How can I stop accumulated Google Chrome background processes?
Sometimes invisible instances of Google Chrome accumulate and prevent me from starting the browser:
$ ps -ef | grep chrome
ak 4044 1 4 11:30 ? 00:00:01 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4047 4044 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4049 1 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak 4139 4044 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4044.0x618d838.1464152706 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak 4150 1 3 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4153 4150 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4155 1 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak 4244 4150 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4150.0x48c1e38.1952918361 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak 4253 1 6 11:30 ? 00:00:01 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4256 4253 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4258 1 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak 4348 4253 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4253.0x598ca38.734301885 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak 4355 1 4 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4358 4355 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4360 1 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak 4449 4355 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4355.0x4bb6e38.554350998 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak 4457 1 5 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4460 4457 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4462 1 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak 4553 4457 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4457.0x5338c38.1605325542 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak 4559 1 8 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4562 4559 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak 4564 1 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak 4653 4559 0 11:30 ? 00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4559.0x60e6638.1319164624 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak 4661 4020 0 11:30 pts/2 00:00:00 grep --color=auto chrome
If I try to start Chrome while these are present, the following error message is displayed:
Your profile could not be opened correctly.
Some features may be unavailable. Please check that the profile exists and you have permission to read and write its contents.
Short of logging out of Ubuntu, how can I get rid of these to allow Chrome to start again? My first guess didn't work as I expected:
$ killall google-chrome
google-chrome: no process found
Running kill on each process two times in a row gets the job done:
$ kill 4044 4047 4049 4139 4150 4153 4155 4244 4253 4256 4258 4348 4355 4358 4360 4449 4457 4460 4462 4553 4559 4562 4564 4653
$ !!
kill 4044 4047 4049 4139 4150 4153 4155 4244 4253 4256 4258 4348 4355 4358 4360 4449 4457 4460 4462 4553 4559 4562 4564 4653
bash: kill: (4139) - No such process
bash: kill: (4244) - No such process
bash: kill: (4348) - No such process
bash: kill: (4449) - No such process
bash: kill: (4553) - No such process
bash: kill: (4653) - No such process
but I would love to have a less cumbersome solution.
A grab-bag of chrome poisons:
pgrep chrome | xargs kill # this is basically "pkill chrome"
Same thing, but sleep for 1/3 of a second in between:
for i in `pgrep chrome` ; do kill $i ; sleep .33 ; done
Keep on killing 'til the killing's done :
while pgrep chrome ; do pkill chrome ; done
Short and sweet (but won't exit until you exit manually) :
watch pkill chrome
Might work? :
for i in `pgrep chrome` ; do kill $i && wait $i ; sleep .33 ; done
If you don’t want to see “Google Chrome didn't shut down correctly. To repoen ...”, then it is important to signal only the root of the chrome process tree, like so:
pkill --oldest chrome
See full explanation.
Try this?
kill $(ps -C google-chrome -o pid=)