Google Chrome — Relaunch Your Browser Now To Stop Hacks
Relaunch your Google Chrome browser now.
Update, May 20, 2025: This story, originally published May 19, has been updated with further advice regarding Chrome browser security updates from Google, as well as what you can do if your Chrome update fails.
Do you use the Google Chrome browser? Silly question, really, considering it's the world's most popular browsing platform with more than three billion users. Here's another question, then: when was the last time you relaunched Chrome? If the answer is I don't know, then you could be leaving yourself, your system and your data open to attack. Not only do you need to act now, but you should act regularly if you want to be protected against the ongoing Chrome hacker threat. Here's what you need to know.
I hope you are sitting down as I'm about to take you on a whistle-stop recent news headlines tour to explain precisely why you need to take the Chrome browser attack threat seriously. Let's start on March 4, when Google confirmed no less than nine newly discovered browser security vulnerabilities, followed by another five just six days later. Fast forward to March 20, and a new critical Chrome vulnerability dropped, with more on April 16, April 22, April 29 and May 6.
It was on May 14, however, that Google confirmed the most critical in this long list of Chrome security vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-4664. Why so critical? Because, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, it was already being exploited by attackers in the wild. All security vulnerabilities are serious, but some are to be taken more seriously than others. If a Chrome zero-day emerges, where attackers are already out there exploiting that vulnerability, then action needs to be taken fast, as the hackers won't be wasting time waiting. With Chrome attackers looking to bypass 2FA protections, and compromise passwords, proactive defensive measures are a must. Which is where relaunching the Chrome browser comes into play.
The one commonality between the aforementioned Chrome security vulnerabilities is that they were all disclosed by Google, along with the confirmation that an update to patch them was also being rolled out to users. While the security updating process is automatic for the Chrome browser, that doesn't mean you are protected as soon as the Google announcement drops. Indeed, those announcements themselves all state that patches will 'roll out over the coming days and weeks.' Which is nice, but less than comforting, especially in those cases where you know attackers already have the exploit code and attacks are underway.
Relaunch your Google Chrome Browser to activate update protections.
Luckily, you don't actually have to wait for the security update to find you, you can go and find it. Or, more accurately, you can kickstart the process and let your Chrome browser go get it for you. This is as simple as choosing the About Google Chrome option from the Chrome Help menu. Doing that will automatically start the process, check for any outstanding updates, download them and install them. What it won't do, however, is activate the security patch unless you relaunch your browser. Don't worry, this shouldn't impact all those open tabs you have, as Chrome saves these and reopens them upon restarting.
Google itself has pointed out that while relaunching your browser happens in most cases, as a typical user will close and open the app regularly, 'if you haven't closed your browser in a while, you might see a pending update.' If there's no relaunch option to be found, Google said, 'you're on the latest version.' It should be noted, however, that during the relaunch process following a successful security update, while Chrome will save and reload the tabs you have opened, this isn't the case if you are browsing in Incognito mode. The reasons for this are pretty self-explanatory, given the privacy-focused nature of this mode. 'Your Incognito windows won't reopen when Chrome restarts,' Google said, so it advised users in this situation who don't want to lose those tabs to select the 'not now' option and let the update activate the next time that Chrome is restarted instead.
But what if your Chrome browser security update fails to install? Google has some advice for users in this unlikely scenario as well. Trying to download the update again is the primary option, followed by uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome. Checking that antivirus or parental control applications aren't blocking the update from downloading is also recommended, as is the old IT Crowd chestnut of have you tried turning it off and on again.
If it helps, here are the common update errors that people might see and what they mean:
If you genuinely care about your Chrome security, and the sheer number of newly discovered vulnerabilities and ongoing attacks against the most popular web browsing platform suggest you must, then regularly checking for security updates and relaunching your browser is essential. You know what to do: make that check and relaunch your Google Chrome browser now.
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