Google Chrome 12 12.0.742.122

Get a fast, free web browser

Google Chrome runs web pages and applications with lightning speed.

Fast start-up
Google Chrome launches in a snap.

Fast loading
Google Chrome loads web pages quickly.

Fast search
Search the web right from the address bar.

Why use Google Chrome?

The web browser is arguably the most important piece of software on your computer. You spend much of your time online inside a browser: When you search, chat, email, shop, bank, read the news, and watch videos online, you often do all this using a browser.

Speed
Chrome is designed to be fast in every possible way: It's quick to start up from your desktop, loads web pages in a snap, and runs complex web applications fast.

Simplicity
Chrome's browser window is streamlined, clean and simple.
Chrome also includes features that are designed for efficiency and ease of use. For example, you can search and navigate from the same box, and arrange tabs however you wish — quickly and easily.

Security
Chrome is designed to keep you safer and more secure on the web with built-in malware and phishing protection, autoupdates to make sure the browser is up-to-date with the latest security updates, and more.

And more features
Chrome has many useful features built in, including extensions, translation in the browser, themes, and more.

Explore Chrome's most-loved features

Here is a creative interpretation of some of Chrome's most-loved features:

Themes
Customize your browser with themes from artists around the world.

New Tab page
Visit your favorite websites easily from the New Tab page. When you open a new tab, the sites you visit most often are readily available.

Omnibox
Use the Omnibox to type both web addresses and searches in Chrome.

Incognito mode
When you don't want your website visits to be recorded in your browser history, you can browse in incognito mode.

Tabs and Stability
Chrome is built for stability. If an individual tab freezes or crashes, the other tabs are unaffected. You can also arrange your tabs however you wish -- quickly and easily.

Google Chrome and Browser Security

Google Chrome includes features to help protect you and your computer from malicious websites as you browse the web. Chrome uses technologies such as Safe Browsing, sandboxing, and auto-updates to help protect you against phishing and malware attacks.

Safe Browsing

Chrome will show you a warning message before you visit a site that is suspected of containing malware or phishing.

A phishing attack takes place when someone masquerades as someone else to trick you into sharing personal or other sensitive information with them, usually through a fake website. Malware, on the other hand, is software installed on your machine often without your knowledge, and is designed to harm your computer or potentially steal information from your computer.

With Safe Browsing technology enabled in Chrome, if you encounter a website suspected of containing phishing or malware as you browse the web, you will see a warning page like the one below.

Sandboxing

Sandboxing helps prevent malware from installing itself on your computer or using what happens in one browser tab to affect what happens in another. The sandbox adds an additional layer of protection to your browser by protecting against malicious web pages that try to leave programs on your computer, monitor your web activities, or steal private information from your hard drive.

Auto-updates

To make sure that you are protected by the latest security updates, Chrome checks for updates regularly to make sure that it's always kept up-to-date. The update check ensures that your version of Chrome is automatically updated with the latest security features and fixes without any action required on your part.