If you’re like most people, you probably use Google Chrome to browse the web and do some work. But if you’re using a Chromebook, you might not know that it automatically updates its version. If this happens, your computer might start to experience problems such as slowdowns or errors. To prevent Chrome from automatically updating itself, follow these steps:

  1. Open Google Chrome and click on the three lines in the top left corner of the window. This will open a menu with options such as “Settings” and “History”.
  2. In the “History” menu, select “Show advanced settings”. This will show you a list of options such as “Auto-update Chrome”. If this option is checked, then Google Chrome will not update itself automatically. However, if it is not checked, then Google Chrome will update itself automatically when it detects that there are new updates available for it.

Sometimes you need to know the particular version of a program you have installed without all the hassle of automatic updates or other “problems” getting in the way. Is there an easy way to do it? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post helps a reader check Google Chrome’s version without the updating issues.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader Franck Dernoncourt wants to know how to check Google Chrome’s version without it automatically updating itself:

How do you check Google Chrome’s version without it automatically updating itself?

The Answer

SuperUser contributor DavidPostill has the answer for us:

Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.

Type chrome://version in Google Chrome’s Address Bar

The version number will be displayed:

Check the Version Using “Programs and Features”

In the Windows Start Menu, select Control Panel, then Programs and Features. The version number will be displayed in the last column:

Turn Off Google Update, Then Type chrome://version in Google Chrome’s Address Bar

To check for updates, Google Chrome uses two system services, Google Update Service (gupdate) and Google Update Service (gupdatem). To turn off automatic updates in Google Chrome, we have to disable these Google services. You can disable these services easily from the System Configuration window by following these steps.

Keep in mind that turning off automatic updates should be done with caution. You may not receive the latest security updates if you do not automatically or manually update Google Chrome frequently.

  1. Make sure that you save all open tabs in Google Chrome if you want to restore them later, then close the browser.

  2. Press Windows+R to open the Run Command dialogue box.

  3. Type msconfig in the box and press Enter to open the System Configuration window.

  4. In the System Configuration window, select the Services Tab.

  5. At the bottom, select/check the box Hide All Microsoft Services. This will hide all services related to Microsoft so that you do not disable essential services.

  6. Under the Services section, search for and find Google Update Service (gupdate) and Google Update Service (gupdatem).

  7. Deselect/uncheck both Google services and click Apply. Click OK to save the settings.

  8. Now you will be asked whether you want to exit without a restart or if you want to restart your computer now. Choose one or the other according to your current situation.

That is all there is to it! You have successfully disabled automatic updates in Google Chrome. To check whether the settings have been applied correctly or not, open Google Chrome and click on the Chrome Menu > Help > About Google Chrome.

Google Chrome will start checking for any available updates. If you see the “An error occurred while checking for updates: Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x800704C7 — system level).” message, then you have successfully disabled automatic updates in Google Chrome.

Note: When you open Google Chrome the next time, you might be asked to provide administrative access to enable automatic updates in Google Chrome. Simply select No every time.

Source: Disable Automatic Updates in Google Chrome [Technical Notes]