check issue is still exist or not.

Disable the Option Help improve Chrome’s Features and Performance

Google Chrome is having the default settings which automatically send the analytical information every time Chrome crashes. And after that Google utilize the report for releasing the better Chrome version in future. Also in some cases, it will cause an unresponsive error. Disabling the option will work for you to fix the error.

1. Open Google Chrome by double-clicking on the shortcut icon.
2. Move to the right side of the screen, where you can see three dots. Click on it to open Settings.

   

3. Click on the option Sync and Google Services.
4. Move to the bottom of the menu and turn off Help Improve Chrome’s features and performances option.

   

Now close the Chrome browser and restart it again, and try opening some URL in the third-party app to see if the error is there or not.

Disable the Automatically Send Usage Statistics & Crash Reports Option

Many users reported they managed to fix the Google Chrome is unresponsive, relaunch now error by turning off the automatically send usage statistics & crash reports to Google option.

Follow the steps to do so:

1. First, select the Menu button and then click on the Settings
2. Now, scroll down and click on the option Show advanced settings.

   

3. In Privacy Section find the option Automatically send usage statistics and crash reports to Google and close it.

   

1. Once you are done with all the steps, restart your chrome and check whether the issue is resolved or not.

Try adding the “–process-per-site” Parameter

The Google Chrome browser generates an entirely separate OS process for the extra extension and every tag you are using. Also, if you have opened multiple tabs and numerous 3^rd party extensions installed you may locate several processes running at the same time. And these multiple processes running in the background might be a reason responsible for chrome not responding or unresponsive error and prevent the browser from launching too many procedures and fix the error in your case.

Follow the instructions given:

1. Right-click on your Google Chrome shortcut and click Properties.
2. Open Properties by right-clicking on the Google Chrome shortcut.

   

3. A shortcut tab will get opened. In the target box, add “–process-per-site” and proceed by clicking on Apply. Click on continue in the new window opened and proceed to click on OK.

   

4. Note – Before “–process-per-site” there is a space.
5. Close Chrome and restart it again, and try opening the URL or the link in the app to see if the error persists or not.

Rename or Delete Your Chrome Profile

The chrome system default files corruption can also cause the error, you can try renaming the default folder and check if the error is resolved.

Follow the instructions given to do so:

1. First, check properly whether your Google Chrome is shut down or not.
2. Now, click on the Win + R key together to open the Run dialogue box.
3. In the text box type %LOCALAPPDATA% command and hit Enter button

   

4. Then, double click on Chrome and navigate to the User Data and then you will get the Default folder.
5. Here, you have to Rename the folder and also take a Default backup.

After that restart your Google Chrome browser and see if the error is resolved, but if not then try deleting the Chrome profile and creating a new one.

1. From the right top corner open the Menu option and click on Settings.
2. Find your profile in the Profile Section. Select and then click on the Remove option to delete your profile.

   

3. You will be getting a confirmation message on your screen. You can proceed to click on Remove.
4. Now close Chrome and restart it and open the Settings tab.
5. Go to the People section and then click the option to Add Person.

   

6. Select the name you want to enter and a profile picture and then proceed to click on Add button.
7. A brand-new Google Chrome Window will get opened. Now sign in to Chrome by clicking on your profile which is present at the top right.

   

8. Enter your credentials (Email and password) and you will be able to access your profile once again.

Please Note: Make sure to back up your profile before, if your profile has not been synced online.

Close Entire Running Chrome Processes

Sometimes the third-party processes can also cause conflict with the Google Chrome browser and stop from carrying out certain actions. Therefore, it is suggested to close the entire running process related to chrome.

1. First, open the Task manager for that you can click on the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key together.
2. Now you will get the list of tasks running in the background, but you need to find the Chrome processes and click on them one by one and select End Task.

   

3. Once you are done with all the tasks, restart your Chrome browser and check if the issue is resolved or not.

Update the Chrome Browser

Keeping your Google Chrome up-to-date with the latest version of the update will solve a majority of the issues. If you are unable to run Google Chrome you can open the Google Chrome official website from another browser to download the new updated browser version and then manually install it.

You can also open Google Chrome. Go to the top right to open the three dots and click on Help. Then go to About Google Chrome to update to the latest version of Chrome.

It is estimated now the error “Google Chrome is unresponsive. Relaunch now?” is resolved.

Uninstall 3^rd party Antivirus Program

If you are using the 3^rd party antivirus program then this might be conflicting and stopping Google Chrome from running properly and opening certain links or downloading any file. The security program stops certain actions assuming it is malicious and blocking it, so try uninstalling the antivirus program and see if this works for you.

Many users reported that security programs like Malwarebytes is conflicting with the Chrome browser, so try uninstalling it.

Follow the instructions given to do so:

1. Hit the Windows Key + I to launch the Settings app.
2. Here click on the System section.

   

3. On the left side select the Apps & features Now choose Malwarebytes and then click on Uninstall option.

   

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall Malwarebytes

Alternatively, if uninstalling the security program won’t work for you then it is suggested to again install the latest security version to see if the error is fixed.

Set a Different Default Browser

If none of the above-listed fixes works for you to solve the Chrome error, then try to temporarily set another browser as default. While you’re at it, you can do that with Opera.

1. Open settings by clicking on Windows + I. After this move to the Apps section.
2. In the left pane, navigate to Default Apps. Find the web browser in the right pane and change to any browser of your choice from chrome. We would strongly suggest using Opera

   

3. Click the option Choose default apps by the file type.

   

Hope this works for you to solve the ‘Google Chrome is unresponsive, relaunch now’ error on Windows. If the solutions given won’t work for you then switch to a different browser or else try reinstalling the Chrome browser and fix the error in your case.