The Aw, Snap message means the current Chrome tab crashed while trying to display the page. Usually the rest of Chrome is still running, and the fix is to reload the tab or reduce what Chrome is trying to handle.
Does this affect you?
Use this for Google Chrome on Windows, Mac, and Chromebook when a tab turns blank, gray, or white and shows an Aw, Snap crash message instead of the website.
Reload the page and free memory
Start here because many tab crashes are temporary or memory-related.
- Reload the page with the reload button, Ctrl+R on Windows or Chromebook, or Cmd+R on Mac.
- If the tab crashes again, close other tabs you do not need.
- Close heavy apps such as video editors, games, or meeting apps if memory is tight.
- Quit every Chrome window and reopen Chrome.
- Restart the computer if it has been running for several days.
Each tab uses memory. On lower-memory devices, a few heavy pages can be enough to make one tab crash.
Disable graphics acceleration
A graphics driver conflict can make Chrome renderer tabs crash.
- Open Chrome settings from the three-dot menu.
- Go to System.
- Turn off Use graphics acceleration when available.
- Relaunch Chrome when prompted.
- Try the page again.
If this helps, check Windows Update optional driver updates or macOS Software Update for graphics fixes.
Check extensions and reset Chrome
Use this when many different sites crash.
- Open chrome://extensions.
- Turn off every extension.
- Restart Chrome and test the page.
- Turn extensions back on one at a time to find the problem extension.
- If extensions are not the cause, open chrome://settings/reset and restore settings to defaults.
- If crashes continue, reinstall Chrome from Google.
More control
One site only
If only one heavy site crashes, the site may have a bad script, video, ad, or memory-heavy feature. Try fewer tabs, a lighter page version, or an ad blocker for that site.
Low-RAM devices
Devices with 4 GB of RAM or less see this more often. Keep fewer active tabs open and use tab groups or separate windows to organize work.
Update Chrome
Open chrome://settings/help and install any available update. A follow-up Chrome update can fix recent driver or rendering bugs.
Sources
- Google Chrome Help – Fix page crashes and other page loading errors (2025)
- Google Chrome Help – Reset Chrome settings to default (2025)
- Chromium Project – Renderer process crashes documentation (2025)