Google Chrome is one of the most popularly used browsers around the world, and it keeps updating features regularly but still, it has its own set of problems that can be annoying to users at times. Many users have reported that when they try to open a web page, Chrome is reportedly crashing with an error message saying
“Aw Snap! Something went wrong while displaying this webpage.
Error Code : STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION”
The error is a result of mishandling code management and occurs when memory gets a registration from an unspecified program code without any proper authority. An outdated version of the browser or a large number of extensions installed in Chrome can be another potential cause of the error. Generally, this error is seen in Chromium-based search engines like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
In this article, we have listed the fixes which users have used to overcome this error. Before moving over to the fixes, try the workarounds listed below that some users have reported being successful in fixing this error.
Workarounds
1. Close and Restart chrome again.
2. Try refreshing the browser a number of times.
3. Restart your PC and check whether it helps with this error.
4. Try browsing using the Incognito mode in Google Chrome. Open Chrome, and click on three dots at the top right corner. Select New Incognito Window menu item.
5. Check whether Google Chrome is running with its latest updated version. Launch Chrome and open the Settings page. Go to the About Chrome tab and see whether an update is available or it is the latest version.
6. Try clearing Chrome cache and cookies. Open Chrome and click on three dots at the top right corner. Select More Tools –> Clear Browsing Data. Set the Time Range to All time and check all the options to clear the browsing data.
Fix 1 – Rename the Browser Executable File
Many users have fixed this error code by renaming the Chrome executable.
1. Right-click on the Chrome icon on your desktop and then click on the Open File Location option.
2. In the File Explorer that opens up with the folder where Chrome is located, find an executable file named chrome.
3. Right-click and select Rename to change the name of the executable. Rename it to something else, say chrome1 or chromeold.
4. Once you have renamed the chrome executable, launch Google Chrome and open the website and check whether the error still persists.
Fix 2 – Disable RendererCodeIntegrity Feature
RendererCodeIntegrity is Windows 10 specific feature that was designed to prevent unsigned code from being able to change the way Chrome’s pages load. Based on user reports it has been noticed that disabling this feature has helped some users overcome this error.
Change Manually using Properties
1. Locate Chrome shortcut on your desktop. Right-click and choose Properties.
2. In the box labeled Target, add a space and the type –disable-features=RendererCodeIntegrity
3. Click on Apply and then on OK.
Alternative way – Change using Registry Editor
1. Open Run by pressing Windows key + R. Type regedit to open Registry Editor.
2. Copy and paste the location below in the navigation bar:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
3. Once you reach the above location, right-click and select New and select DWORD(32-bit) Value.
4. Name the created item as RendererCodeIntegrityEnabled.
5. Double-click on the newly created item and set its value to 0 in the Value data field.
Restart Chrome and check whether it helps to clear the issue at hand.
Fix 3 – Detect Faulty RAM by memory test
Few users have stated that they were able to resolve this error after performing a memory test to detect faulty RAM in the system.
1. Open Run dialog by pressing Windows key + R. Type mdsched.exe to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool.
2. To check the system for memory problems, click on Restart now and check for problems. The system immediately restarts and you won’t be able to use the system, so make sure you save all your work.
3. Wait for your system to complete the test. During this process, you’ll see a progress bar and a Status message will inform you if any problems have been detected during the process. Once it is done the system will automatically reboot and return to the Windows desktop.
4. If the test results don’t appear, open Event Viewer by typing eventvwr in the Run dialog (Windows key + R).
5. Navigate to Windows Logs > System. You can see a list of a large number of events. Click Find in the right pane.
6. Type MemoryDiagnostic into the search box and click Find Next. It will show the scan details displayed at the bottom of the window.
If it shows any errors, it means that there is a problem with the hardware which needs to be rectified.
Fix 4 – Install Chrome Canary
Some users have recommended installing Chrome Canary which is a developer version. Download the executable for Chrome Canary from this link. Double-click the downloaded file and complete the installation.
