The Persistent Login Prompt
Google Chrome features a robust synchronization engine that keeps your bookmarks, history, and passwords synced across all your devices via your Google account. For added security, users can encrypt this synced data using a custom “Sync Passphrase” that is distinct from their Google account password. However, a common glitch occurs when you change this passphrase on one device but the local Chrome browser on another machine fails to update its token. Consequently, every single time you launch Chrome, it aggressively halts the sync process and throws an annoying error prompt demanding you enter the new passphrase.
Resetting the Sync Engine
If you cannot remember the custom passphrase, or if Chrome simply refuses to accept it despite being correct, you cannot simply disable the prompt locally. You must forcefully reset the Chrome Sync engine via the cloud to clear the broken encryption token.
Open Google Chrome and navigate to the Google Dashboard by typing chrome.google.com/sync into the address bar and pressing Enter. Scroll down to the very bottom of this web page. You will see a button labelled Clear Data (or “Reset Sync” depending on your region). Click this button, and confirm your choice in the pop-up warning. This action does not delete your local bookmarks or history currently residing on your computer; it only deletes the encrypted data stored on Google’s servers. Once cleared, sign out of Chrome in your browser settings, and then sign back in. The sync engine will rebuild your cloud data from scratch using your standard Google password, and the persistent passphrase prompt will permanently disappear.