How to recreate a user data folder

Problem

You want to recreate a profile in Mac or Windows.

Environment

  • Chrome Browser
  • Corrupted extensions
  • Sync issues
  • MacOS or Windows

Solution

  1. Open Chrome browser using the affected profile,
  2. Go to chrome://version page,
  3. Check the Profile Path for the active profile's folder path and copy the path except the last folder,
    1. For a Profile Path that shows: /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default, you should copy up to /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/
  4. Close ALL Chrome windows that belong to the active profile,
  5. Go to the path captured above in step #3 and rename the folder that was excluded,
    1. In this case, rename Default to something else, for example Default_old
  6. Open Chrome browser again and add new profile by signing in following the steps mentioned in this Help Center article.
In order to recreate all profile folders from scratch, the recommended way is to move ALL folders in step #5 to somewhere else (rather than deleting them). This way, the profiles may be restored if needed.

Cause

Although there may be several reasons for doing that, this is mostly recommended in case of corrupted extensions, as this action will force downloading of all the extensions for the affected profile(s).