How to Completely Reset Google Chrome to Default Out of the Box Settings

How to Reset Google Chrome

Resetting your Chrome browser takes just a few seconds.

I’ll go through a foolproof method that you can use to reset Google Chrome to its default settings and get rid of annoying issues. We’ll walk thru the following steps.

Step 1: Backup your Bookmarks and Passwords

These steps to reset chrome to its original default settings will delete your bookmarks and passwords, so we’ll back those up first so we can later add them back

Backup Chrome Bookmarks

Paste chrome://bookmarks/ into the Chrome URL bar, then click on the ellipsis and select Export Bookmarks

Google Chrome bookmarks manager - export bookmarks drop down menu

This will open up a save dialog box to save an HTML file of your bookmarks.

Backup Chrome Passwords

Paste chrome://settings/passwords/ into the Chrome URL bar, then click on the ellipsis next to the Saved Passwords section, then select Export passwords

Google Chrome settings saved passwords section

Then click the Export passwords blue button in the pop-up dialog

export google chrome passwords - export passwords dialog box

Enter your COMPUTER login, and then you’ll be able to save your passwords to a file

Enter Windows password to export google chrome passwords

Download Chrome Data from Google

In the steps below, we’ll also be erasing synched Google Chrome data so that any of your settings won’t come back when we re-connect.

Navigate to https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout and export your Chrome settings by first clicking to Deselect all, and then select only the Chrome product

You will receive an email to download your data.

Step 2: Restore Chrome settings to their original defaults

In the steps below, we’ll reset and break our synchronized Google chrome settings and then reset our Chrome browser to its original default settings.

Clear Data from Chrome Sync

Navigate to https://chrome.google.com/sync and select the Reset Sync button at the bottom of the page

Restore default Chrome settings

In the Chrome URL bar, paste chrome://settings/reset and press enter.

Google Chrome settings reset and clean up section

Click on “Restore settings to their original defaults.” You’ll then be presented with the ‘Reset Settings’ box. Optionally select the “Help make Chrome better by reporting the current settings” checkbox and Click the ‘Reset settings’ button.

chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings

Close Chrome

Step 3: Make sure no Chrome processes are running

First we’ll need to make sure there are no running chrome processes before we continue.

Open PowerShell as Administrator

Enter Get-Process chrome to see if there are still any running chrome processes.

Windows PowerShell get running Chrome processes

If there are, we’ll use PowerShell to stop chrome processes by simply piping the previous command to Stop-Process

Step 4: Delete Chrome User Data Default Folder

Execute the following PowerShell command to delete Chromes User Data Default profile folder. Doing so will reset its default settings. History, bookmarks, cookies, cache, etc. will get cleared.

Remove-Item "$($env:LOCALAPPDATA)\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default" -Recurse -Force

Appendix: Other methods to reset Chrome

Reset Chrome via the Flags Panel

Flags are a set of experimental features and settings that are present in your Chrome browser. It is possible to reset your browser from the Flags control panel.

This method can help revert unfavorable changes to your browser. However, its effectiveness depends on the problem you are facing. This is because it only involves restoring your browser to the state it was in before you enabled any of Chrome’s experimental features.

Follow these easy steps:

Launch your Google Chrome browser.
Go to the address bar and type (or copy and paste) “Chrome://flags” (don’t include the quotation marks). Then press Enter.
You’ll find the ‘Reset all to default” button at the top of the page. Click on it.
Restart your browser.

Reinstall Your Google Chrome Browser

Reinstalling your browser is another way to restore its default settings.

If you are using Windows 10, here are the steps to follow:

Close all open tabs and windows on your browser by clicking the red x button in the top-right corner of the window.
Confirm the action when prompted.
Go to the Start menu. You can do this by pressing the Windows logo key on your keyboard.
Click on Settings (displayed as the cogwheel icon).

Alternatively, you can quickly open the Settings app by holding the Windows logo key and then pressing I on your keyboard.

Once in the Settings window, click on System.
On the left-hand side of the page that opens, click on Apps & Features under Display.
On the right-hand side of the page, you’ll see a list of all the programs that are currently installed on your computer. Locate Google Chrome and click on it.
Click the Uninstall button.
Mark the checkbox for “Also delete your browsing data?”
Click the Uninstall button once again to confirm the action.
Go to the official website and download the latest version of Google Chrome. Open the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions presented by the installation wizard to install the browser.

Follow these steps if you are using Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista:

Close the Chrome browser by pressing the red x button in the top-right corner of the window. If there are multiple tabs open, you might have to confirm the action.
Open the Run dialog box. You can do this by going to the Start menu and then typing “Run” into the search bar. Click on the option when it appears in the search results. Alternatively, simply press the Windows logo key + R combination on your keyboard.
Type “Control Panel” into the text field of the Run dialog box and hit Enter or click the OK button.
Select “Category” under the ‘View by:’ drop-down displayed in the top-right corner of the Control Panel window.
Click on Programs.
In the window that opens, under Programs and Features, click Uninstall a program.
Locate Google Chrome in the list. Right-click on it and select Uninstall.
In the confirmation prompt that opens, mark the checkbox for “Also delete your browsing data.”
Click the Uninstall button.
Visit the official website and download the latest version of Google Chrome. Double-click on the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions presented by the installation wizard to install the browser.