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Google Chrome sometimes freezes on Windows 10

So I have been experiencing a strange issue when using the Google Chrome web browser on Windows 10. Sometimes, and I'm not sure what triggers this, Chrome freezes. What I mean by that is that the interface of the browser seems to freeze so that operations such as opening a new tab, loading a new web address or switching tabs seemingly don't work anymore.

While it appears that way, activities that you perform are still carried out in the browser. For instance, while I don't see a new tab appear in Chrome when I hit Ctrl-t, nor that Chrome switches to it or loads the URL that I type (after hitting enter), it is actually still happening in the background.

It does display address suggestions when I start typing in the address bar but does not update the address nor display the invisible tabs.

The only issue is that the actions are not reflected in the browser interface at all.

The only workaround that I found so far is to minimize Chrome and bring it back to the front afterwards. When I do that, the interface is updated and the actions that were carried out while it was frozen are displayed.

chrome freezes

I have tried a couple of things to find out more about the issue but since it only happens sporadically, was not able to pinpoint it.

What I do know however is the following:

  1. This happens in all versions of Google Chrome including Chromium.
  2. Other Chromium-based browsers are not affected (it seems).
  3. This only happens on Windows 10 and not when Chrome is run on previous versions of Windows.

Here is a video that demonstrates the issue. I press Ctrl-T three times but the action is not reflected in the browser interface at all. Then I try to load a new website (on the new tab page that was spawned but is not shown).

Chrome displays the address bar and suggestions, but not what I typed nor the new address that I selected.

I don't know if this is a issue that only I'm experiencing or if it is a wider issue of Chrome on Windows 10.

All I know is that I experience this in Chrome Stable and Canary, and that updating has not resolved it so far.

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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