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Summary
'Chrome not downloading files' is an issue that occurs quite frequently. Given that, here we detail all the potentials fixes for the 'Chrome won't download files' error on your computer, including simple tricks and effective tips. If you have lost files during the fix, don't worry. You can retrieve your browser history, bookmarks, and more using the professional data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
On this page, you'll find two parts of solutions - both simple & advanced to help you fix Google Chrome Not Downloading Files error. If your Chrome is now downloading files, pick any method here to ger rid of this issue on your own:
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Quick Fix | Check internet connection > Restart Chrome > Try to download files again...Full steps |
| Fix 1. Do Basic Cleaning | Clear history and cache > Run Chrome cleanup tool > Reset Chrome...Full steps |
| Fix 2. Uncheck Hardware Acceleration | Go to Chrome Settings > Advanced Settings > Uncheck 'Use hardware acceleration when available'...Full steps |
| Fix 3. Reinstall Google Chrome | Uninstall Google Chrome in 'Apps & features' > Delete all Google folders in Registry > Reinstall Chrome...Full steps |
| Fix 4. Disable Related Extensions | Open Chrome > Go to 'More' > 'More tools' > 'Extensions' > Disable downloading related extensions...Full steps |
Google Chrome Won't Download Files Anymore
'Why won't Google Chrome let me download files anymore? I used to download email attachments, pictures and music very easily. Since last week, it's no longer downloading any type of file from any website. What's the matter?'
If you're having problems downloading Chrome on your Windows computer, you can try the alternate link below to download Chrome on a different computer. On a computer connected to the Internet, download the alternate Chrome installer.; Move the file to the computer where you want to install Chrome. Access all of your Google Drive content directly from your Mac or PC, without using up disk space. Learn more Download Backup and Sync for Mac Download Backup and Sync for Windows. Switch out of S mode on your computer. To learn about S mode and how to install Chrome, go to the Microsoft Help Center. Download the installation file for Chrome.; If prompted, click Run or Save.; If you chose Save, double-click the download to start installing.; Start Chrome.
Google Chrome is so simple and powerful that everyone loves it. But recently I found that one issue is under heated discussion on some major-related forums: Google Chrome is not downloading files!
After clicking the download button/icon on a web page, the request is not responding. Or, while selecting a location to preserve the download(s), the required download prompt box doesn't appear as usual. After many searches on the internet, Chrome fans said that they still don't find a confirmed solution to solve the problem.
How to Fix Google Chrome Not Downloading Files
According to Google Chrome Help page about how to fix file download errors in Google Chrome, if you get an error message on Chrome when you try to download apps, themes or other files, try to fix the most file download errors with the troubleshooting tips:
Part 1. Simple Tips to Fix Chrome Won't Download Files
- Make sure your Internet connection is working normally. Fix Internet stability issues if the connection is unstable
- Try to download the file later
- Contact the website owner
There, on the linked page, you can find more 'error messages' related to this problem in downloading files with Chrome, such as Chrome network failed, download blocked, no file, virus scan failed, disk full, insufficient permissions, system busy, needs authorization or forbidden. All those errors are responsible for Chrome not being able to download files.
If the easy tips above fail to solve the problem, don't get upset. There are other potential solutions provided below for you to fix the 'Chrome not downloading files' issue.
Part 2. Further Troubleshooting 'Chrome not downloading files' Error
Some people are not so lucky, they can't finish any download in Chrome. What's worse, they fail to download files without receiving a warning or error message indicating where the process went wrong. In this case, it's time to take some further measures. After reading numerous stories telling how people fix the downloading problems in Chrome, we summed up four effective solutions which I hope to be a permanent cure.
Method 1. Do Some Basic Cleaning Works
These are what you can try: clear all history and cache, run Chrome cleanup tool and reset settings to Chrome's original defaults. If you want to keep your Chrome history and cookies, you can backup or export Chrome history and cookies in advance.
