Chrome - Will Not Open or Launch


Sometimes google will get messed up and you won't be able to launch it. You will see it as a background process in Task Manager but it will never actually launch the browser.
  1. 1

    Hardware Acceleration

    If Chrome is not launching or giving a white screen try these steps first.

    Note: This will need to be done per user on that machine.
  2. 2

    Edit Shortcut

    Find a Chrome shortcut, either on the desktop, or search "Chrome" then right click and open file location.

    Then right-click the shortcut and select "Properties"



  3. 3

    Stay on Target

    Go to the Shortcut tab at the top

    Either replace the Target field with the below text OR append -disable-gpu
    Quote are needed
    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" -disable-gpu

    Then click OK



  4. 4

    Start Chrome

    Start Google Chrome using that shortcut and it will launch, However, we need to fix it now for all shortcuts

    Go to settings by entering in chrome://settings/system

     toggle the switch to off. 


  5. 5

    Cleanup

    Test closing chrome, and reopening it from OTHER shortcuts, it should start without issue now. 

    Then edit the shortcut to only include the below line, so it does not cause future issues

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"
  6. 6

    Did this resolve the issue

    Is the issue resolved?

    Note: This is likely an issue with the current version of Chrome (87) and will be likely resolved in the future.
    Answers
  7. 7

    Add an extra line in the Target box

    1. Find the shortcut again and right-click on it.
    2. Choose properties and navigate to the shortcut tab is not on it already.
    3. Remove the -disable-gpu tags and replace them with -incognito. 
    4. Apply and close, then test. 
  8. 8

    Did this resolve the issue

    Is the issue resolved?

    Note: This is likely an issue with the current version of Chrome (87) and will be likely resolved in the future.
    Answers
  9. 9

    Close All Google related processes

    1. ctrl+alt+del or right click on the task bar and open Task Manager.
    2. Find everything google and chrome related.
    3. End all things Google and Chrome related.
  10. 10

    Delete all shortcuts

    1. Delete the shortcuts on the desktop
    2. Delete the shortcut on the task bar (if the exist)
  11. 11

    Find the Exe

    Navigate to the following location: C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application and locate the chrome.exe file
  12. 12

    Rename and move

    1. Rename the chrome file to chrome1.
    2. Right-click and sent to>Desktop(create shortcut).
  13. 13

    Rename desktop Shortcut

    Rename the desktop shortcut from chrome1-Shortcut to chrome.
  14. 14

    Create Taskbar Icon

    If the user wants the Icon on the Taskbar do the following:
    1. Launch Chrome.
    2. Right-click on the icon on thee taskbar for the open chrome window.
    3. Choose pin to TaskBar option. 
  15. 15

    TEST TEST TEST

    Make sure you close and open Chrome a few times from both the desktop and the Taskbar. Make sure to close it after each attempt and finally on the last one try to open multiple windows.