Skip to main content

Google’s newest Chrome utility is designed to buff out any blemishes in the browser

google software removal utilty removes malware toolbars pop ups chrome 9 640x0
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Is Chrome not running so hot on your computer these days? Notice anything funny with it lately? If so, you might want to check out Google’s Software Removal Utility.

The tool, which is currently in beta, “will scan and remove software that may cause problems with Chrome,” Google says. The search titan also says that you should consider running this utility to be akin to a factory reset for Chrome.

Situations that could be improved by running the tool, according to the tech giant, include instances where you see home pages that look different from what you’re accustomed to seeing, toolbars with mysterious origins, along with pop-ups that are not easy to banish.

Google cautions that some malware could prevent the tool from removing any programs that are causing problems with Chrome. In such instances, the company recommends that you use anti-malware or anti-virus scanners to try to get rid of all offending software.

As of now, the tool is only compatible with Chrome for Windows. There’s no word as to whether a version of the tool for other browsers and/or platforms is in the works.

To download it, click here, click the blue “Download now,” button, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Editors' Recommendations

Konrad Krawczyk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…
How to pin a tab in Google Chrome
Google Chrome with pinned tabs on a MacBook on a table.

If you have particular websites that you visit regularly, Google Chrome offers a handy feature so that you can keep those sites at your fingertips. Here’s how to pin a tab in Google Chrome for quick and easy access to your favorite websites.

Read more
Why Google Chrome Incognito Mode isn’t what it claims to be
Google Chrome icon in mac dock.

A seemingly obscure little class-action lawsuit filed in 2021 has exploded into the mainstream news lately, alleging that Google continues to track users when they’re using incognito mode on Chrome.

Of course, any savvy web user knows there’s no such thing as complete privacy on the internet, at least not without running Tor through a VPN tunnel while wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. But it seems what we expect of Google Chrome’s incognito mode and what Google actually does are two different things.

Read more
Google Chrome tops this list of most vulnerable browsers
Google Chrome logo appears over photo of laptop with chart of vulnerabilities.

According to a recent report, Google Chrome is the most vulnerability-ridden browser of all the major players. Chrome also happens to be the most popular browser in the world, accounting for over 60% of usage according to most sources, which means that a larger number of people are at risk until the bugs are fixed.

Every browser suffers from these security weaknesses from time to time, including the increasingly popular Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox, but Chrome has had a startlingly high number of weaknesses in 2022. The vulnerability report from Atlas VPN summarized data found in the VulDB vulnerability database. In this year alone, 303 vulnerabilities have been detected in Google Chrome. Firefox came in a distant second with 117, while 103 were found in Edge, and only 26 in Safari.

Read more