Since Chrome version 38, there's a pretty ugly button in the title bar of the Chrome window that allows you to switch profiles quickly. Since I'm the only one that uses my computer, this is not really useful to me, and I'd rather reclaim the space for more open tabs. I've looked in the settings but don't see a way to disable it. How can I get rid of the button?
7 Answers
The following instructions only work for versions of chrome < 44 or version 46:
Disable this via chrome://flags
It's accessible by copy/pasting this URL in the omnibox:
chrome://flags/#enable-new-avatar-menu
Disable it to remove the button.
-
5Does not seem to work anymore with Chrome 40 (on Linux at least).– anonFeb 15, 2015 at 13:44
-
11
-
7It looks like there was a change in Chrome 45 that broke disabling the profile icon. There's a discussion going on code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=496829 if you want to read more. Jun 7, 2015 at 3:11
-
9So, that's a WONTFIX even for single-user because Google uses it for signin/sync errors, where previously the hamburger menu was used for that. What a regression, horror vacui at its worst.– LloekiJun 7, 2015 at 11:34
-
6It seems this no longer works, as the enable-new-avatar-menu flag does not seem to exist anymore. Any suggestions for re-disabling it?– KelmikraJul 25, 2015 at 14:37
For Chrome 45 and higher:
- Not possible. Sadly, you're stuck with it.
For Chrome 44:
- Edit your Chrome shortcut and add the parameter
--disable-new-avatar-menu
- Restart Chrome
For Chrome 43 and lower:
- Copy/paste the following into the omnibox:
chrome://flags/#enable-new-avatar-menu
- Set the value to "Disabled"
- Restart Chrome
-
2It worked! If anyone is wonder how to add a parameter to a shortcut, you just need to
right click on the shortcut > "Propreties" > "Shortcut"
then add--disable-new-avatar-menu
to the right of the "Target" attribute. In my case it became"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-new-avatar-menu
Jun 15, 2015 at 4:35 -
9
-
4
-
7
-
8The --disable-new-avatar-menu parameter stopped working after being updated to Chrome 47 for Mac. Is there another workaround?– ApplecotDec 1, 2015 at 23:55
For those who use OS X and Chrome 44 you can apply the following command in Terminal:
open -a "Google Chrome.app" --args -disable-new-avatar-menu
Make sure you have your Chrome closed before you do this.
-
Is there a way to apply this argument every time you open Chrome.app from the dock?– pkambAug 13, 2015 at 16:49
-
-
tl;dr: you can disable it. copy/paste this URL it in the omnibox: chrome://flags/#enable-new-avatar-menu
, click disable, and click restart at the bottom.
Chrome recently launched a new update to the profile switching UI on desktop Chrome. Here are some of the potential advantages of the new UI:
- Improved profile experience for multiple people sharing the same computer
- Guest mode on desktop Chrome, increasing your privacy when you let a friend on your computer
- More visible sign-in indication and transparency into browser state
Chrome says "There’s still polishing left to do, and we’re working hard to satisfy as many workflows as possible."
Profile switching takes longer?
If you're finding that profile switching now takes an extra action, there are some opportunities. On mac and ubuntu-unity, you can switch profiles via the “People” menu in the toolbar in two clicks. Chrome indicates there are more improvements on the way for all platforms, but a fix for now is enabling the fast-user-switching flag in Chrome experiments:
- Go to chrome://flags
- Search for enable-fast-user-switching
- Enable this flag, and restart your browser
This will put a list of profiles in the drop-down menu.
Yellow triangle next to profile name?
If you're seeing a yellow triangle next to your profile name, then it means there's an error in the Account Sync. Click into it and you can re-authenticate with your password so that Chrome is signed in with your Google account. (There's a few benefits of that) That will take care of the yellow triangle and get your Chrome back to a happy state.
-
2This no longer works. Use the
--disable-new-avatar-menu
shortcut flag instead. That still works on Chrome 44 (July 2015) Jul 22, 2015 at 13:14
Unfortunately Google has completely deactivated the settings workaround since Chrome 45
More about it officially right here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/ixjLlM-Bmgc
One workaround is to force install version 46 of Chrome and pass in the parameter or set the flag. It's hard to get your hands on an .exe installer that doesn't auto-redirect you to the latest chrome version.
On Chrome 44 and newer on Windows, I managed to do it using the /disable-new-avatar-menu
flag.
One of the other answers suggests adding --disable-new-avatar-menu
to a shortcut, but this didn't work for me on Windows 8.1 (on Linux it did). On Windows, the trick was to replace --
with \
, so now my shortcut has Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" /disable-new-avatar-menu
-
This works for me as well in 44 (probably temporarily) +1:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" /disable-new-avatar-menu"
(replace the 2 dashes (--) with a forward slash (/) Aug 15, 2015 at 14:15
You can use the enable-new-profile-management
flag to disable the multi-user mechanism altogether. Paste the this URL in the Omnibox chrome://flags/#enable-new-profile-management
and switch the flag value to Disabled
.
chrome://flags
solution no longer works as of Chrome 45. On Windows, the only way to disable it is to use the--disable-new-avatar-menu
CLI argument. For OSX, well, there really isn't an easy way. You can try the solutions at superuser.com/questions/271678/…