I’m using brave just fine last night and now it’s not working and keep saying that my browser is outdated but says “can’t update brave” and that I should reinstall, but nothing is fixed. I looked at the latest version of brave and mine and it’s the same- v1.87.190.
After using Windows Defender plus whatever may also be your considered anti-malware tools - might be MalwareBytes(?), then:
‘https://www.elevenforum.com/t/use-system-file-checker-sfc-to-repair-system-files-in-windows-11.720/’
And after all that work > IF you THEN believe that you need to again Un-install and then Install Brave Browser, after you backed up your data . . .
Where Brave Browser Profiles Are Located
With Brave Browser running, open a New Window and go to: brave://version
Scroll down to Profile Path: You should see, for
Linux OS - usually but not always:
/home/[username]/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/[profile_folder_name]
MacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/[profile_folder_name]
Windows OS: C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\[profile_folder_name]
The actual Profile folder names for [profile_folder_name] would be:
- Default
- Profile 1
- Profile 2
- Profile n [where n is the next increment: 3, 4, . . . etc.]
Upon the original installation and setup of Brave Browser (“BB”):
The 1st BB User Profile is named Profile 1 and its data is maintained within the folder named Default:
- MacOS:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default - Windows OS:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
When proceeding with the creation of additional BB User Profiles:
The 2nd BB User Profile name will be Profile 2 and its data will be maintained within the folder named Profile 1:
- MacOS:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Profile 1 - Windows OS:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1
The 3rd BB User Profile name will be Profile 3 and its data will be maintained within the folder named Profile 2:
- MacOS:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Profile 2 - Windows OS:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2
Repeating the pattern of BB User Profile creations:
- Actual 1st BB User Profile data is in folder named
Default - Actual 2nd BB User Profile data is in folder named
Profile 1 - Actual 3rd BB User Profile data is in folder named
Profile 2 - Actual 4th BB User Profile data is in folder named
Profile 3
Renaming the BB User Profile name(s) . . . DOES NOT CHANGE the folder names and structure:
- Renaming 1st BB User Profile name, from
Profile 1toBob8← still uses folder namedDefault - Renaming 2nd BB User Profile name, from
Profile 2toHope← still uses folder namedProfile 1 - Renaming 3rd BB User Profile name, from
Profile 3toEmma← still uses folder namedProfile 2 - Renaming 4th BB User Profile name, from
Profile 4toWork← still uses folder namedProfile 3
DO NOT CHANGE the names of the folders.
Also, do not swap folders that have unmatched names. For example, do not swap folder Profile 2 for folder Profile 5.
The above notes, are also at:
64 architecture, system level installation:
C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
x86 architecture, system level installation:
C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
64 / x86 architecture, user level installation (NOTE: you must substitute your Windows OS user account name for [UserName]):
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
Determine Windows OS PC architecture - try any of:
Settings → System and then About (bottom left corner). It should be listed under Device Specifications ← scroll to that, and look for System type (example: 64‑bit operating system, x64‑based processor)
Command Prompt: wmic os get osarchitecture
Installation and Un-installation of Brave Browser
NOTE: The following Un-install info includes steps for un-installing the Brave Browser updater - BraveUpdate.exe.
Install Brave Browser (Desktop)
Brave Browser Beta
‘https://brave.com/download-beta/’
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases?q=beta&expanded=true’
Brave Browser Nightly
‘https://brave.com/download-nightly/’
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases?q=nightly&expanded=true’
Brave Browser Stable Release
‘https://brave.com/download/’
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/blob/master/CHANGELOG_DESKTOP.md’
Brave Browser for Linux OS - How to install
‘https://brave.com/linux/’
Brave Browser Release Schedule at Brave GitHub:
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Brave-Release-Schedule’
At GitHub, typical example of Brave Browser installers for Windows OS (64-bit machine) users:
ARM: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/download/v1.85.118/brave-v1.85.118-win32-arm64.zip’
INTEL: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/download/v1.85.118/brave-v1.85.118-win32-x64.zip’
Uninstall Brave Browser (Desktop)
The Brave Browser application brave.exe etc.:
‘Every time I open the browser it closes again directly - #20 by clifton’
The Brave Browser updater, BraveUpdate.exe:
‘Have to re-install Brave multiple times per day on Windows11 - #24 by mherrmann’
A note from Brave Support, if all you want, is: How do I delete my data in Brave?
