Google has issued an apology after a failure in the Chrome browser left many Windows users unable to access or save their passwords. The issue, which occurred on July 24 and lasted for approximately 18 hours before being resolved on July 25, was attributed to a “change in the behavior of the product without proper protection of functions.”
This incident affected Chrome browser users worldwide, preventing them from accessing their previously saved passwords in the Chrome password manager. Additionally, new passwords could not be saved and were inaccessible to users. Google specified that only the M127 version of the Chrome browser on the Windows platform was impacted by this issue.
While it is challenging to determine the exact number of affected users, considering Chrome’s massive user base of over 3 billion users, with a large portion using Windows, it can be assumed that a significant number of users were impacted. Google stated that 25% of affected users experienced configuration changes, totaling approximately 750 million individuals. Out of these, around 2% encountered issues with the password manager, equating to roughly 15 million users.
A temporary solution was provided in the form of launching the Chrome browser with a command line “-enable-Features=Skipundecryptablepasswords”, although this was inconvenient for most users. The complete fix, now available, simply requires the relaunch of the Chrome browser. Google expressed gratitude for users’ patience and offered apologies for the inconvenience caused. Users experiencing further issues were advised to contact Google Workspace for assistance.