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up vote 4 down vote favorite

Even when I close Chrome, I can see running processes of that instance in the Task Manager. If I had initiated three instances of Chrome, I could see three Chrome.exe in the Task Manager. Why aren't the processes killed when the browser is closed?

I also notice that Chrome creates a lot of cache and few times Trojans were found in Chrome's cache folder.

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1  
Uh, maybe those Trojans are keeping Chrome open, or pretending to be Chrome? – Moshe Apr 11 '11 at 12:55

6 Answers

up vote 10 down vote

There's an option in Chrome's settings to leave it running in the background if any apps or extensions require it. Most likely you're using such an extension and this option is turned on by default. Google Cloud Print will cause this too.

Background Apps Option

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That fixed it for me. So it turns out this is not a bug, it's actually a feature in Chrome. Some apps stay alive at the background and that keeps the tasks alive in the task manager. – ældron Jul 27 '12 at 9:50
Fixed it for me as well, although in my case it had just been one app, which makes me wonder why around 10 chrome.exe processes kept running. Almost seems like Chrome keeps them all alive, no matter how many are really active. – Olaf Nov 5 '12 at 8:30
Thank you. This was driving me nuts and all I could find online were bug reports. Seems no one else in the world is aware that this is actually a "feature" of Chrome. – Chris Pratt May 20 at 19:25
up vote 3 down vote

, I could see three Chrome.exe in the Task Manager. Why the processes aren't killed when the browser is closed?

They are. I can't simulate this.

As paradroid mentions - Atleast the eBay extension causes a Chrome process to remain open and adds itself to your system startup:

enter image description here

If you have this extension, I'd recommend you uninstall this. If you don't, disable all extensions and enable them one by one to find out the errant extension.

few times trojans were found in Chrome's cache folder.

I don't see how this is Chrome's fault.

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The latter is not Chrome's fault but the fault of lots of web-cache. A nice pleasure garden for trojans. – RPK Apr 11 '11 at 12:52
I have noticed that an eBay extension that I use keeps on running after Chrome is closed: chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/… – paradroid Apr 11 '11 at 12:54
@paradroid - Indeed Spybot confirms this. i.imgur.com/UhrjE.png Didn't think this was possible. – Sathya♦ Apr 11 '11 at 12:59
1  
A Good housekeeping rule is to clear your browser cache frequently, no matter whose browser you are using. – Moab Apr 11 '11 at 15:19
A trojan sitting in your cache can't do any harm unless it's executed somehow. Besides that, it's already on your system! You'd be better off keeping malware from getting your system in the first place instead of cleaning up afterward. – afrazier Nov 24 '11 at 16:00
up vote 2 down vote

I had an instance of Chrome remaining active in my task manager and I was able to solve the issue by going into advanced settings and removing my printer from Cloud Print and uncheck background apps from running after close of Chrome. VOILA: nothing in the task manager. I do now see 5 instances in my task manager, but I'm certain that they have to do with me changing the above settings, seeing as two of them have the words "field trial" in them. No worries because they all close immediately when I close the Chrome Browser. Hope this helps.

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up vote 1 down vote

I experienced this problem as well.

Situation:

I pinned a tab, every time I unpinned it, then closed chrome, a single chrome process would always remain in the task manager. I tried checking the "Background Apps Box", so nothing would have a chance of running and still no joy.

Fix:

  • Unpin the tab.
  • Close Chrome.
  • Open your process manager/task manager - Hold Ctrl, Shift, and Esc.
  • Look at the chrome process that remains and note the Mem Usage size.
  • Reopen Chrome.
  • Then end the chrome process with the same Mem usage size that remains.
  • Close Chrome.

Keep this in mind... if you try to end the chrome task before you reopen it the settings don't get saved to memory. This is why you have to kill the process after you reopen.

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up vote 1 down vote

Go to TOOLS > EXTENSIONS menu. Uncheck / deselect ALL extensions you have installed (don't delete them, just deactivated all).

Quit Chrome and check if all tasks/processes were ended. If so, it means one or more of the installed extensions are causing this problem.

Now, activate one by one quiting Chrome and checking the processess for all of each of extensions activation. You will find which one is causing the problem.

In my case the problem "DvdVideoSoft Free Youtube Download 1.0.0.0" extension.

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up vote 0 down vote

There has been problems when people have Google cloud print enabled when it leaves the Chome.exe. A quick fix would be type about:flags in the address bar and disable Print Preview.

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