How to Stop Google Chrome from Running in Background? – WebNots

Why You Should Stop Background Apps?

There are many good reasons to disable unnecessary apps from running in the background.

• Background apps will consume battery and internet bandwidth.
• Similarly, it can consume CPU and RAM while you want to focus on some other tasks.
• You may suddenly receive a notification distracting your work even though Chrome browser is not open.
• Startup apps can delay the booting time and slow down your computer.

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How it works

In order to fully exit the Chrome browser, you need to turn off the apps and extensions installed in Chrome, because some of these might be ‘asking’ the browser to stay connected, in order to run their functions. For instance, mail notifications and chats can keep your browser awake in the background.

However, it’s not that hard to check if your Chrome is still working, all you have to do is go to the bottom right corner of your desktop screen, to the system tray menu and check if the Google Chrome icon is there. Click on it and a list of active tasks will appear, with a definite exit method.

And the best part is that you don’t have to do this every time; if you want Chrome to stop running in the background, without being kept awake by any apps or extensions, you can. But you have to set up Chrome to do so.

Stop Chrome from running in the background at PC startup

In Windows, you can use the System Configuration menu to manage startup apps and disable Chrome from starting up with PC. Here’s how:

Press Windows+R keys on the keyboard to open “Run” dialog and type “msconfig” here to open System Configuration.

Now move to the “Startup” section and uncheck the checkbox next to Google Chrome. You can press “OK” to apply the changes.

This will stop Chrome from running in the background on future startups of Windows.

The above instructions work on all versions of Windows. Although, in Windows 10 you can also access startup apps from the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).

How to Disable Google Chrome from Running in Background?

You can disable Chrome running in background both in Windows and Mac.

Disable in Windows

Here is how you can disable Chrome running in background in Windows PC.

• Launch Google Chrome and click on the three dots button that shows “Customize and control Google Chrome”.
• Select “Settings” option from the menu to go to Chrome settings page.

• Scroll down and click on “Advanced” option to advanced settings.

• Again, scroll down to “System” section.
• Disable “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed” option.

Stop Chrome Running in Windows Startup

By default, Google Chrome also runs in the background when you start Windows. You can disable Chrome in startup as explained below:

• Press “Win + “ to open Windows Settings app.
• Go to “Apps” section and open “Startup” apps.

• Turn off the button against Google Chrome.

Stop Chrome from Running Background in Mac

Unlike Windows, Chrome will still run in the background after you close all the active tabs. Unfortunately, Chrome system settings to disable apps running in background is not available in Mac version. The easy way to find an app running or not in Mac is by checking your dock. The apps running in background will have a small dot under the app in your dock. If you see Chrome is running, click on it to open the app and press “Command + Q” to completely quit.

Alternatively, you can open Activity Monitor and close all Chrome related services running in the background.

• Press “Command + Shift” keys to open Spotlight Search.
• Type “activity monitor” and open the app.
• Find Chrome services and click stop button to kill them.

• Confirm the pop-up by pressing “Quit” button.

Note that you will find plenty of Google Chrome Helper services, make sure that you are not using Chrome if you stop them from Activity Monitor.

Disable Login Item in Mac

Similar to Windows, you can check whether Chrome is part of startup apps and disable it in Mac also.

• Click on the Apple logo on top left corner and select “System Preferences…” option.
• When you are in preferences pane, click on “Users & Groups” and navigate to “Login Items” tab.
• Check if Google Chrome app is available in the list and disable it.

Remember, you need to be an administrator to unlock and edit the preferences in Mac.

Stop Chrome Running from Background in Mobile Devices

On both Android and iPhone, you can open App Drawer by swiping the screen up. It will show you the list of open apps and you can swipe the Chrome app up to close it from running in background. In addition, you can also disable Chrome from running in background from phone or app’s settings page.

• On Android – go to “Settings > Apps” section and tap on “Force Stop” to close the app. You have to do this each time when you want to stop the app.
• On iPhone – go to “Settings > General” section and tap on “Background App Refresh”. You can permanently disable the background apps or only disable the required app. As far as we have checked, Chrome is not in the list and does not refresh content in the background.

Note that it is not necessary to close the background apps in mobiles as the device will dynamically allocate memory for the frontend running apps. Notifications also will not be affected unless you turn off manually from the settings.

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