As devastating as it might feel, now might just be the perfect time to abandon the hundreds of tabs you've collected over the past few weeks and restart Chrome, as experts have urged all users to restart the browser due to a major security flaw.
You've probably noticed quite how often updates arrive on every piece of software these days, as developers are constantly improving the user experience and fighting against any vulnerabilities that crop up.
Some of these are applied automatically in the background so you can go about your day without having to do a single thing, yet for many you either need to manually download and install the update or restart the program for it to take into effect.
All of the roughly 3.5 billion people who use Chrome every single month should definitely pay attention to a new alert though, as it's essential that you restart your browser for the latest update to take into effect.
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Why do Chrome users need to restart the browser?
As reported by the Express, Google has revealed that the version of Chrome that many people are on right now has been given the 'zero-day rating' stamp, effectively indicating that hackers are aware of a security flaw and users are then at risk of exploitation.
"Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2025-6554 exists in the wild," wrote the company alongside the latest Stable Channel Update for Desktop, and it has pushed live an emergency fix in order to mitigate this major security exploit.
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All you need to do then is update your browser to the latest version and you'll be safe, as otherwise you would leave yourself at risk of things such as arbitrary code execution, which could lead to data and system compromises.
How to update Chrome to the latest version
An update should be automatically loaded onto your browser right now, and simply closing and reopening should be enough to officially install it, but it's still worth double checking whether you're on the right version or not.
To do this, press the three vertical dots in the top right of the browser, head to the Settings menu, and then open the 'About Chrome' tab at the bottom of the side selection.
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You should then be able to see your current update version, and if you've got version 138.0.7204.96/.97 for Windows, 138.0.7204.92/.93 for Mac, or 138.0.7204.92 for Linux you'll be completely fine.
If not, Chrome will prompt you to restart the browser to install the latest version, and you can do this by pressing the 'Relaunch' button that should be next to your current version.