7 Best Ways to Fix Google Chrome Not Responding Error

Google Chrome is my preferred web browser on mobile and desktop. The browser perfectly sync tabs from different devices and offers several chromium extensions. However, the Chrome experience isn’t devoid of issues. The browser is infamous for consuming excessive amounts of RAM. Another wide-spread problem with Chrome is, sometimes it stops responding on Windows.

And users can’t simply switch to any Chrome alternative as they have the browsing history, extensions, bookmarks, and passwords saved in the Chrome browser. The transition isn’t as smooth as one might think.

Instead, you can follow this guide and fix the Google Chrome not responding error. Check the step-by-step instructions below and troubleshoot the Chrome issues on Windows.

1. Make Sure You Are Connected to the Internet

First, check if your device is connected to a stable internet connection.

After confirming that, open the Settings app on Windows 10 (Use Windows + I keyboard shortcut). Navigate to Network & Internet > Status and make sure that it says ‘You’re connected to the Internet’.

If the status does say that, you’ll also want to test the internet connection with a different browser, to ensure the issue is centered only on Chrome. Open Microsoft Edge or Firefox and try to open a few sites.

If you can’t connect to the web using other browsers, you know there’s still a problem with your internet connection and not Chrome. On the flip side, if the other browser connects fine, the issue is only with Chrome, and you can continue with our troubleshooting guide.

2. Clear Cache and Cookies From Google

A corrupted cache can ruin your day. It’s almost always safe to clear the cache, so there’s no reason not to try it.

If there is overburdened browsing data in your Google Chrome, that may make the browser slow or stop responding entirely.

So when Google Chrome does not respond in Windows 10, you can clear the browsing history, cache, and cookies for your browser.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome, tap on the three-dot menu at the top.

Step 2: Navigate to More tools > Clear browsing data.

Step 3: From the following menu, go to Advanced and select Cache and Cookies files to delete.

Then relaunch Google Chrome browser and inspect if problems with Google Chrome not responding have been fixed.

3. Close Chrome Properly

Sometimes Chrome stops responding because the tabs you have closed over time never actually shut the process. These Chrome processes add up and consume a lot of RAM. The behavior ultimately leads to Chrome crashing, freezing, or not opening at all.

Follow the steps below to close Chrome completely on Windows 10.

Step 1: Press the Windows key and open the start menu.

Step 2: Type Task Manager and hit enter to open the program.

Step 3: Right-click on the top-level Google Chrome process (the one with the number next to it) and select End Task.

That will close all running Chrome processes, free up RAM space, and allow you to relaunch Chrome. You should also take a look at other processes running in the background. Close irrelevant ones, and that should free up more RAM space on your Windows 10 device.

4. Disable Chrome Extensions

Extensions play a vital role in the Chrome ecosystem. Using extensions, one can add more features to the basic Chrome interface and functionality. However, some might not be actively maintained, could be out of date or develop incompatibilities with new Chrome builds.

If you have dozens of Chrome extensions installed, it can be difficult to figure out which one of them is causing the issue.

Because of that, the easiest solution is to disable all extensions and then enable only the ones you need one at a time.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome, tap on the three-dot menu at the top.

Step 2: Navigate to More tools > Extensions.

Step 3: It will open the Extension menu. Tap on the Remove button and remove Chrome extensions.

5. Reset All Chrome Settings

It can help because there are times when tweaking the wrong settings can eventually cause issues with Chrome, especially if you’re enabling beta features.

You can fix all of that by resetting Chrome.

Step 1: Launch Chrome and open Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down and click Advanced to open all settings.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Reset and clean up section and click Restore settings to their original defaults.

That will open a window with a warning stating that all Chrome settings will be reset. Just select Reset settings to continue.

Just remember that this will disable all of your extensions, clear temporary data, and wipe out all cookies. However, it won’t affect bookmarks, history, and saved passwords.

6. Use Chrome Malware Scanner

If none of the above tricks worked, your system might have malware that’s interfering with Chrome. The good news is, Google has integrated an anti-malware scanner that will scan your computer and find any problems.

Step 1: Open Chrome and go to Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down and click Advanced to open all settings.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Reset and clean up section and click Clean up computer.

That will open a window where you can launch the Chrome malware scan. Just select the Find button to start the scan.

7. Reinstall Chrome

Reinstalling Chrome is the complete way to reset Chrome. You should remove Chrome from the Add or remove programs menu.

Once the uninstall process finishes, open the Chrome installer you downloaded. After Chrome has fully reinstalled, it should normally work again.

Start Using Google Chrome Again

You can easily fix the Chrome not responding error on Windows 10 using the tricks mentioned above. While you are at it, let us know about the trick that worked for you in the comments section below.

Next up: Looking to level up your Google Chrome experience? Read the post below to learn the top 21 Google Chrome keyboard shortcuts.