Freeze & Crash a Chromebook with Simple URLs

Written by Kyle Smith

Last Updated: June 11, 2024

Are you looking for an easy way to force a Chromebook to crash? While a system crash is often unexpected and the last thing you want to see on your Chromebook, there are a few easy ways to cause a sudden crash. Unintentional crashes can be caused by software or hardware issues. This wikiHow article will teach you how to crash a Chromebook, plus help you determine the causes of unintentional crashing and freezing.

Things You Should Know

You can easily crash a Chromebook using the Chrome browser's built-in debugging URLs.
The crash could damage your Chromebook depending on what caused the crash.
Try crashing your Chromebook using Google Chrome’s built-in debugging URLs.

Section 1 of 4:

Crash Using a URL

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Click the icon on your desktop or taskbar that looks like a blue circle surrounded by a multicolor circle.
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This is a built-in debugging link that simulates a browser crash. Keep in mind that this will crash the Chromebook, so you will lose any unsaved work.

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While this will crash your Chromebook, you can start it back up easily after the crash.
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4
Try these other built-in URLs to crash your Chromebook. These other debugging URLs also crash many Chromebooks as well as the Google Chrome web browser on other computers:
- chrome://crash/
- chrome://gpucrash/
- chrome://restart/

Section 2 of 4:

Can a crash damage a Chromebook?

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Yes, the damage done depends on the nature of the crash. Since crashes can be caused by a variety of problems, the damage will vary.
- A mild crash could result in losing data that wasn’t saved.
- An operating system crash may occur if there’s corrupted information on the disk. This could cause additional crashes even after rebooting the computer. ^{[1]
  X
  Research source}
- A crash caused by hardware issues may indicate that one of your Chromebook’s physical components is already damaged.

Section 3 of 4:

How many open tabs will crash a Chromebook?

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The amount of tabs that will crash a Chromebook depends on your model. Chromebooks with more random-access memory (RAM) can open more tabs before crashing. If you're using an older Chromebook with less RAM, opening many tabs (especially tabs with processor-intensive activities like streaming video and games) will likely freeze or crash your Chromebook.
- If your Chromebook is crashing or freezing unexpectedly, try closing tabs.

Section 4 of 4:

Why is my Chromebook crashing?

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Your Chromebook might be crashing due to a software or hardware issue. Crashes or freezes may occur if there is an error with the operating system. Physical hardware failures can also cause crashing.
- An out-of-date operating system increases the chance of your Chromebook crashing.
- Excessive heat or dust can cause hardware to fail and crash the computer.
- Read about more ways to diagnose potential issues causing freezing .

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Tips

You can also try resetting or recovering your Chromebook. ^{[2]
X
Research source} Try restoring your Chromebook to factory settings using the Powerwash feature.

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If your Chromebook crashes due to overheating, try removing dust and debris from the inside (if your Chromebook’s internals can be safely accessed). Then, make sure to prevent dust from getting in again.

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If the crashes seem to be software related, try updating your applications and ChromeOS.

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Freeze & Crash a Chromebook with Simple URLs

Things You Should Know

Steps

Crash Using a URL

Can a crash damage a Chromebook?

How many open tabs will crash a Chromebook?

Why is my Chromebook crashing?

Expert Q&A

Tips

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