How to Disable Google Chrome from Android Phone?

Google Chrome is a cross-platform browser released back in 2008 by Google. Initially, it was introduced only for Windows, but today it is available for macOS, iOS, Linux and is the default browser of Android OS. It is widely accepted by people all over the world due to its consistency and reliability.

The Chrome browser comes with a minimalistic interface design along with a robust browsing performance. I personally used Chrome on my Android for quite a long time. But due to certain issues and recent privacy concerns, I decided to look for an alternative to this.

At a point in time, I wasn’t any more satisfied with the service and was anxious about a few other things as well. But the main part where I got stuck is not knowing how to uninstall it from my Android phone. Since it’s pre-build application added along with other mainstream Google Apps, there is no option to uninstall even from Google PlayStore.

So, if you are new to this platform and want to replace Google Chrome with some other browser, this article will guide you step-by-step. We can perhaps disable chrome without having to uninstall it.

Disabling chrome is almost the same as Uninstall since it will no longer visible on the app drawer and no running processes. But, the app will still be available in phone storage.

In the end, I will also be covering some other browsers that you might love to check out for your smartphone.

Why Uninstall/Disable Google Chrome?

The browser is very well-known for its fast and efficient performance. Additionally, Google Chrome offers everything a user could seek from a web browser. It includes proper settings synchronization, web standards support, incognito mode, and so on. Moreover, over the past couple of years, there were no security vulnerabilities exploited against Chrome.

Then what makes us think about uninstalling the program?

Well, regardless of being a decent web browser, here are some of the possible reasons why you and even I may want to try something different.

• The first and most common reason might be users no longer wanting to stick to the same service where privacy is a major concern. Though there are privacy settings in place which is good. But, every interaction within the browser is recorded and stored on the Google server.
• When are running chrome on older phones, then we have to deal with abrupt crashes as it needs huge RAM memory.
• No support for extensions on the mobile version of the Chrome browser. However, a chromium alternative like the Kiwi browser and Yandex browser do offer extensions to support hand-held devices.

Related: Google Chrome Vs. Microsoft Edge: What to Choose?

Clear Data and Cache Before Disabling Chrome

The Chrome browser supports browser caching which is typically used for making the web browser experience faster by storing the static files from a website into local storage. Since we no longer need Chrome, it’s a good idea to clear the cache and cookies from the storage.

Caches acquire a good amount of storage memory. Most of which is filled with unnecessary information, and this results in slowing down your phone. It also leads to some additional problems include invalid login attempts and irrelevant response errors from a few sites. Hence, it becomes important to clear your browsing data periodically.

Here are the steps to clear Google Chrome browsing data:

1. Turn ON your Android phone.
2. Click on the Google Chrome icon and launch it.
3. Tap on the  for options menu.
4. Go to the Settings tab.
5. Under the Advanced section, select the Privacy tab.
6. Tap on the Clear browsing data tab.
7. Check all the boxes under the BASIC tab.
8. Hit on the Clear data command button.

You can even select the time range for which you want to delete your browsing data. By default, it is selected for the last hour. You can further select for the last 24 hours, a week, month, or all-time data as well.

Apart from that, if you want to delete all your saved passwords too, move to the Advanced tab, check the particular boxes, and click on the Clear data button.

Disable Google Chrome from Android

In other devices such as PCs or iPhones and iPad, removing Google Chrome is as simple as any other apps. However, when it comes to Android devices, Chrome is pre-installed and already set as your default browser. Hence, we cannot simply uninstall it the way we are removing the other apps. But again, there is no rocket science behind it.

Here are the steps to disable and remove Google Chrome from Android Phone:

1. Open your Android phone and head on to the Settings.
2. Scroll down and click on the Apps tab.
   Remember, the term “Apps” might vary in your Settings page depending on your cellphone variation. If you are using a Samsung device, it is mentioned as Apps.
   
3. Again scroll down and tap to open the Chrome app.
4. Tap on the Force stop command to stop the chrome browser.
5. Hit on the Disable option.

Following the above method, you must be able to successfully uninstall all the updates and make it a factory default version. And Disable command will hide the Chrome app from the App launcher. One good thing is, this trick will work on all Android phones, and you can remove the app without any trouble.

Note: Sometimes, you might come across some normal issues such as a few sites not working properly, or maybe when you enter your login credentials, it shows an invalid login attempt.

These are actually common with most browsers. And for such reasons, uninstalling Chrome won’t help you. Instead, you can try clearing your browsing data, and that might help you.

Related: 7+ Best Android OS Web Browsers [Super Fast]

Bottom Line: Disable Chrome from Android

No doubt, Google Chrome has been consistently offering a great service to all its users. And according to recent stats, it is found to have around 68% of the world market share, which is jaw-dropping. However, there are still many users who prefer switching to browsers other than Google Chrome.

You can check out the best browser for faster downloading speed on Android.

Now, different people might have different reasons for choosing an alternative. As of my experience, I had a great time using the Chrome browser. But after a few months of using it on my Android phone, I started experiencing unexpected crashes more frequently. Plus, even after running several troubleshoots, the problem seemed to exist at the same level.

If you are planning to move to some other browser, I would recommend you try Chromium to maintain consistency with the Chrome experience. If not, you can also try some other chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Brave, SlimBrowser, etc. You can also choose the Mozilla Firefox Android. They come with a bunch of extra features and offer a fast browsing service.

Let us know if you have some other better alternatives to Chrome. Also, share your personal experience with Google Chrome.

Lastly, here are the recommended web browsers for your computer and mobile phone that you should give a try.

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