The Persistent Browser
Modern operating systems, particularly macOS, feature a “resume” function designed to reopen all your applications exactly as you left them before a reboot. Furthermore, Google Chrome itself has a built-in background task manager. If you close all visible Chrome windows but leave the background process running, and then restart your computer, Chrome will often automatically launch itself upon boot and attempt to reload all the tabs you were previously looking at. While this prevents data loss if your computer crashes, it is highly annoying if you just wanted to boot into a clean, empty desktop to play a game without your browser immediately eating up 4GB of RAM.
Severing the Startup Link
To ensure a clean boot and stop Google Chrome from automatically opening after a system restart, you must disable background processing and check your OS login items.
First, address Chrome’s internal settings. Open Chrome, click the three vertical dots (customize menu), and select Settings. Click on System in the left sidebar. Toggle Off the switch for Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed. Next, address your operating system. On a Mac, click the Apple logo > System Settings > General > Login Items, and remove Chrome from the “Open at Login” list using the minus button. Crucially, when you actually tell your Mac to restart (Apple logo > Restart), a confirmation box appears. You must uncheck the box that says “Reopen windows when logging back in.” On Windows, check the Task Manager’s “Startup apps” tab and disable Chrome if it is listed there.