Google Chrome Path in Windows 10

Google repeatedly changed the path to the .exe of Chrome. Sometimes it’s hidden in %APPDATA%, in Version 35/36 they changed the path back to program files. There are also differencies across the Windows versions.

Where is Google Chrome located in Windows 10?

5 Answers 5

Please see the screenshot which gives you the ability to seek for the current path of google chrome path or any other application Task Manager — Windows 10

Windows 10:

• %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
• %ProgramFiles%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
• %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

Windows 7:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Application\chrome.exe

Vista:

• C:\Users\UserName\AppDataLocal\Google\Chrome

• C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome

There are also Registry Keys and environment variables to use. Check out this post for universal use for programming.

The answer I am writing is applicable for any software/application installed on windows.

Click on windows button and search for the application, in this case Chrome. Right click on application name and click on «Open file location».

You will reach at location of the shortcut of that application. Again right click on the application shortcut and then click on «Open file location». right click on shortcut demo picture

And you will get your path for desired application. Picture showing path of application being highlighted

PS: Doesn’t works for apps installed from windows store.

How to Change the Installation Path for Google Chrome

Related

Google Chrome gives you many options for personalizing your Web browsing experience, such as productivity extensions and offline Gmail support. One customization feature it lacks, though, is a custom installation directory. By default, Chrome installs into your user account’s AppData folder, and the installation routine doesn’t let you change the directory. While technically, Chrome will always install to this default folder, you can alter that folder so Chrome will actually install its data to another location. This can be especially helpful if you have limited space on your C: drive and need to conserve what you have left.

Setup

Log in to an administrator account on your computer if you installed Google Chrome as part of the Google Pack. Standard accounts don’t have the necessary access privileges to uninstall Chrome if the Google Pack was installed for all user accounts. If you installed Google Chrome only, administrative privileges shouldn’t matter.

Download the Junction program by Mark Russinovich at Microsoft’s TechNet website (see Resources). This program will allow you to create symbolic links in folders on your computer. Your computer treats these links like standard folders, but all data is actually directed to another location. This means that while Chrome does install to its default folder, all its data actually resides in another location.

Copy the Junction.exe file within the ZIP folder to the directory C:\Windows\system32. You can delete it after you finish installing Chrome if you want.

Uninstall Google Chrome if it’s still on your computer. You cannot change an existing Chrome installation directory.

Symbolic Links

Locate the Chrome installation folder by clicking the «Start» button and typing «%LocalAppData%\Google» without quotation marks. («%LocalAppData%» is an environmental variable that opens your user account’s «AppData\Local» folder.»)

Delete the Chrome folder, if it’s still there.

Navigate in a new Windows Explorer window to the directory where you want to install Chrome, while still leaving the old Google installation directory window open. You can use any local directory you want, even one on a different hard drive.

Create a new Chrome folder in this directory. You can use any folder name you want, but the simplest approach is to use «Chrome.»

Open the Command Prompt. You can do this by clicking the «Start» button and typing «cmd» and then pressing «Enter.» Here you can issue commands to the Junction.exe file you installed simply by typing «junction» (with no quotation marks) followed by a space.

Type «junction» and then a space; then, in quotation marks, type the original directory of the first installation folder. (You can type it in full or use the «%LocalAppData%» environmental variable.) Junction will create a symbolic link at that location. On the same line, type another space and then, also in quotation marks, type the new installation directory to the folder you created a few moments ago. For example, if you’re creating a symbolic link to a folder named Google on your D: drive, this is what you would type (without the final period): junction «%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome» «D:\Google\Chrome». If you used a different folder name than Chrome for the new installation directory, type that instead of «Chrome» in the second directory. Now press «Enter.» You’ll see confirmation of the action Junction took in the Command Prompt, and if you look in the old installation directory, you’ll see a new folder named Chrome.

Check to make sure the Chrome symbolic link works properly. You can double-click it in the original Google installation directory, and if you created the link correctly, you’ll be taken to the new installation directory automatically. (You can see the directory near the top of the window.) If you made a mistake, look in the Command Prompt to see if an error code is listed there below the command you typed; then carefully type the entire «Junction» command in the Command Prompt again, making sure the line is free of errors.

Type «exit» (without quotation marks) and press «Enter» in the Command Prompt to close it.

Download and install Chrome normally (see Resources). Because of the symbolic link you created, the data will install to the new directory you specified. You can check this by right-clicking on the original Google installation folder and selecting «Properties.» The data size for the Google folder will not reflect the «Chrome» program data (though it will reflect the program data for other Google products, if you have them installed).

