I can't open my Brave Browser (Windows 11) 13/02/2025

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1

Hi Brave Browser Community,

I haven’t been able to open my Brave Browser since this morning. Every time I try to launch it, a window flashes briefly and then exits instantly.

I’m using Windows 11 and have tried almost everything I found on Google, including uninstalling it with Revo Uninstaller, redownloading it, editing the target field in properties, and disabling Windows Real-Time Protection.

I even tried downloading the Beta and Nightly versions, but they still won’t open.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

2

Without BB running, please delete the ‘Caches’ folder, and delete the ‘Cookies’ file.

Caches (folder):

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Cache\

Cookies (file):

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Cookies

Change the path within the Brave Browser shortcut on your computer’s Desktop.

For the following Changed Path, the switches are intended to:

  • Start up Brave Browser, showing a New Private Window [–incognito]
  • Disable all experiments at brave://flags [–no-experiments]
  • Disable extensions [–disable-extensions]
  • Disable hardware (GPU) ie Graphic Acceleration [–disable-gpu]
  • Enable leak detection and if that failure occurs, then crash the browser [–enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure are a combo]
  • Produce error/log output to a file named ‘brave_console_out.txt’ on the Windows OS Desktop

Changed Path:

64 architecture (change the path to):

"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --incognito --no-experiments --disable-extensions --disable-gpu --enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure 2> %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\brave_console_out.txt

Notice that the existing path, BEFORE the additions, is enclosed by double-quote marks. And, everything added to the existing path, is located after the existing path.

TEST your issue(s).

You might find some interesting info in the brave_console_out.txt file on your Desktop.

While BB is running, go to brave://extensions and disable / remove any and all extensions that you have added / find there. Also, please DISABLE the Developer Mode switch (for test purposes).

While BB is running, ENABLE the following, so Brave receives info:

05_Privacy_and_Security_003_Data_Collection
05_Privacy_and_Security_003_Data_Collection1229×469 62.6 KB

After you click the “Send Now” button, return to brave://crashes and gather up the Crash ID numbers. Post the numbers, here [that is, your OP - Original Post], in a reply.

3

I first deleted the Cache folder and the Cookies file, then tried changing the path, but Brave still didn’t open, and no file was created on my desktop. I also copied and pasted the command into Command Prompt, which did generate a file, but it was empty.

4

Stable releases of Brave Browser, can be found at:

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/blob/master/CHANGELOG_DESKTOP.md

Please use the following as a guide, in order to verify location of parts of a typical Brave Browser stable release installation:

5

I have the same unresolved problem. After the production version stopped loading, I was able to use the nightly build for a few days. Now, neither works. Brave processes open in Task Manager, whether nightly or production, but nothing else.

6

Solution? As suggested in this thread by ArunROG87Razer, my problem was resolved by updating the NVIDIA driver (1650 Super). The problem started after updating the driver. Rolling the driver back did not resolve the issue. However, a subsequent driver update was released by NVIDIA today which, for now, appears to have resolved the problem.

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