Microsoft Family Safety is blocking Chrome after recent update — here’s how to fix

If your child’s Chrome browser suddenly won’t open on a Windows PC, you’re not alone. Microsoft Family Safety, which is designed to protect kids from inappropriate content, is mistakenly flagging Google Chrome as unsafe. Not to mention, it’s causing major headaches for families and schools.

Following the release of Chrome versions 137.0.7151.68 and 137.0.7151.69, users have reported that Microsoft Family Safety immediately shuts down the browser and prevents it from reopening. Strangely, Microsoft Edge works fine under the same settings.

The issue is mostly affecting Windows 11 users, though some reports mention Windows 10 and macOS as well. As The Verge notes, the first report about the issue began surfacing on the Microsoft forum earlier this month.

There’s a workaround—for now

Some users have had success by renaming chrome.exe to something like chrome1.exe. But that’s more of a hack than a fix. A Google Chrome community manager, Ellen T, confirmed that Microsoft Family Safety is the root cause. The good news is that she has shared a fix for the issue, which is as follows:

• First, go to familysafety.microsoft.com or open the Family Safety app
• Then, select your child’s profile
• Next, under the Edge tab, turn off “Filter inappropriate websites”
• If not, go to Windows > Apps & Games and unblock Chrome manually

Microsoft has also acknowledged the issue and provided similar instructions.