One of the useful features of Google Chrome is that it can update itself automatically in the background. This means that users never need to worry or wonder if they run the latest version of Chrome, because give it enough time and it will automatically download the latest update and install itself.
How does this work? Basically, in the background, Chrome will download the latest update whenever there is one available, and whenever you restart your browser or computer, the update will be applied the next time you launch the browser.
However, in the event that you don’t restart your computer or browser and you want to update Chrome, not to worry because if it doesn’t update itself automatically, you can always opt for the manual method of doing so, and here’s how to do it.
How To Know If There Are Available Chrome Updates
- Near the top right corner of the browser, look at the icon next to your profile photo
- If there are no updates, the icon should look like three dots stacked vertically
- If there are updates pending that have yet to be applied, it will be colored
- Green: This is an update that was released less than 2 days ago
- Orange: This is an update that was released about 4 days ago
- Red: This is an update that was released at least a week ago
How To Update Chrome Manually
- Assuming there’s an update available for download, click the icon next to your profile photo that looks like three dots stacked vertically
- Click Update Google Chrome (this feature won’t be available if you’re on the latest version of Chrome already)
- Click Relaunch and your browser will restart itself and you should be all set
How To Check Which Version Of Chrome You’re Using
If you want to make sure that you have the latest update available:
- Click the icon next to your profile photo
- Go to Help > About Google Chrome
- It will show you the version of Chrome that you’re running and if it’s update to date, it will say so as well.
We should say that it is important to make sure the software you use is constantly updated and running the latest version. This is because more often than not, updates mean that bugs get fixed and exploits get patched, which in turn will help keep you relatively safe(er) when you are browsing the internet.