Keeping Google Chrome updated is crucial for accessing the latest features and ensuring your browser is secure, especially when automatic updates seem to take a break. Let’s walk through how to manually force an update.
Method 1: Using the “About Google Chrome” page
This method is the quickest and most reliable way to trigger an update.
- First, fire up Google Chrome on your computer.
- Next, look for the three vertical dots – the menu icon
(⋮)– at the top right of the browser. Hover your mouse over “Help.”
- From the “Help” submenu, click on “About Google Chrome.”
- The “About Chrome” page will then pop up, and Chrome should start looking for updates right away. If there’s an update waiting, it will begin downloading.
- Once the download finishes, you’ll see a “Relaunch” button. Click it to restart Chrome and finalize the update.
Method 2: Direct Navigation
If you’re a fan of shortcuts, this method will take you to the same “About Chrome” page without going through the menus.
- Open Chrome
- Type the following into the address bar, then press enter:
chrome://settings/help
This will take you directly to the “About Chrome” page, where you can check for and apply any available updates, as detailed in the previous method.
Your Chrome browser should now be updated to the latest version. Just to be sure, go back to the “About Chrome” page. It should tell you that your version is up-to-date.