Google released a patch to fix Chrome crashes on Windows and Linux

Last week, a weird bug appeared in Chrome for Windows and Linux. According to numerous complaints from frustrated users, the browser suffered from multiple tabs and extensions crashes; it also showed a gray screen instead of settings and extensions pages. During the weekend, users have been trying different things to bring Chrome back to life. Some advised reinstalling the browser, while others told users to wipe the User Data folder.

The good thing is that the official fix is now available to all Chrome users. Google released a small patch to resolve the bug. To get rid of the problem, Google recommends (via BC) its users to do the following.

Fix Chrome crashes on Windows

1. Quit any open Chrome windows.
2. Open Chrome again. You will still see the broken behavior.
3. Keep Chrome open for about 5 minutes.
4. After 5 minutes, close Chrome and then relaunch the browser.

If you are running Linux, the procedure is slightly different.

Fix Chrome crashes on Linux

1. Navigate to the directory containing the Chrome user profile: ~/.config/google-chrome/
2. Delete the contents of the [Chrome user profile]\Origin Trials subdirectory. That should include the sub-directory named "1.0.0.7".
3. Delete the [Chrome user profile]\Local State file.
4. Start Chrome, which should load as expected.

While Google does not share additional information about the bug or what was the reason behind it, based on the fixing procedure, users speculate that one of Origin Trials experiments was causing the problem.

Recently, Microsoft Edge suffered from a somewhat similar issue. The browser had a hard time playing YouTube videos in full-screen mode. Microsoft has already implemented a partial fix to resolve the problem. Still, some users may keep encountering crashes with YouTube videos. According to information from a Microsoft engineer, the company continues working on a permanent solution and promises to release it soon. If you have trouble playing YouTube videos in Microsoft Edge, try downloading Edge Canary from the official website.