How to Reset Chrome (What You Lose and What You Keep)

A reset is the fix when Chrome starts behaving strangely: a search engine you never chose, a homepage full of ads, pop-ups that won't stop, or extensions that appeared from nowhere. Usually some software you installed changed things behind your back. Resetting Chrome undoes those changes without wiping your bookmarks. Here's exactly what it changes, so you aren't surprised afterwards.

Reset Chrome on Windows, Mac or Linux

1. Open Chrome and click More, the three dots at the top right.
2. Choose Settings.
3. In the left-hand menu, select Reset settings.
4. Click Restore settings to their original defaults.
5. Click Reset settings to confirm.

On a Chromebook the steps are the same, inside Chrome's own settings. A quick route on any computer is to type chrome://settings/reset into the address bar and press Enter, which takes you straight to the reset option.

What a reset changes and what it keeps

Goes back to default	Kept
Default search engine	Bookmarks
Homepage and startup tabs	Saved passwords
New tab page and pinned tabs	Fonts and accessibility settings
Content settings, such as pop-up and microphone permissions	Your Google account
Cookies and site data
Extensions and themes (switched off, not deleted)

Two of these matter in day-to-day life. Clearing cookies and site data signs you out of most websites, so have your logins handy. And every extension is switched off, so you'll need to turn back on the ones you use, which is a good moment to leave off any you don't recognise.

It resets every device you're signed in to

Google is clear that the reset applies to your Chrome profile on all devices where you're signed in, not just the computer in front of you. If you sync Chrome between a work laptop and a home PC, both get the default search engine, homepage and so on. That's usually what you want when something has hijacked your settings, but it's worth knowing before you click.

Reset versus starting fresh

A reset isn't a complete wipe. Google notes that some things, like fonts and accessibility settings, stay. If you want a completely clean Chrome, add a new profile instead: click your profile picture at the top right, choose Add, and set it up as a new person. Your old profile is still there if you need anything from it.

When settings keep changing back

If your search engine flips back to a strange one after you reset, a program on your computer is still changing it. Chrome checks for this each time it opens and may reset the search engine, homepage, startup pages, pinned tabs and extensions by itself, which is why you sometimes see a message that settings were restored. To deal with the cause:

• On Windows, open Settings, Apps and uninstall anything you don't recognise, especially programs installed around the time the problem began.
• On a Mac, check the Applications folder and remove unknown apps.
• In Chrome, look at chrome://extensions and remove anything you didn't add.
• Run a reputable security scan. My review of whether Malwarebytes is safe covers one option.

If Settings won't open at all

Occasionally the Settings page itself is broken or missing. Google's advice then is to uninstall Chrome, download it again from google.com/chrome and reinstall. If you sign in with sync on, your bookmarks and passwords come back from your Google account.

Try this before a full reset

If only one thing is wrong, you may not need the full reset. A changed search engine can be put back in Settings, under Search engine, by picking Google or your favourite from the list. A strange homepage is in Settings, under Appearance and On startup. And a single misbehaving extension can be switched off at chrome://extensions. Fixing the one setting keeps your cookies, so you won't be signed out of everything. Use the full reset when several things changed at once, or when you can't tell what's causing the trouble.

Resetting Chrome on a phone

There's no reset button in Chrome on Android or iPhone. On Android you can clear Chrome's storage from the phone's Settings, Apps, Chrome, Storage, which signs you out and clears local data. On an iPhone, deleting and reinstalling the app does the same. Sign back in afterwards to get synced bookmarks back.

After the reset: a two-minute tidy

1. Check the search engine in Settings, under Search engine.
2. Turn back on only the extensions you need.
3. Set your homepage and startup pages the way you like them.
4. Sign back in to the websites you use most.

While you're doing a security tidy, moving your logins into a dedicated manager helps. See my comparison of open-source password managers.

My verdict

Resetting Chrome is safe and quick: your bookmarks and passwords stay, and the junk settings go. Expect to sign in to websites again and to switch your favourite extensions back on. If the problem returns within days, the reset isn't the fix on its own, because something on the computer is still changing Chrome; find and remove the program that keeps changing Chrome, then reset once more.

Frequently asked questions

How do I reset Chrome?

Open Settings, choose Reset settings, then Restore settings to their original defaults, and confirm.

Will resetting Chrome delete my bookmarks?

No. Bookmarks and saved passwords aren't deleted or changed.

Does resetting Chrome remove extensions?

It switches them off rather than deleting them, so you can turn them back on.

Will resetting Chrome sign me out of websites?

Yes. Cookies and site data are cleared, so you'll need to sign in again.

Does a Chrome reset affect my other devices?

Yes. It applies to your Chrome profile on every device where you're signed in.

Why did Chrome reset my settings on its own?

Chrome resets some settings automatically when it detects a program has changed them.