Now you can open Chrome Canary and check whether this fixes the STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION error.
Fix 5 – Copy Working Browser’s User Data Folder
Some users have seen that copying the working browser’s user data folder to the browser’s folder which was giving the error helps to overcome this issue. Before trying this fix close Chrome and make sure you end all processes with the name chrome.exe in Task Manager.
1. Navigate to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google in the File Explorer navigation bar.
2. Copy the folder of the browser which is giving the error and paste it in the above location and name it as Backup.
3. Go to your working browser’s folder and copy the User Data folder. For Example, if your Standard Chrome browser is working go to that folder using %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome and copy User Data folder in it.
4. Move back to the browser folder in which you are getting the error (here it is Chrome SxS). Paste the copied User Data folder into this and replace all files.
5. Go to the Backup folder created in Step 1 above. Navigate User Data > Default and copy Bookmarks, Cookies, History, and Login Data which restores your data. Paste in your browser’s folder where you were getting the error.
Once you complete the steps above, open the browser which was showing the error and check whether it is fixed.
Fix 6 – Reinstall Chrome
Users have reported that using an unstable version of Chrome can cause several issues and the only way to fix it is by downloading a stable version of Google Chrome.
1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Type appwiz.cpl to open Programs & Features.
2. Navigate to Google Chrome and click on the Uninstall button at the top.
3. Once Google chrome is been uninstalled, download the stable version of Chrome from its official website. Install and check whether the error code still occurs.
Fix 7 – Disable Chrome Extensions
Extensions can be one of the main reasons for this error code caused due to mismanagement of code. Some users have tried to fix this error by disabling all the chrome extensions as it is not known which extension is creating the error code.
1. Launch Google Chrome and type chrome://extensions in the address bar to see all the extensions installed on Chrome.
2. Toggle off all the extensions and check whether the error occurs.
3. In case an error doesn’t occur, try enabling one extension at a time to find out which one caused the error code.
4. Once you identify the problematic extension on Chrome, remove it by clicking on the Remove button next to it.
5. Install an Adblock extension if you don’t have one on your Chrome. It will block all the advertisements from the chrome page.
Fix 8 – Set Chrome to run with Administrator access
1. Locate the Chrome shortcut on your desktop. Right-click and then select Properties.
2. In the Properties window, select the Shortcut tab and click on the Advanced button below.
3. Check the box next to Run as Administrator and click on OK.
4. Try running Google Chrome via the shortcut for which the access permission we changed.
5. Replace any shortcut on the taskbar with a new one. Right-click on the taskbar shortcut and select Unpin from the taskbar.
6. Open Google Chrome with the desktop shortcut that has administrator access, right-click this icon on the taskbar and select Pin to Taskbar.
Fix 9 – Disable Chrome Sandbox
The sandbox environment is a testing and staging platform that doesn’t allow the code being tested to make any changes to the existing code and databases. Some users have reported that occasionally, this feature can cause Google Chrome to throw an error.
1. Right-click on the Google Chrome shortcut on your desktop and select Properties.
2. Select the Shortcut tab and type ” –no-sandbox” (without quotes) after the path to the application in the Target input box. Make sure to include one space between the EXE portion of the path and the first hyphen in “–no-sandbox.”
3. Click on Apply to save changes and then on OK.
Relaunch Google Chrome with sandbox disabled and check if the error is resolved.
Fix 10 – Try an alternative Browser
The STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION error is a browser-specific issue that occurs mostly in chromium-based web browsers like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. If you’re facing an error in Chrome, you can try the Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox and vice versa if the error is in the Microsoft Edge. This must be your last fix if none of the above work as you need to wait for Google to update Chrome to fix this issue.
Thanks for reading.
We hope this article has helped you to resolve the STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION error code in Chrome. Comment and let us know if there are any other fixes that worked for you.