Removing the Chrome app does not remove everything. On a computer, your profile (bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies and settings) stays in a folder in your user account, and on a Mac or Linux computer Chrome also leaves a cache folder. If you were signed in, a copy of some of your data is also kept in your Google Account. This page shows how to delete each of those leftovers. To remove the app itself, follow how to uninstall Chrome first.
Deleting these folders is permanent. If there is anything you might want later, make a copy first with how to back up Chrome data.
Where Chrome leaves your data
These are the default locations of Chrome’s user data folder, from the Chromium documentation. Each profile you made in Chrome is a subfolder inside it, often called Default.
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data(for exampleC:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data). On Windows the cache is inside the profile, so this one folder holds everything. - Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome, plus the cache in~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome. - Linux:
~/.config/google-chrome, plus the cache in~/.cache/google-chrome.
If you also used Chrome Beta, Dev or Canary, each one has its own folder next to these: Chrome Beta, Chrome Dev and Chrome SxS (Canary) on Windows; Chrome Beta, Chrome Dev and Chrome Canary on a Mac; google-chrome-beta, google-chrome-unstable (Dev) and google-chrome-canary on Linux.
Remove leftover data on Windows
- Uninstall Chrome first. On Windows 10, Google’s steps include a box called Also delete your browsing data: checking it deletes your profile during the uninstall, and you can skip the rest of this list.
- Press Windows + R, type
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chromeand press Enter. - Delete the User Data folder.
- Empty the Recycle Bin if you want the space back now.
Remove leftover data on a Mac
- Quit Chrome and drag Google Chrome from Applications to the Trash.
- In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder, enter
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chromeand click Go. Select all the folders and drag them to the Trash. This is the step Google’s uninstall guide gives for deleting your profile information. - Choose Go > Go to Folder again, enter
~/Library/Caches/Google/Chromeand move that folder to the Trash too. - Empty the Trash.
Remove leftover data on Linux
Removing the package with sudo dpkg -r google-chrome-stable (Debian, Ubuntu) or sudo rpm -e google-chrome-stable (other systems) removes the app, and Google’s guide gives no step for the profile. With Chrome closed, delete the profile and the cache yourself:
rm -rf ~/.config/google-chrome ~/.cache/google-chrome
Check the path before you press Enter: rm -rf deletes without asking and without a trash.
Delete the copy in your Google Account
If you were signed in to Chrome, things like bookmarks, passwords, extensions and settings were also saved in your Google Account. Deleting folders on your computer does not delete that copy. Google’s sign-in help gives the way to remove it:
- On a computer, open Chrome and go to Chrome data in your Google Account dashboard.
- At the bottom, select Delete data > Delete.
Google gives these steps in its passphrase help and warns that your passwords and other info will be deleted from your Google Account and your device. Export your passwords and bookmarks first if you want to keep them. Searches and other activity on Google services, such as Gemini, are saved to your Google Account and are deleted separately from your Chrome data.
On a phone
On an iPhone or iPad, deleting the Chrome app also deletes your profile on the device, so there is nothing left to clean up. On most Android phones Chrome can’t be removed, only turned off. The uninstall guide linked at the top of this page has the steps for both.
Going back to Chrome later
If you want Chrome again with a fresh start, download it for Windows, Mac or Linux and sign in. Anything that was saved in your Google Account comes back; anything you deleted from both places is gone. Reinstalling Chrome walks through it.