How to block or disable Google Chrome’s Software Reporter tool?

Internet browsing is now a fact of life. As a result, web browsers have become an integral part of our day-to-day computer activities. One of such web browsers is Google Chrome. Over the years, it has established itself as one of the most widely used browsing programs, especially among Windows users. This is mainly due to the great features and optimizations Google constantly rolls out to Chrome.

But have you noticed how, on certain occasions, your computer weirdly slows down when you’re browsing with Google Chrome or after a browsing session? A known culprit for this phenomenon is the Software Reporter Tool. The tool is part of Google’s methods to ensure you have a smooth browsing experience. However, it can cause certain issues that you may not be comfortable with.

What is software_reporter_tool.exe?

Software_reporter_tool.exe is a program that is designed to run scans on your computer. It comes with Google Chrome and is installed on your computer when you install the browser. The scan runs for about 20 minutes and is carried once a week.

According to Google, the tool scans for the presence of “harmful or malicious content” in folders associated with Chrome.

It removes programs that are considered harmful or incompatible with Chrome once it detects any. However, the functions of the Software Reporter Tool can cause system lag issues, and many users are concerned about their privacy since the program runs without their permission.

If you’re one of such users that don’t want the program running on their computer, rest easy: we’ll show you how to disable Google Chrome’s Software Reporter Tool on Windows 10 in this article.

As for malicious and harmful content on your computer, you can wipe them out from your Windows 10 PC by using Auslogics Anti-Malware. This is a Windows 10-friendly program that runs without causing any lags. It will detect and remove any content that may cause harm to your computer or get in the way of your browsing experience.

How to disable Google Chrome’s Software Reporter Tool on Windows 10?

There are many ways you can stop this tool from running on your computer. From the simple method of finding and ending the process via Task Manager to using certain registry tweaks, we’ll provide a complete guide on how to get rid of these scheduled scans on your PC.

Block Software Reporter Tool in Task Manager

This is one of the fastest ways to disable the Software Reporter Tool. This method is ideal if you want to disable the tool temporarily because you’re running other heavy programs and your computer is slowing down. Follow these steps to disable the software reporter tool in Task Manager:

1. Press the Windows and X keys together and then select Task Manager.
2. Find Software_Reporter_Tool.exe in the Processes tab and select it.
3. Press At+E or click End Task.

Like we have mentioned, this is a temporary fix. The tool will likely start running the next time you launch your Google Chrome browser.

Disable Software Reporter Tool in Google Chrome’s settings

1. Launch Google Chrome and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
2. Click Settings in the menu.
3. In the Settings page, scroll down and expand the Advanced option.
4. Now, scroll down to locate the System segment.
5. Toggle the “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed” option to turn it off.
6. Select Clean up Computer in the Reset and Clean up segment.
7. Uncheck the box beside “Report details to Google about harmful software, system settings, and processes that were found on your computer during this cleanup.”
8. The software report won’t send scan results to Google anymore.

Disable Software Reporter Tool Using the Windows Registry Editor

You can use the Registry Editor to stop the reporter from running. We’ll show you three different hacks that you can apply to do this. Be careful to follow all our guidelines here as tweaking the Windows registry is an advanced and sensitive procedure.

First registry hack

1. Open Run by pressing the Windows and R keys on your keyboard simultaneously.
2. Type regedit in the Run text box and hit Enter.
3. When the Registry Editor launches, go to this location in the left pane:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies

4. Right-click Policies, place your pointer over New, and then select Key.
5. Rename the new key to Google
6. Create a new key under the newly created Google Key (right-click Google and select New>>Key) and rename it to Chrome.
7. Select the Chrome key and right-click the right pane.
8. Place your pointer over New and then select DWORD (32-bit) Value. Rename the DWORD to ChromeCleanupEnabled.
9. Create another DWORD and name it ChromeCleanupReportingEnabled.
10. Set the values of both DWORDs to 0. To do this, simply double-click each DWORD and enter 0 in the text box under Value Data.

The ChromeCleanupEnabled DWORD will prevent the Software Reporter Tool from scanning your computer, while the ChromeCleanupReportingEnabled DWORD will prohibit the tool from sending reports about your computer to Google.

Note: If you decide to enable the Software Reporter Tool in the future, simply delete the DWORDs you created.

