It’s pretty straightforward to uninstall and reinstall Google Chrome, no matter if you’re on Windows or macOS. If Chrome has been acting up lately, a clean reinstall might just be the fix you need!
Let’s start with reinstalling Chrome on Windows, then we’ll move on to macOS.
Reinstalling Google Chrome on Windows
Before diving in, it’s best to fully uninstall Chrome and clear out any leftover files. This gives you a truly clean slate to work with for your reinstall.
Uninstall Chrome
To start, you’ll need to get to the Settings. Click on the Start Menu and find the ‘Settings’ tile in the ‘Pinned apps’ section, or just type “Settings” in the search bar.
Once the Settings window is open, click on ‘Apps’ on the left side.
Next, look for and click on the ‘Installed apps’ tile on the right.
Now, either scroll down until you find Google Chrome, or use the search bar at the top and type in “Chrome” to find it quickly.
Once you’ve found Chrome, click the three dots (kebab menu) to the far right of the Chrome tile. Then, click ‘Uninstall’ from the menu.
A confirmation pop-up will appear. Click the ‘Uninstall’ button to remove Chrome from your system.
Now, if you want to clear out any leftover user profile data, head to your Desktop and open ‘This PC’ by double clicking on it.
Then copy and paste or type the following address in the address bar at the top and hit Enter:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome
Note: Be sure to replace <username> with your actual username.
Inside this folder, press Ctrl + A to select all files. Then press Shift + Delete to permanently delete them.
A confirmation prompt will pop up. Click ‘Delete’ to remove the files permanently.
Reinstall Chrome
To reinstall Chrome, go to google.com/chrome in your browser. Click on the ‘Download Chrome’ button on the page.
An overlay will appear asking you to confirm the installation. Click the ‘Accept and Install’ button.
Once the download completes, go to your ‘Downloads’ folder and double-click the downloaded .EXE file to start the installer.
Chrome will now install. Once the install completes, Chrome should launch automatically.
And that’s it, you’ve successfully reinstalled Google Chrome on Windows!
Reinstalling Google Chrome on macOS
Uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome on macOS is slightly different from the Windows process but is still pretty simple. Just follow the steps below, and you’ll be back up and running in no time.
Uninstall Chrome
To uninstall Chrome on macOS, open a new Finder window by pressing Command + N. Then, click on ‘Applications’ on the left sidebar.
Now, find ‘Google Chrome’ in the list of applications. Right-click on it and choose ‘Move to Trash’.
Next, from your macOS desktop, click on ‘Go’ in the menu bar, and select ‘Go to Folder’. This will open a separate window.
Type or paste the following into the text box and click ‘Go’ to go to the directory:
~/Library/Application Support/Google
When the window opens, locate the ‘Chrome’ folder and press Command + Delete to delete it permanently from your system.
If you have the Trash icon pinned on your dock, right-click on it and choose ‘Empty Trash’ to remove the Chrome files. Otherwise, go into the Trash and remove the Chrome files.
Reinstall Chrome
To reinstall Chrome on macOS, head to google.com/Chrome and click on ‘Download’.
When the overlay appears, click on ‘Accept and Install’ to begin the download.
After the download finishes, head to your default download directory and double-click the .DMG file to start the installer.
Your Mac may display an alert. Read it, and then click on ‘Open’ at the bottom right of the window.
Finally, drag the Chrome icon to the ‘Applications’ folder in the newly opened window to install it.
Now Chrome is installed on your Mac. You can launch it from your launchpad.