To Clear history and cache in Google Chrome:
Step 1. Open Chrome on your computer and go to 'More (three dots)' > 'More tools' > 'Clear browsing data...'.
Step 2. Check the content you want to remove and click 'Clear Data'.
To Run the Chrom cleanup tool:
A Chrome cleanup tool can find and remove harmful software on your computer. Running this tool may solve the 'Chrome won't download files' issue caused by malware.
Step 1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
Step 2. In the top right corner, click 'More (three dots)' > 'Settings'.
Step 3. Scroll down to the bottom and click 'Advanced'.
Step 4. Under 'Reset and clean up', click 'Clean up computer' > 'Find'.
To reset Chrome:
Step 1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
Step 2. In the top right corner, click 'More (three dots)' > 'Settings'.
Step 3. Scroll down to the bottom and click 'Advanced'.
Step 4. Under 'Reset and clean up', click 'Restore settings to their original defaults' and then click 'Reset Settings' to confirm.
Attention, resetting Chrome will reset the browser startup page, new tab page, pinned tabs, and more. It will also disable all extensions and clear temporary data like cookies. However, other files like your bookmarks, history, and saved passwords will not be saved still. If you want to retrieve cookies but have no backup available, learn how to recover cache files in Google Chrome here.
Method 2. Uncheck Use Hardware Acceleration Option
Step 1. Go to Chrome Menu > Settings > Show Advanced Settings.
Step 2. Under System, uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
Step 3. Restart Chrome.
Method 3. Reinstall Google Chrome
To uninstall Google Chrome completely, first, you need to uninstall Google Chrome under Settings, then go to the registry to delete all Google folders.
To uninstall Google Chrome:
Step 1. Click the Windows icon and choose 'Settings (the gear icon)'.
Step 2. Choose 'Apps' > 'Apps & features'.
Step 3. Find and click 'Google Chrome'. Then click the 'Uninstall' button.
To delete All Google Folders in Registry:
Step 1. Press 'Windows + R' and type regedit.
Step 2. Go to 'Computer' > 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER' > 'Software'.
Step 3. Find and right-click 'Google' then choose 'Delete'.
Step 4. Go to the 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' folder and click 'SOFTWARE'.
Step 5. Find and right-click 'Google' then choose 'Delete'.
Now you have successfully and completely uninstalled Google Chrome from your computer. Go to Microsoft Store to reinstall Google and see whether the 'Chrome not downloading files' still exists.
Method 4. Disable Download Related Extensions
Disable all extensions that work as download managers since they may interfere with file downloading of Chrome.
Step 1. Open Chrome and go to 'More (three dots in the top-right corner)' > 'More tools' > 'Extensions'.
Step 2. Then you will see all the enabled extensions in your Chrome.
Step 3. Toggle the button to disable downloading related extensions. (The extension shown in the image below is irrelevant to download managers. But you can apply the very same way to disable the extension you need to turn off.)
Extra Tip for Chrome History & Bookmarks Recovery
Some of the fixing methods will restore your browser to its original defaults or delete the Google folder. If the browsing history or bookmarks were unfortunately removed. Don't panic though, we left a data recovery plan for you here, to assist you to recover Chrome history in Windows and restore Chrome bookmarks on Mac.
Since Google has a temporary folder that stores some cache files related to browsing history and bookmarks, you can use EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, the most powerful third-party hard drive recovery software to restore missing or lost Chrome data from its temporary folder, even the folder has been deleted on a local disk.
Step 1. Select a location to scan.
Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, hover on the partition, external hard drive, USB, or memory card from which you want to perform data recovery, and then click 'Scan'.
Step 2. Select the files you want to recover.
Wait until the scanning completes. Afterward, select the lost files you want to recover. If you need, double-click the file to preview its content.
Step 3. Recover lost data.
After choosing the files, click 'Recover' and choose a location on another drive to save the recovered files.
Here we introduce multiple ways to fix Google Chrome not downloading files, including simple tips you can try first and further troubleshooting tips. Hope it works and your favorite browser is getting back to normal.
