Google Chrome is arguably the most used browser on Android. Aside from its top-notch features and frequent improvements, it is more popular because it comes pre-installed as one of Google's apps on nearly all Android devices. On the flip side, users have repeatedly reported that Google Chrome keeps crashing on their devices. While the issue cannot be tied to a particular origin, thankfully, there are a bunch of fixes for it.
If Google Chrome keeps crashing, stopping, or freezing on your phone, try these simple fixes to resolve the problem in a few minutes. This guide works whether you use an Android or iOS device.
Here are the top fixes to try when Google Chrome keeps crashing on mobile phones:
- Restart the Chrome app
- Close inactive tabs and apps
- Install updates for the Chrome app
- Update Android System WebView
- Install the latest version of Google Play Services
- Clear cache and data for the Chrome app
- Restart your phone
- Reinstall the Chrome browser
- Update your device
Now, follow the guides one after the other to fix the Chrome browser problem on your device.
Restart the Chrome app
The first thing you should do if Google Chrome keeps crashing on your iPhone or Android device is to restart the app. Doing so erases some of the temporary files stored from your last browsing session and possibly, fixes lots of bugs causing the app to malfunction.
How to restart Google Chrome on Android:
- Go to Settings → Apps & notifications → See all apps.
- Find and select Chrome on the list
- Hit Force Stop to close the app.
- Go back to your home screen and relaunch the Chrome
How to restart Google Chrome on an iPhone:
- Open your iPhone's Recent Apps panel.
- Swipe up the Chrome app to close it.
- Go back to your home screen to relaunch the app.
If Google Chrome keeps crashing after that, try the next solution below.
Close inactive tabs and apps
In most cases, opening hundreds of tabs – either actively used or not – can litter your browser’s performance and slow down your device altogether.
If Chrome keeps freezing or closing on your iPhone or Android device, kindly close all the tabs you’re not using to free up your phone’s RAM. Doing so will make Chrome and your phone perform faster.
Here’s how:
- Launch the Chrome app on your phone.
- Tap the Tab overview button to show all active tabs.
- Swipe away all irrelevant tabs to close them. Or if you have hundreds of them, you may use the Close all tabs
- After that, restart Chrome as mentioned earlier to see if the issue is fixed.
Additionally, the background apps running on your device could slow down things. And when Google Chrome keeps crashing, remember to close all the apps you’re not using to help the system channel more memory to the active apps.
To do that, open the Recent Apps panel on your Android phone or iPhone and close other running apps.
Install updates for Chrome
Sometimes too, a bug in the current build of the Chrome app installed on your device could cause the problem. When such a thing happens, you can either check for updates or downgrade to the previous version.
In this case, Google is fast at fixing issues on its apps, and the bug might have been fixed in the latest version. If Google Chrome keeps crashing still, visit the App Store or Google Play Store to download the latest version of Chrome.
How to update Google Chrome on iOS:
- Open the App Store and search for
- Then, tap the Update button if available to install the latest version of the app.
- After that, launch the app to see if it no longer freezes.
How to update Chrome on Android:
- Launch the Play Store and search for Google Chrome.
- Click the app from the search result and tap
- Launch Chrome after updating it to see if it fixes the issue.
Note: If the Chrome “Update” button is not working on your Android device, simply reset the Google Play Store app from the device settings and try again.
- Go to Settings → Apps & notifications → See all apps.
- Find and select Google Play Store from the list.
- Tap Storage and Data, then clear the two.
- Restart your device and try updating Google Chrome again.
Update Android System WebView
Most times when Google Chrome keeps closing on Android, it is either tied to an error in the System WebView app or Google Play Services. These apps are essential for many Android apps to work; meaning any Android app can malfunction once these two apps are faulty.
If that’s the case, updating the apps from the Play Store seems to fix the problem most times. Simply follow the steps below.
- Launch the Play Store on your Android device
- Tap your profile icon on the upper-right side.
- Tap Manage apps, then click on Updates available.
- Find “Android System WebView from the list and Update
- Reboot your phone afterward.
Install the latest version of Google Play Services
If Chrome keeps crashing on Android after installing the latest version of Android System WebView, you should update Google Play Services as well. Here’s how:
- Open your device Settings and hit Apps & notifications.
- Tap See all apps to show the apps on your device.
- From there, scroll down to find Google Play Services and open it.
- On the resulting page, scroll to the bottom and tap App details.
- It’ll redirect you to the Play Store where you can update the Google Play Services.
- Tap the Update button as usual and wait for the app to finish installing, then launch Chrome again.
If that didn’t do the trick, try another solution below when Chrome keeps stopping on your device.
Erase Chrome’s cache data
While the browser needs a cache to store temporary web files to help them load faster and reduce resource usage next time, it can also be a reason why Chrome keeps freezing or crashing.
This happens when the cached data is too much or corrupted. Hence, it poses problems when your browser tries to refresh data from the old cache. To solve this problem and get back to the internet, we recommend you clear Google Chrome’s cached files as follows:
- Launch the Chrome app on your phone.
- Open the side menu and select History
- Click on Clear browsing data…
- Set the Time range to “All time”
- Then mark the checkbox for “Cached images and files.”
- Tap Clear data below the screen to erase Chrome’s cache data.
- Restart the app to see if it fixes the problem.
Reinstall the Chrome browser
If clearing the cached files didn't do any miracles, it might be a period to have a fresh start. You need to reinstall the Chrome browser on your phone. This will help you fix the bugs and glitches causing the problem in most cases since it'll start afresh.
Do not worry, you won’t lose any data (history, passwords, and bookmarks) if you’ve turned on synchronization earlier.
How to reinstall Chrome on Android:
- Navigate to settings → Apps & notifications → See all apps.
- Select Chrome on the list.
- On the upper-right corner, tap the 3-dot icon, then select Uninstall updates.
- Now, launch the Play Store. Search for Chrome and update it.
How to reinstall Chrome on an iPhone:
- From your iPhone home screen or the App Library, locate the Chrome app icon.
- Lon-press on the icon and tap Delete to uninstall the Chrome app.
- After that, visit the App Store to install Chrome
Update your device
Last but not the list, updating your phone's software could fix app crashing and freezing problems in some cases. And if you've not updated your phone for a long time, it might be the reason why Google Chrome keeps crashing. Follow these instructions to update your phone and check if it fixes the issue.
How to update an iPhone:
- Go to Settings → General → Software updates.
- Tap Check for updates.
- And, if you have any pending updates, Download and install them straightaway.
How to update an Android device.
- Go to Settings → System → System Updates
- Click on Check for the update, then download and install any pending update.
- Install the update to see if it fixes the issue.
Conclusively, if Chrome keeps closing after trying all the solutions mentioned in this article, it might be time to move on. Or, you may wait for a few days to see if they will rectify the issue.
If not, you can try out other mobile browsers like Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and many more.
