How to Download and Install Chrome Offline on Windows
Setting up Google Chrome on Windows 10 is a relatively smooth and trouble-free affair. Download and run the Chrome installer, and you should have the browser up and running in a few minutes. However, the fact that Chrome requires online connectivity during installation can bother many people with intermittent internet connection.
Fortunately, it’s more than possible to download and install Chrome entirely offline, just like any traditional desktop app. And you don’t have to do all you can to do it either. Let’s start.
Why you should install Chrome offline
By default, Google only provides you with a “stub” installer to install Chrome. This installer (which is about two megabytes in size) does not contain the files needed to run Chrome. Instead, it downloads the files throughout the installation process and then installs them immediately.
But if you have a rather spotty internet connection, Chrome’s stub installer may have download issues and take a considerable amount of time. Worse yet, the installation can even fail in some cases.
Connectivity issues aside, you can also install Chrome on multiple PCs. In this case, it is not practical to repeatedly use the stub installer to install the browser, especially if there are bandwidth restrictions to consider. This is also true if you intend to use Chrome on temporary desktop environments such as Windows Sandbox.
The solution is the standalone (offline) Chrome installer. With the offline installer at your disposal, you can easily install Chrome without downloading anything during the installation process.
You can also copy Chrome’s standalone installer to removable media and install the browser on as many computers as you want, without downloading the installer files each time. You don’t even need an active internet connection when installing Chrome.
How to Download Chrome Offline Installer
Rather than looking for Chrome’s standalone installer, you can grab it from the official Google website itself – you need to go to the correct download page.
If your computer has only one user account (or if you want to install Chrome only for one user), visit the Chrome standalone installer download page using the button below. The page is the same as the standard Chrome download page, but don’t worry.
Check the “Help improve Google Chrome …” box if you want to allow Chrome to send usage statistics to Google. Then click on Download Chrome.
Your browser should immediately start downloading the offline Chrome installer. This should be around 60-70MB.
If your computer has multiple users and you want to install Chrome on all of them, you need to download another standalone Chrome installer. Use the button below to go to the corresponding download page.
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How to install Google Chrome offline
Once you’ve downloaded Chrome’s standalone installer, run it from your browser’s download manager. You can also visit the Downloads folder on your computer and then run the downloaded file.
Just like with the stub installer, the installation process is completely automatic. The offline installer will install Chrome on your computer’s primary partition. You cannot change that.
Note: If the Chrome standalone installer does not appear, right-click the downloaded file, and then click Run as administrator.
You may momentarily see the “Download” status appear during installation, but the installer does not download anything. The browser should open automatically shortly after installation.
You can then choose to use the automatically generated local profile to immediately browse the Internet. Or, you can sign in with a Google account and start enjoying Chrome Sync. Using a Google Account with Chrome also provides seamless access to a range of productivity apps and web services such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive.
Keep Chrome up to date
By choosing to install Chrome offline, you avoid the many drawbacks of using the default stub installer. Browser setup is much faster and you also save bandwidth if you intend to install Chrome multiple times.
That said, keeping Chrome up to date is essential to prevent known bugs and security vulnerabilities from causing problems down the road. By default, Chrome automatically updates whenever it detects newer versions.
However, you can forcibly update Chrome by opening the Chrome menu, clicking Help, and then clicking About Google Chrome. Then Chrome will scan, download, and install the latest updates without any further interaction from you.
If you want to reinstall Chrome later, it’s best to download the standalone installer from scratch. Google updates the stable version of Chrome once every two weeks. Therefore, getting a fresh copy should make sure you install the most recent version of the browser. It also allows you to avoid updating Chrome soon after installation.
Then:
Now that you are done installing Chrome offline, how about using the browser in dark mode? Here are six great extensions that can help you do just that.
Last updated on Jul 31, 2020
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