Google Chrome is the king of web browsers but if you’re here it’s probably because the king has gone a bit insane. Is Chrome running slow, crashing, freezing, or not even loading? Are web pages not loading anymore? Is your browser experience getting slower every day?
If you’re experiencing any of those Chrome problems, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to show you how to troubleshoot and resolve common Chrome problems that make you feel like Google hates Macs.
Some fixes will be easier than others but none require advanced knowledge.
If you’re ready to fix Chrome, let’s begin!
Is it your Mac or Chrome that is slow?
Chrome isn’t an independent entity, it’s a part of a whole Mac system. So before you deal with Chrome, make sure the problem isn’t in your macOS. A quick example — the outdated system caches causing your Chrome plugins to crash. Or is your Mac gasping for free space?
A clever path is to give your macOS a good cleanup, first. We like CleanMyMac X app for this purpose as it finds and cleans all redundant & conflicting files across all your folders. So, take 2 minutes to tidy up your Mac with CleanMyMac X, and let’s move further.
CleanMyMac is available for a free download here — this app is notarized by Apple, so no worries.
Common Chrome problems on Mac (and their fixes)
Mac battery draining fast
Chrome is known for its fast performance, which it gets by using your Mac’s CPU more than other browsers. But more CPU usage means more battery drain. If you use your laptop on the go, this can become a huge issue. What good is performance if your battery is completely drained and you can’t turn on your Mac?
If Mac battery life is important to you, then there’s a simple trick that should be a big help. Often there is a tab or an extension that is hogging your resources and burning through your battery life by itself.
Follow these steps to find the offending site or extension:
- Open Chrome and choose Window in the top menu.
- Click on Task Manager.
- In Task Manager, click the Memory Footprint column to sort them.
Now you can determine what sites and extensions use up the most memory in Chrome. You can still visit one of these sites but maybe don’t leave it open in a tab anymore. Also, remember that even sites that aren’t memory hogs can still be a battery drain if you have a lot of tabs open.
Close resource-hungry and unnecessary tabs and the time you get from a battery charge should start to improve.
Chrome is running slow
Does Chrome on your Mac feel like browsing through a swamp? If browser responsiveness is slowing, it’s time to drain the swamp.
Why is Google Chrome so slow? We mentioned earlier that Chrome is resource-heavy, especially on your CPU. Chrome is fast when your Mac has the resources available, but when they are limited, and Chrome is demanding more than your Mac can give – swamp time.
The tip from the previous section will help a lot, but if you’re still experiencing slowness, there are other fixes you can turn to.
Let’s start by focusing on the cache. Chrome loves storing lots of your web browsing data. At first, it can help speed things along, but soon Chrome’s pockets are being weighed down by cache, particularly if your Mac is low on space or memory.
To manually delete your Chrome cache on Mac:
- Open Chrome and choose Chrome in the top menu.
- Select Clear Browsing Data.
- Check the history, cache, cookies, and other types of browser data that you want to delete.
- Click 'Clear data.'
Again, there’s another method for clearing out your cache, cookies, browser history, autofill form data, and a whole lot more. You can use the free version of CleanMyMac X. There’s surely no easier way to manage not just the cache that’s slowing down Chrome, but also your privacy and security — if these things are important to you (they should be).
To delete Chrome cache and other browsing data with CleanMyMac X:
- Download the free edition of CleanMyMac X and launch the app.
- Go to the Privacy tab and select Chrome.
- Select what you want to clean.
Or you can even use CleanMyMac X’s System Junk cleanup tool that not only removes Chrome cache files but also gets rid of “temporary” files that clog up your system. So, hopefully, your browser will get a bit snappier.
Сhrome using significant energy on Mac
“Chrome using significant energy” may be a sign of general memory overload on your computer. Try opening your Activity Monitor and check off a few memory consumers.
- Open the Launchpad and type in Activity Monitor in the search bar.
