Chrome opens, you start typing — and it vanishes. Tabs crash, the app freezes, or it closes the moment you scroll. When Chrome keeps crashing on Android, your whole browsing life grinds to a halt. The good news: Chrome crashes are almost always fixable, and one specific component — Android System WebView — is behind a huge share of them. Here are 7 fixes for Chrome keeps crashing on Android.
Quick Answer: Chrome keeps crashing? First force stop Chrome (Settings → Apps → Chrome → Force stop) and restart the phone. Then open the Play Store and update both Chrome and Android System WebView — an outdated or buggy WebView is the most common cause of Chrome crashing on Android.
In This Guide:
Figure Out What's Wrong
Chrome crashes have recognizable patterns:
- Chrome crashes on launch → corrupted app data or a bad update (Fixes 2–3, 6).
- Individual tabs crash ("Aw, snap!") → low memory or a problematic site (Fixes 4–5).
- Crashes when scrolling videos or heavy pages → rendering issue, often WebView (Fix 2).
- Crashing started right after a Chrome or system update → buggy update (Fix 2, 6).
If the crashing started suddenly across many apps (not just Chrome), suspect a bad WebView update — Fix 2 is your fix.
Fix 1: Force Stop Chrome and Restart
A hung Chrome process can keep crashing every relaunch. Stop it properly:
- Go to Settings → Apps → See all apps → Chrome.
- Tap Force stop and confirm.
- Swipe Chrome away from your recent apps too.
- Reopen Chrome and test a few pages.
If Chrome was frozen mid-page, this alone often clears it — no data loss, your tabs and history stay intact.
Fix 2: Update Chrome and Android System WebView
Android System WebView is the core component Chrome uses to render web pages. A buggy or outdated WebView is the single most common cause of Chrome crashing on Android:
- Open the Play Store, search Google Chrome, and tap Update if available.
- Search Android System WebView in the Play Store and tap Update if available.
- Also update the Google app while you're there — it's tied to the same rendering stack.
- Restart your phone after updating, then test Chrome.
If Chrome started crashing right after a WebView update, you can roll it back: Settings → Apps → Android System WebView → three-dot menu → Uninstall updates, then reinstall the update from the Play Store a few days later.
Fix 3: Clear Chrome's Cache
Corrupted cached files can crash Chrome every time it tries to load them:
- Go to Settings → Apps → See all apps → Chrome → Storage & cache.
- Tap Clear cache.
- Reopen Chrome — you won't be signed out; cached files only speed up loading.
Alternatively, clear it from inside Chrome: Chrome → three-dot menu → History → Clear browsing data, check Cached images and files, set Time range: All time, and tap Clear data.
Fix 4: Close Tabs and Free Up Storage
Chrome with 40 tabs open on a nearly full phone will crash — each tab eats RAM, and low storage breaks Chrome's temp files:
- In Chrome, tap the tab counter and close tabs you don't need (tap the three-dot menu → Close all tabs for a clean slate).
- Check Settings → Storage — if the phone is nearly full, delete unused apps and clear the Downloads folder. Chrome misbehaves badly under ~1–2 GB of free space.
- Close heavy background apps (games, video editors) before heavy browsing sessions.
On phones with 3–4 GB of RAM, keeping tab counts low is the most effective crash prevention there is.
Fix 5: Clear Browsing Data
If cache-clearing (Fix 3) didn't work, a corrupted cookie or site-data entry may be crashing specific pages:
- Open Chrome → three-dot menu → History → Clear browsing data.
- Set Time range: All time.
- Check Cookies and site data as well as Cached images and files, then tap Clear data.
- You'll be signed out of websites — sign back in as needed.
If only one website crashes Chrome, clear data for just that site: visit it, tap the lock/tune icon in the address bar → Cookies and site data → Delete.
Fix 6: Reset or Reinstall Chrome
When app-level corruption runs deep, wipe Chrome's data and start clean:
- Go to Settings → Apps → Chrome → Storage & cache → Clear storage. This wipes all Chrome data — sign back into your Google account afterward to restore synced bookmarks and history.
- If Chrome is uninstallable on your phone: long-press the icon → Uninstall, then reinstall from the Play Store.
- If it's a system app: Settings → Apps → Chrome → three-dot menu → Uninstall updates to roll back to the factory version, then update fresh from the Play Store.
Before clearing storage, make sure Chrome sync is on (Chrome → Settings → Sync) so your bookmarks and passwords come back.
Fix 7: Restart the Phone
A full system restart clears memory pressure and stuck system services that individual app fixes can't reach:
- Press and hold Power and tap Restart.
- After reboot, open Chrome with no other heavy apps running and test.
Covers Android 10 through 14. If Chrome only crashes when the phone is hot or nearly full, treat the underlying cause (storage, heat) rather than just restarting repeatedly.
What If Nothing Works?
- Try Chrome Beta or another browser temporarily — if Beta works, the stable channel has a bad build and a patch is likely coming.
- Check in Safe Mode: long-press Power off until "Reboot to safe mode." If Chrome is stable there, a third-party app is conflicting — remove recently installed apps.
- System update: Settings → System → System update — OS-level rendering bugs get patched here.
- Factory reset as a last resort after backing up — if Chrome crashes on a fresh system too, it's a hardware fault.
In most cases, Fix 2 (WebView update) or Fix 3 (cache clear) stops Chrome crashing for good.
Watch: Chrome Keeps Crashing Fixed Step by Step
Prefer a walkthrough? This video covers Chrome crashing and closing on Android step by step:
Video by The Geek Page — full credit to the creator.
Related Guides:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Android System WebView and why does it crash Chrome?
Android System WebView is the system component that renders web content inside Chrome and many other apps. When it has a buggy update, Chrome — and often other apps — crash on launch. Updating (or rolling back) WebView from the Play Store is the fix.
Will clearing Chrome's data delete my bookmarks?
Not if sync is on. Your bookmarks, passwords, and history are tied to your Google account and restore when you sign back in. Anything stored only locally (unsynced) will be lost, so check Chrome's Sync settings first.
Chrome only crashes on one website. What should I do?
That's a site-data problem, not a Chrome problem. Open the site, tap the lock/tune icon in the address bar → Cookies and site data → Delete. If it still crashes, the site itself may be broken — try it in another browser.
By Sameer Zehri | App Fix Guru Editor | Last updated: October 2026
