Google Chrome – How to Stop Accumulated Background Processes

google-chromeprocesstask-management

Sometimes invisible instances of Google Chrome accumulate and prevent me from starting the browser:

$ ps -ef | grep chrome
ak        4044     1  4 11:30 ?        00:00:01 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4047  4044  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4049     1  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak        4139  4044  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4044.0x618d838.1464152706 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak        4150     1  3 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4153  4150  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4155     1  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak        4244  4150  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4150.0x48c1e38.1952918361 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak        4253     1  6 11:30 ?        00:00:01 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4256  4253  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4258     1  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak        4348  4253  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4253.0x598ca38.734301885 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak        4355     1  4 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4358  4355  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4360     1  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak        4449  4355  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4355.0x4bb6e38.554350998 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak        4457     1  5 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4460  4457  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4462     1  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak        4553  4457  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4457.0x5338c38.1605325542 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak        4559     1  8 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4562  4559  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
ak        4564     1  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=zygote
ak        4653  4559  0 11:30 ?        00:00:00 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=plugin --plugin-path=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg/3.0.7_0/plugin/screen_capture_64.so --lang=en-US --plugin-data-dir=/home/ak/.config/google-chrome/Default --channel=4559.0x60e6638.1319164624 --enable-crash-reporter=D8EC5832E6B1783FEA1F118FC4B1AAE0,Ubuntu 10.10
ak        4661  4020  0 11:30 pts/2    00:00:00 grep --color=auto chrome

If I try to start Chrome while these are present, the following error message is displayed:

Your profile could not be opened
correctly.

Some features may be unavailable.
Please check that the profile exists
and you have permission to read and
write its contents.

Short of logging out of Ubuntu, how can I get rid of these to allow Chrome to start again? My first guess didn't work as I expected:

$ killall google-chrome
google-chrome: no process found

Running kill on each process two times in a row gets the job done:

$ kill 4044 4047 4049 4139 4150 4153 4155 4244 4253 4256 4258 4348 4355 4358 4360 4449 4457 4460 4462 4553 4559 4562 4564 4653
$ !!
kill 4044 4047 4049 4139 4150 4153 4155 4244 4253 4256 4258 4348 4355 4358 4360 4449 4457 4460 4462 4553 4559 4562 4564 4653
bash: kill: (4139) - No such process
bash: kill: (4244) - No such process
bash: kill: (4348) - No such process
bash: kill: (4449) - No such process
bash: kill: (4553) - No such process
bash: kill: (4653) - No such process

but I would love to have a less cumbersome solution.

Best Answer

A grab-bag of chrome poisons:

pgrep chrome | xargs kill # this is basically "pkill chrome"

Same thing, but sleep for 1/3 of a second in between:

for i in `pgrep chrome` ; do kill $i ;  sleep .33 ; done

Keep on killing 'til the killing's done : 

while pgrep chrome ; do pkill chrome ; done

Short and sweet (but won't exit until you exit manually) :

watch pkill chrome

Might work? :

for i in `pgrep chrome` ; do kill $i && wait $i ;  sleep .33 ; done
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