[German]Since the beginning of June 2025, users have been complaining that they can no longer use the Google Chrome browser while Microsoft Edge works. Windows 11 (and probably also Windows 10 and macOS) are affected. The cause is probably the installed Microsoft Family Safety, which "incorrectly" blocks the Google browser and makes it unusable. The workaround is to rename the browser or set certain filter conditions.
User complaints about Chrome browser crashing
There has been a thread Microsoft Family Safety Blocking Chrome Browser in the Microsoft Anwers forum since the beginning of June 2025, in which a user describes the problem. The thread starter notes that something must have happened around June 3 or 4, 2025. Because since then, the user has noticed that the Chrome browser is being blocked by Microsoft Family Safety.
He suspects that it is related to the latest vulnerability in older Chrome versions, which became known at the end of May or beginning of June 2025, and that Family Safety is blocking the browser. It is annoying that all old and new versions of the Google Chrome browser are blocked.
This is very annoying as students are advised to use Chrome. The problem is, of course, that this does not work, as Microsoft Family Safety is currently activated for all Windows devices used and Chrome does not work.
The thread in question is now three full pages long. Participants from the US school sector in particular seem to have fallen into this trap because Google Chrome is being used as a browser (presumably for compatibility reasons) and Family Safety (for security). One user explains on page 3 of this thread that in his organization it has been found that the easiest approach is to disable the Edge filter settings. He outlines this approach in the post.
More details on reddit.com
The thread Chrome won't open (Windows 11) has been available on reddit.com since the beginning of June 2025, where an affected user describes the problem in more detail. "Since this morning" he has had the problem with the Chrome browser, which crashed. Since then, the browser can no longer be opened. The program window flashes briefly after starting, but then disappears without an error message. The browser can no longer be started.
Measures such as uninstalling (with deletion of the Appdata folder) and reinstalling (with a restart in between) were unsuccessful. The same applies to starting in safe mode (without extensions) or without GPU, opening fails.
Nothing is running in the task manager regarding Google Chrome and no errors are shown in the event viewer. In the reddit.com thread, other affected users confirm the same error. Other Chromium browsers such as Brave can also no longer be started. Only Microsoft Edge can be used, as neowin.net states here. There is this entry in the Chromium bug tracker, which lists numerous other locations on the Internet, which is very annoying as students are advised to use Chrome.
Workarounds and Microsoft's confirmation
The fact that Microsoft Family Safety is not much more than snake oil becomes clear from a workaround posted by an affected person. He was able to solve his problem by searching for the Google Chrome program folder. There he simply renamed the program file chrome.exe to chrome1.exe and adjusted the shortcut on the desktop accordingly.
neowin.net writes here, hat Community Manager Ellen T. and Chrome Support Manager have confirmed the problem in this post. The post in question outlines how to adjust the above-mentioned filter condition in Family Safety so that the Chrome browser works again.