Second registry hack

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

2. Create a new key under Policies and rename it to Explorer.
3. Create a DisallowRun key under Explorer.
4. Select the DisallowRun key and right-click in the right pane.
5. Place your mouse pointer over New and then select String Value.
6. Rename the new string to String 1.
7. Double-click String 1 and type Software_Reporter_Tool.exe under Value Data.
8. Your system will now prohibit the Software Reporter Tool from running in the background.

You can always enable the tool again by deleting the string you created.

Third registry hack

1. In the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

2. Create a new key under Image File Execution Options and rename it to Software_Reporter_Tool.exe.
3. Select Software_Reporter_Tool.exe, create a new String in the right pane, and then rename it to Debugger.
4. Now, double-click Debugger and under Value Data, input another executable, such as notepad.exe (SysTray.exe is recommended), that you want to run in place of the Software Reporter Tool.

By doing this, the program you chose will run anytime Google Chrome launches the Software Reporter Tool.

Note that you can always delete the Software_Reporter_Tool.exe key you created should you want to enable the Software Reporter Tool in the future.

How to remove Google Chrome’s Software Reporter Tool on Windows 10 using File Explorer

If you want to disable the tool by deleting its executable file, you’ll have to locate it through the File Manager. Follow these steps to do this:

1. Press the Win+E keys to launch the File Explorer and then click This PC on the left.
2. Now, navigate to C:>>Users[your name]>>AppData>>Local>>Google>>Chrome>>User Data>>SwReporter
3. In the SwReporter folder, you’ll find a folder named after the version number; double-click it and delete the Software_Reporter_Tool.exe.

Note that this is also a temporary fix. The deleted file will be replaced once you update your Google Chrome. You can follow other methods if you want to disable the tool permanently.

Replace the Software Reporter Tool executable file

This method involves replacing the .exe file of the Software Reporter Tool with another program’s .exe file. This action will prompt the program to come up whenever Google Chrome launches the Software Reporter Tool to scan your system.

To do this, simply copy the .exe file of any program of your choice, such as Notepad.exe or Paint.exe, and paste it to the SwReporter folder. After this, remove the Software_Reporter_Tool.exe from the folder and rename the .exe file you copied earlier to Software_Reporter_Tool.exe.

This will cause the substitute executable to launch anytime Software_Reporter_Tool.exe tries to execute, essentially preventing the Software reporter Tool from running.

How to disable Google Chrome’s software reporter tool on Windows 10 via text editor

This process involves preventing the Software Reporter Tool from running any scans on your computer using a text editor such as Notepad. Follow these steps to disable the tool via Notepad:

1. Launch the Notepad application.
2. Click File in the top-left corner and select Open or simply press Ctrl+O.
3. In the file browser, navigate to the SWreporter folder and open Software_Reporter_Tool.exe.
4. Now, delete the entire text on Notepad.
5. Save your changes and close the program.

You have now disabled the Software Reporter Tool, and it won’t appear on the process list in Task Manager again.

Revoke all permissions on Software Reporter Tool folder

Another permanent fix is to remove all user and group permissions from the SWreporter folder. By revoking the folder’s permissions, Google Chrome won’t have access to the folder to launch the tool. Also, newer versions of the tool won’t install on your computer due to this action. Follow these steps to revoke the permissions on the SWreporter folder:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:>>Users[your name]>>AppData>>Local>>Google>>Chrome>>User Data.
2. Locate the Swreporter folder, right-click it, and select Properties.
3. In the Properties window, go to the Security tab and click Advanced.
4. The “Advanced security settings for SwReporter” window will open.
5. Now, click Disable Inheritance.
6. In the Block Inheritance dialog box, choose “Remove all inherited permissions from this object.”
7. Click Apply and select Yes in the next window that pops up.
8. Click Ok in the Properties window.

That settles it. The Software Reporter Tool will now be prevented from carrying out future scans on your computer. If you want to enable it in the future, you can go back to the settings above and select Enable Inheritance in the “Advanced security settings for SwReporter” window.

Remember, with the Auslogics Anti-Malware tool mentioned earlier, you will likely not need the Software Reporter Tool since your system will be safe from malicious programs.

What do you know about Google Chrome’s Software Reporter Tool?

Share your knowledge and experience with us in the comments section below!