How to Stop Chrome From Constantly Asking to Relaunch for an Update

Chrome keeps showing the relaunch notice because an update has already downloaded and needs the browser to close before it can install. No consumer setting disables Chrome's automatic updates or hides every update prompt for good.

Check the update status on the About Google Chrome page, apply or postpone the pending update, and look at chrome://policy if the prompt returns on a managed device.

In this guide, I have covered:

Why does Chrome keep asking you to relaunch?

You close the tab, and there it is again: Relaunch to update in the three-dot menu, or an update arrow sitting on the menu button. Nothing is broken. Chrome has an update on disk and needs every window closed before it can install.

Chrome downloads updates in the background, but an update cannot finish while browser windows are open. Once the files are ready, the menu keeps offering the relaunch option until you take it.

The prompt can come back when Chrome downloads another update before you restart. It also stays visible on devices managed by a school or workplace, where Chrome’s update policies are set for you.

No supported consumer setting turns off Chrome’s automatic updates or hides every relaunch notice for good. Your options are narrower: apply the pending update, postpone it for a while, or find out whether an administrator controls the behavior.

Do not install third-party extensions that promise to stop Chrome updates. They cannot control Chrome’s built-in update process, and they tend to ask for permissions they do not need.

Already installed one of those update blockers? Disable the extension in Chrome. It was never in charge of Chrome’s update process, and leaving it on only adds a permission risk to your browser.

Check whether Chrome has an update waiting

Before you change anything, let Chrome tell you where it stands. The status line on the update page settles whether an update is waiting or whether you are already current.

1. Open the menu in the upper-right corner of Chrome.
2. Select Help, then About Google Chrome.
3. Read the status below the Chrome logo, noting whether it says Chrome is up to date or that an update is ready.

You can skip the menu and open the same page by typing chrome://settings/help in the address bar, then pressing Enter.

If Chrome offers Relaunch to update, the download is already done and only the restart is missing. That is the expected result, not a failed install caught in a loop.

Apply the pending Chrome update

This is the step the prompt has been asking for. A relaunch closes Chrome, applies the downloaded update, and starts the browser again.

You’ll know it worked when the About Google Chrome page reports that Chrome is up to date and the relaunch option is gone. If the relaunch option is still sitting there, Chrome probably picked up another update while you were working, and that one needs the same restart.

Postpone the prompt when you cannot restart

You are mid-edit, or a call is running, and Chrome wants to close. Dismissing the notice buys you time without touching the update itself.

1. Open the menu in the upper-right corner of Chrome.
2. Select Not now if that option appears beside the relaunch notification.
3. Save your work and relaunch Chrome at a convenient time.

This postpones the interruption. Chrome’s automatic update process keeps running in the background, and the prompt will return once the next update is ready.

RELATED: Download New Chrome and Update to Latest Version

Check the update option on Mac

On a Mac, the About Google Chrome page carries one extra checkbox that Windows users never see. It is also the setting people mistake for a way to silence the relaunch prompt.

1. Open the menu in the upper-right corner of Chrome.
2. Select Help, then About Google Chrome.
3. Look for Automatically update Chrome for all users and confirm that it is enabled.

Turning automatic updates off is not a supported way to get rid of the relaunch prompt, and the checkbox may need administrator permission anyway. Leave automatic updates on.

Check whether an organization manages Chrome

Chrome says it is up to date, and the prompt still shows up? On a school or work device, someone else may have set the rules. An administrator’s update policy can control whether Chrome asks you to relaunch, and how often.

1. Enter chrome://policy in the address bar and press Enter.
2. Review the policies applied to Chrome, paying attention to update and relaunch notification settings.
3. If the Chrome profile is managed, ask the administrator whether the RelaunchNotification policy or its notification period is behind the repeated message.

The RelaunchNotification policy is set by administrators, and you cannot change organization-managed policies yourself.

What to do if the notification still repeats

One clean relaunch should end the prompt. When it comes back anyway, check these three things in order.

Complete one relaunch and confirm the status on the About Google Chrome page. A prompt that survives a full relaunch usually points to a second update or a managed policy, not a broken installation.

Close every Chrome window, wait a few seconds, and start Chrome again. Background Chrome processes can hold a window open without you noticing, and a computer restart clears those as well.

On an unmanaged computer, reinstalling Chrome can repair a damaged installation. It will not change how updates work. Chrome still updates itself in the background and will still ask for a restart when an update is ready.