How to Disable the Google Chrome ‘Software Reporter Tool’ (Fix High CPU Usage)

If you open the Windows Task Manager while running Google Chrome, you might occasionally notice a background process called “Software Reporter Tool” consuming an excessive amount of CPU or disk resources. This is a built-in Chrome executable (software_reporter_tool.exe) designed to scan your computer for malware or conflicting software that could cause the browser to crash.

While intended to keep Chrome stable, this aggressive background scanning can cause severe performance issues on older hardware, grinding your hard drive to a halt for several minutes at a time. Because standard Windows antivirus programs already perform these scans, Chrome’s redundant internal scanner is often unnecessary and can be disabled to restore system performance.

How to Turn Off Chrome’s Software Reporter Tool

You can disable the scanning engine by modifying Chrome’s underlying System settings.

1. Open the Google Chrome browser.
2. Click the three vertical dots (⋮) in the top-right corner of the window.
3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
4. In the left-hand sidebar, click on System (you may need to click “Advanced” first depending on your Chrome version).
5. Alternatively, type chrome://settings/system directly into the address bar and press Enter.
6. Look for a toggle switch labelled Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed and turn it Off.
7. For older versions of Chrome, look for a section called Reset and clean up in the sidebar, click Clean up computer, and uncheck the box labelled Report details to Google about harmful software.
8. For a permanent, forced fix, you must navigate to the executable file (usually located at %localappdata%\Google\Chrome\User Data\SwReporter), right-click the folder, select Properties > Security > Advanced, and disable all inheritance permissions to lock Chrome out of the folder.

Once disabled, the software_reporter_tool.exe process will no longer randomly spike your CPU usage. Chrome will rely entirely on your operating system’s native antivirus defenses, allowing your computer to run much more smoothly.