• If you ever decide you want to get rid of the symbolic links and install Chrome normally, you should uninstall Chrome and restart your computer. Then you can remove the symbolic link in the Command Prompt by typing this (without the final period): junction -d «%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome». If you reinstall Chrome, it will install to its default directory.
• You can keep all of your custom extensions and bookmarks if you sign in to your Google account in Google Chrome. To sign in, click on the wrench icon in the top-right corner of the Chrome window and select «Sign in to Chrome.» You’ll then have an option to turn on synchronization. After you reinstall Chrome, you can sign into your Google account again, and the browser will sync itself to your previous customizations.

• If you create the new installation directory in a location that could be moved, renamed or deleted, such as an external hard drive, Chrome will not work if that directory becomes unavailable.

A lover of technology in all forms, Matt Skaggs began writing professionally in 2010, specializing in Windows computers and Android devices. His writing has appeared on many websites providing a plethora of technology information and tutorials. In 2008 Skaggs graduated from Bob Jones University with a Bachelor of Arts in humanities.

Universal path to chrome.exe

I am making an application and I want to make it installable on the user’s desktops using chrome URL shortcut. Therefore, is there a universal path to the chrome.exe that can launch my app on all Windows versions ( XP, Seven and vista )

7 Answers 7

Chrome installs by default to the User’s AppData Local folder:

Update: As mentioned in a comment, it appears the path to chrome.exe has changed in Win7/8. It’s now in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

Best bet is to use some OS detection code, then use an environment variable to detect the User’s AppData folder (i.e. %LOCALAPPDATA% ) or the ProgramFiles folder, and then append the difference in OS’s to the end of the variable.

You can look in the Registry:

The registry option might be the best, but the one suggested in the other answer didn’t exist in my computer (Windows 10 64-bit). I think the «Uninstall» key might be more robust. If it didn’t exist, users would have a hard time uninstalling Chrome. The following keys give you the install location, you’ll need to append «\chrome.exe» to get the full path to the executable:

Chrome:

Chrome Canary:

\shell\open\command . Does HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Google Chrome\InstallLocation exist in your computer? – JLCastillo Jun 21 ’17 at 16:54

Win 7 32 bit:

Win 7 64 bit (or W10 64b):

c:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

(which is different from the preceding answers and comments).

Clay Nichols suggestion to look in the registry is of course recommended.

Please do not edit!

Someone «edited» this answer saying 32 bit paths are always (x86) , showing a total misunderstanding of the question and the answer! The path c:\Program Files (x86)\ does not even exist on a 32 bit machine (unless you manually add it youself); both of the above are tested answers.

What is default location of ChromeDriver and for installing Chrome on Windows

I need to install chromedriver on Windows OS. In the article below they specify:

«. ChromeDriver expects you to have Chrome installed in the default location for your platform. «

But I’m not sure what is the default location ?

On Mac OS it’s /usr/local/bin .

With this I don’t have to specify path explicitly or setup system path either.

How to achieve the same on Windows OS?

5 Answers 5

For any driver that Selenium must use to open the browser ( chromedriver , geckodriver , etc), you don’t have to worry about where it is installed, as long as it’s set in the PATH variable.

If you have it set in the OS PATH variable, you must be able to run it from the command or cmd (it’s always good to make sure it’s working).

Here’s how you can set it (append to the existing value):

Then you can just instantiate it as follows:

Hope it’s somehow helpful.

These are two interrelated important questions as follows :

• Default location of ChromeDriver
• Default location of Chromium/Google Chrome

ChromeDriver

You can download the recently released ChromeDriver from ChromeDriver — WebDriver for Chrome page and place it any where within your system. When you initialize the ChromeDriver you need to pass the absolute path of the ChromeDriver binary.

Additionally, you can also help WebDriver to locate the downloaded ChromeDriver executable through the following steps :

• Include the ChromeDriver location in your system PATH environment variable.
• (Java) Specify the location of ChromeDriver through the webdriver.chrome.driver system property
• (Python) Specify the location of ChromeDriver when instantiating webdriver.Chrome()

Chromium/Google Chrome

The most important fact is you need to ensure that Chromium/Google Chrome is installed in a recognized location as per the ChromeDriver — Requirements as the server expects you to have Chromium/Google Chrome installed in the default location for each system as per the snapshot:

Note : For Linux systems, the ChromeDriver expects /usr/bin/google-chrome to be a symlink to the actual Chrome binary. You can also override the Chrome binary location following Using a Chrome executable in a non-standard location .