Chrome Opens Websites in New Tab Automatically [Fix]

Google Chrome may be one of the best web browsers available currently, but it too has its own flaws and issues. Many Chrome users have experienced an unusual issue with the Chrome browser on their system, where automatically some websites get opened in a new tab.

This is happening all of a sudden and they are not sure how and why this is occurring on the Chrome browser on the Windows system. We researched a lot on this issue and gathered a few reasons why this is happening and they are listed below.

  • Malware attack on the Chrome browser.
  • Unreliable extensions from third-party sources.
  • Corrupted cookies and other browsing data in Chrome.
  • Outdated Chrome browser.
  • Unwanted background apps.

Having these points in mind, we have compiled a bunch of solutions in this article below, which will definitely resolve this issue in Chrome.

Fix 1 – Reset Chrome to its Default Settings

Sometimes, making small changes in the settings can create issues in any application. So we suggest resetting the Chrome browser to its default settings and see if this works.

Here are the steps explained below on how to do it.

Step 1: Open the Chrome browser on your system.

Step 2: Now open a new tab and type chrome://settings/reset in its address bar and press the Enter key.



Step 3: This opens the Reset and clean up page.

Step 4: Click Restore settings to their original defaults to continue.

 



Restore Settings To Their Default Values 11zon

 

Step 5: This pops up a window and you need to click Reset settings.

 

Reset Settings 11zon

 

Step 6: This will restore all the chrome settings to their default original values.

Fix 2 – Uninstall and Install the Chrome browser

If the issue mentioned above in this article is caused because of some problem with the Chrome browser, then it is better to reinstall the Chrome app on the system once.

Follow the steps below on how to uninstall and then install the Chrome browser app.

Step 1: Press the Windows+R keys together which opens the run command box.

Step 2: Then type appwiz.cpl in the run box and press Enter key.

 

Run Appwiz.cpl Min

 

Step 3: In the Programs and Features wizard, search for Google Chrome from the list and select it.

Step 4: After selecting the Chrome app, click Uninstall on top as shown in the image below.

 

Uninstall Google Chrome Min

 

Step 5: Now follow all the onscreen instructions from here onwards to successfully uninstall the Chrome app.

Step 6: After uninstalling, close the Programs and Features wizard.

Step 7: Now go to the Chrome app’s downloads webpage and click the Download Chrome button.

 

Click Download Chrome Min

 

Step 8: This starts downloading the setup file.

Step 9: Once it finishes the download, go to the Downloads folder and double-click on the Chrome setup file.

Step 10: Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation process carefully.

Step 11: Once done, you can launch the Chrome app without any issues.

Fix 3 – Clean up the Chrome browser

If there is any malware attack on the Chrome app, it should be removed by cleaning up the chrome browser, which is elaborated using the steps below.

Step 1: Press the Windows key and type chrome.

Step 2: Select the Chrome app from the results as shown below.

 

Open Google Chrome Win11

 

Step 3: Once the Chrome app opens, open a new tab and type chrome://settings/cleanup in the address bar and press Enter key.

Step 4: This opens the page called Clean up computer.

Step 5: Click the Find button on the right side of the page as shown below.

 

Click Find Button To Clean Up Ccomputer 11zon

 

Step 6: It will then start to check for all the malware/harmful software and then removes it if any are found.

Fix 4 – Remove all the third-party extensions

Extensions are a wonderful piece of code, that helps the users to improve their productivity and experience a better user interface. But sometimes unknowingly users download and install extensions from third-party sources which are not reliable.

Therefore, we recommend our users remove those extensions from third-party sources by following the steps given below.

Step 1: Open a new tab in the Chrome browser on your system.

Step 2: Type chrome://extensions/ in the address bar and hit Enter key.

 

Chrome Extensions Min

 

Step 3: This opens the Extensions page on your system.

Step 4: Click Remove on all the extensions which were downloaded and installed from unreliable sources one by one as shown below.

 

Remove Extensions 11zon

 

Step 5: After removing all the unwanted extensions, close the chrome app once.

Step 6: Now reopen the Chrome app and check if the problem still persists.

Fix 5 – Clear the Browsing history and other data

Not only do the files get corrupted on the system, but browsing data and cookies, and cached files also get damaged. This causes such problems in the Chrome browser app. So let us try clearing the browsing history and other data in the Chrome browser app.

Step 1: Open the Chrome browser and open a new tab.

Step 2: Type chrome://settings/privacy in the address bar and hit Enter key.

Step 3: This opens the Privacy and Security section on the Settings page of Chrome.

Step 4: Click Clear browsing data from the options as shown below.

 

Clear Browsing Data 11zon

 

Step 5: This pops up the Clear browsing data small window.

Step 6: Under the Basic tab, select All time from the Time range option.

Step 7: Select all the 3 checkboxes (Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, & Cached images and files) by clicking on them.

Step 8:  Finally, click Clear data which deletes all the browsing history, cookies, other site data, etc.

 



Clear Browsing Data All Time Basic Min

 

Step 9: Finally, you can close the Privacy and Security page.

Fix 6 – Disable the Background apps

Some Windows users claimed that they were able to fix this issue by disabling the background apps running when chrome is closed.

Steps on how to disable this feature on the Chrome browser.

Step 1: Open the Chrome browser on your system.

Step 2: Click the Kebab icon (3 vertical dots) on the top right corner of the Chrome app to see show more options.

Step 3: Then select Settings from the show more options list.

 

Chrome Settings Min

 

Step 4: On the Settings page, click System on the left side panel.

 

System Chrome 11zon

 

Step 5: On the right side, toggle the option called Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed by clicking on it once to disable it as shown below.

 

Continue Apps Background Chrome Disabled 11zon

 

Step 6: Relaunch the Chrome browser and see if the problem is resolved.