HomeWinBuzzer TipsHow to Disable the Google Chrome Software Reporter Tool in Windows 10

How to Disable the Google Chrome Software Reporter Tool in Windows 10

We show you how to perform a Chrome Software Reporter Tool disable with Windows 10 security settings or your Registry Editor.

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The Chrome Software Reporter Tool, also known as software_reporter_tool.exe, helps keep your browser in a healthy state. It scans your PC for issues that could affect your internet use and reports those to . These scan results are then used to determine whether you should remove certain unwanted software that could negatively impact your browsing experience.

The idea behind the Chrome Sofware Reporter Tool, then, is a good one. In practice, however, it can be problematic. For starters, Chrome Software Reporter Tool has high CPU usage when it scans. This can result in up to 30% CPU usage for up to 20 minutes. If you're playing a game or have a slower PC, this is likely to negatively affect your experience.

The other, of course, is that the tool sends your data to Google. Worse, it may search folders outside of its install location, scanning anything it deems “relevant” to Chrome. This can include your documents folder. Admittedly, the tool is still less invasive than your typical cloud-based anti-virus, but it certainly isn't what users signed up for when they installed Chrome.

As a result, in this guide we'll show you how to disable the software reporter tool by blocking its permissions or disabling it via a registry entry. Here's how:

How to Disable the Software Reporter Tool in Windows 10

There are a couple of ways to remove Software Reporter Tool from your PC, but users tend to have the most success with a simple permissions block.

    1. Navigate to Chrome's User Data directory
       

      Open File Explorer and paste the following into the address bar: %localappdata%\Google\Chrome\User Data. If this throws up an error, your folder may be in a slightly different location. Try navigating to %localappdata and finding it manually instead.

      Once you've found the User Data folder, look for a sub-folder called “SwReporter”. Right-click it and select “Properties”.

    2. Open Advanced Security settings
       

      Click on the “Security” tab, then click “Advanced” down the bottom.

    3. Click “Disable inheritance”
       

    4. Press “Remove all inherited permissions from this object.”
       

    5. Press “Apply” in the Advanced Seucirty Settings screen
       

    6. Agree to the Windows Security Prompt
       

    7. Press “OK” in Advanced Security Settings
       

    8. Press “OK” in SwReporter Properties
       

      We have now removed the service from all user group permissions. This will effectively disable Software Reporter Tool, as nobody on your PC will be able to update or run it unless the folder or names change.

How to Disable Chrome Software Reporter Tool via Regedit

If changing the folder permissions doesn't work, you may have some success modifying your registry. Google introduced policies that admins can use to change Chrome features, and one of them disables the Software Reporter Tool. Here's how you can enable it:

  1. Open the Registry Editor
     

    Press Start and then type “Registry Editor” click the top result.

  2. Navigate to the Chrome Policies key and create a new DWORD
     

    In your Registry Editor search bar, paste the following: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome. If one or more of the keys does not exist, you can create it yourself by Right-clicking on its parent folder in the folder tree and selecting “New > Key”.

    Once you've opened the Chrome key, right-click the empty space in the mane pain and select “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value”. Name the DWORD ChromeCleanupEnabled

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  3. Modify the value data
     

    Double-click your new DWORD and change its value data to 0 to disable the Chrome Cleanup Tool. Press “OK”.

  4. Create a ChromeCleanupReportingEnabled DWORD
     

    Following the same process as the previous entry, create a new 32-bit DWORD and name it ChromeCleanupReportingEnabled.

  5. Change the value data to 0
     

    Press “OK” when you're done.

With that, the Software Reporter Tool disable should be in effect. However, you may want to make further tweaks to your Chrome, such as disabling autoplay videos and disabling the built-in adblocker.

Last Updated on February 14, 2022 7:45 pm CET by Markus Kasanmascheff

Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.
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