- Now, sort by Energy and use the [x] button to quit a process.
Disable background synchronization
There’s another setting that may help you out. Sadly, it’s buried too deep in Chrome’s Preferences but according to many users, it should greatly reduce energy consumption by Chrome.
- Open Chrome and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy and security > Site Settings.
- Scroll down and click “Background sync.”
- Use the slider to disable the background sync.
What does it do? It stops the websites from communicating with your Mac (even after you’ve left that site). Was it enabled by default is a different question.
Chrome keeps freezing
Your browser is not just slow as a snail but keeps freezing? A spinning circle appears for a while? This is ordinary trouble with web browsers after continued use. And it may relate to the problem with the browser cache.
We've already told you how to remove the Chrome cache, so just go to the previous section and choose the way that works best for you: manual or easy one. Hopefully, this will help you to get rid of the spinning beach ball and fix the freezing issue.
Other ideas to try:
- Close all tabs
- Restore settings (Settings > Advanced > Reset settings)
- Log out from all your Google accounts and log in back again.
- Try browsing in an incognito window and see if that helps.
- Reinstall Chrome from scratch
Some services, like Dropbox, Alfred, and notably, Google Drive are constantly self-updating in the background. As in the previous step, you can use Activity Monitor and force-quit these processes.
Google Chrome is not responding
However, if your browser is not responding at all and you can't open the menu to clear the cache, browsing history, or delete extensions, try to force quit Chrome and then launch it again.
There are a few possible ways to force quit Google Chrome. Here is our comprehensive guide 'How to force quit Mac applications' that offers five different ways to deal with unresponsive apps. Pick your favorite one.
There are is a number of background plugins operating invisibly on every Mac. They could be various helpers, updaters, and everything else that supports the main application. For example, Chrome itself has an updater app that constantly communicates with the server. So, once again, go to your Activity Monitor and scan through your open processes. Try quitting anything Google-related there.
Another idea to try is to free up your RAM (random access memory) in the Terminal. This should unfreeze your Chrome, at least temporarily.
- Open your Terminal app (you can find it via the Launchpad search).
- Now, paste in
sudo purgeinto the Terminal window. - Hit Enter
See if Chrome is feeling better now.
Google Chrome keeps crashing
Chrome freezing is one thing but crashing? That’s a much bigger issue as it’s a sign that something is broken. But what do we do with things that are broken around here? We fix them!
Probably the most common cause of crashes is a byproduct of one of Chrome’s strengths – its constant stream of exciting extensions. They make our browser experience more enjoyable and productive, but occasionally one of these extensions will be corrupted or introduce a bug that causes Chrome to crash.
Here’s what you should do to find a problematic Chrome extension.
- Update your browser
- Run a Safety check
- Turn off browser extensions
Make sure Chrome is updated to the latest version. A new update could very well include the fix that will stop Chrome crashing.
The latest version of Google Chrome has a feature called Safety check. Go to Chrome Settings and select “Safety check” from the menu on the left. Press “Check now.” The browser will run a quick check to determine whether Google Chrome is up-to-date and protected from threats.
If that didn’t work or everything was already up-to-date, you can manually turn off your extensions and turn them back on, one at a time. This way, if the crashing goes away until a certain extension is turned back on – that’s when you’ve probably found the problem.
To manually disable and remove Chrome extensions:
- Open Chrome and go to Window > Extensions.
- Disable a few extensions or click Remove to completely delete them.
- Relaunch Chrome.
Spend some time using Chrome without extensions and then slowly turn each one back on until your crashing returns. When you think you have the culprit, simply click the Trash can next to that extension in Settings > Extensions.
An even easier way to manage your extensions is with CleanMyMac X. You get more control over all your extensions, even those from other browsers, and disabling and removing them is as easy as can be.
To disable Chrome extensions the simple way:
- Click on the Extensions tab in CleanMyMac.
- Click on Chrome Extensions and disable as you like.
