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Microsoft is blocking Google Chrome through its family safety feature
June 20, 2025
For over two weeks, Microsoft’s Family Safety feature has been causing significant disruptions for users of Google’s Chrome browser on Windows. Initially reported on June 3rd, many users found themselves facing unexpected closures or an inability to launch Chrome altogether.
The root of the problem appears to be a bug within Microsoft’s Family Safety, a tool designed primarily for parents and educational institutions to implement parental controls and web filters. According to Ellen T., a manager from Chrome support, “Our team has investigated these reports and determined the cause of this behavior. For some users, Chrome is unable to run when Microsoft Family Safety is enabled.”
Interestingly, other web browsers such as Firefox and Opera remain unaffected by this glitch. Some resourceful users have discovered a workaround by renaming the Chrome executable file from Chrome.exe to Chrome1.exe, allowing them to bypass the issue temporarily. Additionally, parents and schools utilizing Microsoft 365 can disable the “filter inappropriate websites” setting in Family Safety to restore Chrome’s functionality, albeit at the risk of exposing children to unrestricted web access.
As the situation stands, there is no clear timeline for when Microsoft will address this ongoing issue. Attempts to obtain a comment from the company regarding a potential fix have gone unanswered. A Chromium engineer noted in a bug tracking thread on June 10th, “We’ve not heard anything from Microsoft about a fix being rolled out. They have provided guidance to users who contact them about how to get Chrome working again, but I wouldn’t think that would have a large effect.”
This incident is not the first time Microsoft has employed unconventional tactics to promote its Edge browser over Chrome. Historically, the company has resorted to various strategies, including misleading prompts, AI-generated responses, and even popups that mimic malware, all aimed at steering users away from Chrome. Earlier this year, Microsoft went so far as to use Bing to create the illusion that users were still on Google.
Microsoft is blocking Google Chrome through its family safety feature
For over two weeks, Microsoft’s Family Safety feature has been causing significant disruptions for users of Google’s Chrome browser on Windows. Initially reported on June 3rd, many users found themselves facing unexpected closures or an inability to launch Chrome altogether.
The root of the problem appears to be a bug within Microsoft’s Family Safety, a tool designed primarily for parents and educational institutions to implement parental controls and web filters. According to Ellen T., a manager from Chrome support, “Our team has investigated these reports and determined the cause of this behavior. For some users, Chrome is unable to run when Microsoft Family Safety is enabled.”
Interestingly, other web browsers such as Firefox and Opera remain unaffected by this glitch. Some resourceful users have discovered a workaround by renaming the Chrome executable file from Chrome.exe to Chrome1.exe, allowing them to bypass the issue temporarily. Additionally, parents and schools utilizing Microsoft 365 can disable the “filter inappropriate websites” setting in Family Safety to restore Chrome’s functionality, albeit at the risk of exposing children to unrestricted web access.
As the situation stands, there is no clear timeline for when Microsoft will address this ongoing issue. Attempts to obtain a comment from the company regarding a potential fix have gone unanswered. A Chromium engineer noted in a bug tracking thread on June 10th, “We’ve not heard anything from Microsoft about a fix being rolled out. They have provided guidance to users who contact them about how to get Chrome working again, but I wouldn’t think that would have a large effect.”
This incident is not the first time Microsoft has employed unconventional tactics to promote its Edge browser over Chrome. Historically, the company has resorted to various strategies, including misleading prompts, AI-generated responses, and even popups that mimic malware, all aimed at steering users away from Chrome. Earlier this year, Microsoft went so far as to use Bing to create the illusion that users were still on Google.