Google Chrome Lost All Settings

There have been a few occasions where I have lost all settings in Google Chrome. It usually is related to my Chrome profile data being corrupt. The Chrome browser stores settings for each user in a folder on the hard drive. When this data gets corrupted, you may lose some or all of your apps, extensions, settings, auto-fill data, history, themes, bookmarks, and passwords.

There are a few things you can attempt to try to recover your lost Google Chrome settings. The following options have worked for me. Give them a try!

1 – Ensure Proper Login Account

If you are using Google Chrome on multiple devices and use the Chrome Sync feature to sync your data, ensure that you are logged into Chrome using the proper account.

To do this in the Windows, MacOS, or Linux versions of Chrome, select the “Menu” button, then “Sign in to Chrome…“. Users on iOS and Android, select the “Menu”  button, then tap “Settings” and ensure you are logged into the correct account as shown in the “Sign in” section..

2 – Clear Corrupted Profile

1. Close out of all Google Chrome windows you might have open.
2. Navigate to the following location based on your operating system:
   • Windows 10/8/7: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data
   • OSX: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome
   • Linux: ~/.config/google-chrome/
3. Rename the “Default” folder to “Default old“.
4. Open Google Chrome again.
5. If you sync your data with Chrome Sync, attempt to login again (if you’re not logged in already). Hopefully, all of your Chrome data and settings are now restored.

If your data isn’t back after all of these steps, you may want to try transferring folders from the “Default old” folder to the “Default” folder one by one to narrow down which data is corrupted. You may at least be able to get some of your data and settings back this way.