Chrome won’t open
Here’s the list of hacks you can try if you want to repair Chrome. When Chrome won’t open, the easiest is to restart your Mac. But that could be a bit disruptive. So here you are, some alternatives:
- Press and hold Command + Q — this will quit Chrome.
- Press Option + Command + Esc — opens a Force Quit pane.
- Uninstall Chrome and download it again.
If that doesn’t help, there’s a possibility that the problem is Google folder permissions.
Web pages not loading in Chrome
“Aw snap!”
This is Chrome’s custom message for when a web page fails to load. If you get this cheeky little message or any other loading error, chances are you’re going to fail to see the funny side.
The reasons for Chrome not loading pages can be wide-ranging and hard to pinpoint, but we’ve collected a checklist of fixes for you to work through.
- Check your internet connection.
- Update Chrome.
- Restart your Mac.
- Remove Chrome extensions (for steps see 'Google Chrome keeps crashing' section).
- Disable or relaunch hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration is supposed to speed up your Chrome at the cost of your Mac's hardware resources. But quite often this feature crashes things.
Hardware acceleration is found here:
Chrome > Settings > Advanced > System
If you’re still unable to load web pages, a reset or reinstall of Chrome may be needed. We cover that very fix in the next section.
Chrome update failed
Chrome won’t update? Some users have experienced the frustration of Chrome refusing to update on a Mac. The first step would just be patience, but if days have passed and you’re still not getting anywhere, a reset or reinstall of Chrome may be in order.
To reset Chrome manually:
- Launch Chrome and go to Preferences
- Scroll to the bottom and click on Advanced Settings.
- Scroll to the bottom and click on Reset Settings.
- Read the pop-up and Reset.
- Relaunch Chrome and try to update.
Note: Resetting Chrome will not remove your bookmarks, history, and saved passwords. A manual reset can be a bit scary, but as a workaround, you can use CleanMyMac X to reset Chrome without losing any data.
Reset Chrome with CleanMyMac X's free tool:
- Open CleanMyMac X
- Go to Uninstaller tab and find Google Chrome in the list
- Click Application Reset in the dropdown menu next to the Chrome icon.
If the browser is still not updating, download the latest installation file from the web and reinstall Chrome.
Download Google Chrome For Mac Air
More tips to troubleshoot Chrome
Your Chrome browser should now be running great, but wait; there’s more! To improve your future browsing experience we’re sharing some of our favorite Chrome settings. Try these out and fall in love with Chrome even more.
Enable Prefetch
Want your web pages to load even faster? Go to Settings > Privacy and security. Here, select 'Cookies and other site data.' Toggle on 'Preload pages for faster browsing and searching.' This enables 'page prefetch' and makes Google Chrome load pages faster. Now the system will store the page and automatically load it the next time you visit the website.
Use shortcuts in Chrome browser
You’d be amazed at how much faster you can surf the web and get things done by learning just a few key shortcuts.
For example:
Command + t = new tab
Command + h = hide Chrome
Command + r = reload web page
Find the full list of commands at the official Google Chrome Support page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my Chrome keep freezing?
Usually, this is caused be caused by outdated browser caches. Open Chrome’s Preferences to delete recent browser data.
Why does Chrome use so much memory?
Chrome is in a constant back and forth with Google’s servers to process your data. You can help it by optimizing memory usage on your Mac. Use the Mac tune-up app, CleanMyMac X, to free up RAM and you disable heavy memory consumers.
How can I speed up my browsing experience?
Download Google Chrome For Macbook Pro
As a first step, try removing all the unnecessary extensions in Chrome. Also, try to not use more than 2 memory-heavy services, like DropBox or Google Drive at a time.
Download Google Chrome For Mac Airbook
That’s it. Hopefully, these fixes have made your web surfing better than it’s ever been. It just goes to show that even drastic problems like Chrome crashing can be solved with a little know-how and helpful apps like CleanMyMac X.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
Download Google Chrome For Mac Desktop
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