'https://support.brave.app/hc/en-us/articles/4413256282765-How-do-I-delete-my-data-in-Brave
IF still struggling to uninstall, try:
https://crystalidea.com/uninstall-tool
File and Folder Permissions - Brave Browser (Windows OS):
Ref.: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/38609’
And then, there is the following:
‘Lost cookies, extensions, filters, but tabs are there, on 2 different computers - #3 by Flex’
I asked Perplexity.ai to decipher those commands. The reply:
Those three commands are working together to take control of the Brave Browser profile folders and reset their permissions for the Administrators group.
1) takeown /F ... /R /D Y /A
takeown /F C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser /R /D Y /A
takeown– changes the owner of files/folders./F <path>– target folder: here it is the Brave-Browser folder in your profile./R– recurse into all subfolders and files./D Y– automatically answer “Yes” to any confirmation prompts when access is denied./A– make the Administrators group the owner (instead of just the current user).
Effect: Administrators become the owner of the entire Brave-Browser tree under that user profile, including all subfolders and files.
2) icacls ... /setowner Administrators /T
icacls C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser /setowner Administrators /T
icacls– manages NTFS permissions and ownership./setowner Administrators– explicitly sets the owner to the Administrators group./T– applies to the folder and all subfolders and files.
Effect: Confirms and enforces that Administrators are the owner of everything under Brave-Browser (similar goal to the first command, using a different tool).
3) icacls ... /inheritance:e /T /C
icacls C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware /inheritance:e /T /C
/inheritance:e– enables permission inheritance so items inherit ACLs from their parent folder./T– recurse through all subfolders and files underBraveSoftware./C– continue even if errors occur (skips over problem files, keeps going).
Effect: Re-enables normal inherited permissions for everything under BraveSoftware, so permissions flow down from the parent instead of using only custom/blocked ACLs.
Overall purpose
Together, these commands:
- Make the Administrators group the owner of the Brave Browser data folder and all of its contents.
- Ensure that ownership is set consistently using both tools (
takeownandicacls). - Turn inheritance back on for the broader
BraveSoftwarefolder so its permissions are normalized and inherited from its parent, which can fix “Access denied” and permission corruption issues within the Brave profile.
May be handy in your search for malware:
Command Prompt tool: dir /p /o:-d ← This Command Prompt entry, will find the recent items in a directory / folder. To see only files: dir /a:-d /p /o:-d To see only directories: dir /ad /p /o:-d
IF you include the /X then filename extensions will show for a shortened filename convention (8.3 something) where the file name is 8 characters: dir /p /o:-d /X
| DATE | TIME | SIZE | 8 CHARS | FULL NAME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/19/2017 | 09:50 PM | 7,606,728 | ASPOSE~4.DLL | Aspose.Cells.dll |
@Saoiray - any chance this issue is also because of a fake (malware), or an extension?
I ask, because of:
I’ll try this, thanks!
Did you take a look at: ‘brave://settings/help’ and see what may be instructing/suggesting re an update being required and steps to take?
@Saoiray - any chance this issue is also because of a fake (malware), or an extension?
I ask, because of:
1 Like
@ZenCTN I have two thoughts.
Thought 1: Just try installing on top
Go to https://brave.com/download/ and install Brave. Don’t uninstall or do anything. This is like a forced patch. Maybe it will “fix” whatever is gone wrong.
Thought 2: Maybe it’s one of the weird update bugs
I actually have had moments where my Stable/Release version gets the Nightly update instead and then it can sometimes go crazy in its update messaging.
This may feel scary to you, but best bet is if you’re on Windows, uninstall and reinstall.
When you go to uninstall, you’ll see a prompt like below:
When you see it DO NOT check the box. By leaving it unselected, it will leave all of Brave’s files behind. Then you go to https://brave.com/download/ and install it again. All of your passwords and other details will still be there. It will be like you never uninstalled it. If you do select the box, all of that will be gone and it will be like you’re installing Brave for the first time.
-note-
It could be something else, but I have a feeling one of the two above will be all that’s needed.
I mean, you could just ignore it and wait for next update(s) and see if it goes away then., No harm beyond just annoying you by seeing the update button until then.
Surprised no one checked this (I take that back, @289wk did), but at brave://settings/help is there an error code visible to you as to why Brave didn’t update?
Some time ago I found issues with Omaha (the installer/updater) that somehow gets its services in a very weird state, and will leave a very unique error code there.