Apple iPhone users change their default browser with iOS 14 or later. Although Chrome is still the most convenient option for most people, it can often crash or stop working entirely on the iPhone.
This guide includes 7 troubleshooting tips that will help you if you are having the same problem. So, let's check them out.
1. Close all tabs and restart Chrome
If Chrome is constantly crashing or unresponsive, you can close all tabs and restart the Chrome app on your iPhone.
To do this, tap the tabs icon at the bottom. Then tap on the Edit option and select Close all tabs from the menu that appears.
Once done, restart Chrome to check if it is working properly.
2. Disable Google Discover
Chrome's Discover feature suggests articles based on your interests on the homepage. Oddly enough, several people have been able to fix common Chrome issues on iPhone by disabling the discovery stream in Chrome. Here's how you can try that.
Step 1: Launch Chrome on your iPhone. Tap the three-dot menu icon at the bottom right and open Settings.
Step 2: Turn off the switch next to Discover.
If you can't turn off Discover while Chrome keeps freezing, try turning off mobile data and Wi-Fi. Then open Chrome to turn off Discover.
3. Disable Content Restrictions
If your problems with Google Chrome are limited to just a few selected websites, you should check if you have content restrictions enabled on your iPhone. These restrictions can often prevent you from visiting specific web pages or content on those web pages.
Here's how to turn off content restrictions on your iPhone.
Step 1: Open Settings app on your iPhone and go to Screen Time.
Step 2: Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it off.
4. Run a Security Check in Chrome
Running a security check in Chrome allows you to confirm the overall security and privacy of the browser. It checks for pending app updates, safe browsing status, data breaches and suggests actions accordingly.
Read on to learn how to run a security check in Chrome.
Step 1: In the Google Chrome app, use the three-dot menu icon to open Settings.
Step 2: Go to Security Control and click Check Now button.
Once the scan is complete, you can perform the suggested actions and see if it helps.
5. Clear Chrome cache and cookies
Like its desktop counterpart, Chrome for iOS also collects cache data as you browse the web. The more you use Chrome, the more cache data it collects to save bandwidth and reduce load times. But if this data has become inaccessible for some reason, Chrome may not work as expected. To fix this problem, you can try clearing Chrome's cache and cookies by following the steps below.
Step 1: Open Chrome on your iPhone. Tap the three-dot menu icon to access settings.
Step 2: Go to Privacy and select Clear browsing data.
Step 3: Next, tap on the Time Range option and select All Time. Then return to the Clear browsing data page.
Step 4: Check the “Cookies, site data” and “Cached images and files” options. Then tap Clear browsing data at the bottom.
Select Clear browsing data again when prompted.
After that, restart Chrome once more and see if it works fine.
6. Change DNS server
By default, iPhone uses the DNS server provided by your network. But if you have problem loading web pages in Safari or Chrome, you can try switching to another DNS server. Here's how.
Step 1: Launch Settings on your iPhone and go to Wi-Fi. Tap the information icon next to your Wi-Fi network.
Step 2: Scroll down to DNS and tap Configure DNS. Then select Manual.
Step 3: Tap the minus icon to remove pre-populated entries under DNS Servers. Tap Add Server to create a new entry for Google DNS by typing 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 in the displayed text box.
Finally, press Save.
7. Reinstall Chrome
If nothing seems to work, you can uninstall and install Chrome as a last resort. This will give Chrome a fresh start and fix any performance issues with the app.
Browse again with Chrome
Although there are obvious advantages to using Chrome as your default browser, you will occasionally encounter such anomalies. Hope one of the solutions above helped fix Chrome not working on iPhone and you are back to surfing the wild web.