Thanks @Saoiray.
For those still affected, here are some trouble shooting steps listed in @Saoiray’s linked issue above https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/38609#issuecomment-2195847971
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New to adding content to this community, I have entered this thread based upon reading the following, in the first message:
“So, today Brave automatically updated while I was away …”
Then the reference to later to being unable to open Brave running as Administrator.
My issue is related, but different, so … Please let me know if the following should be entered here in this thread? Or another one entirely different?
Here goes:
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For YEARS (an early Brave browser adopter), I have opened my profile on a Windows-based PC with normal user permissions, THEN opened my Brave browser by Running as Administrator. I do this for security reasons with all I have linked to Brave and do not want it exposed under my user profile.
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While I had to uninstall and reinstall Brave a few times in the early days, it has again been YEARS since that was necessary. Until yesterday …
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Whatever happened in yesterday’s Brave update, I can no longer open Brave under my user profile and then run as Administrator. Instead, what I get is Brave opening as though it was being opened normally as a user. Meaning it is completely devoid of bookmarks, my extensions, etc. And … Therefore … Completely useless …
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If I log out under my normal user profile, and log in as Administrator, then all that I am accustomed to seeing on Brave is available. Thankfully, nothing has been lost. However, I have long understood that running your day-to-day activities under the Admin profile is a very poor practice for security. Therefore, I never have …
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This has occurred on both my newer Windows 11 based PC, as well as on my older (back-up) Windows 10 based PC. That is, whatever this upgrade “broke” it is affecting both versions of Windows.
Thank you, in advance, for any help you can provide. (Ideally, some indication that the Brave dev team did NOT intend this consequence, knows what caused it, and that it will be corrected in an upgrade in the near future.)
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This morning I tried to open BB, but it just didn’t open. I googled for some solutions and in some posts in the brave community I found some ways to fix it but the only thing that actually worked was renaming the .exe file (which I still don’t know why that worked). After that I reinstalled it and It could open just as before, BUT now the problem is that in some websites it won’t block some pop-ups (the kind that you click on any part of the site and it automatically opens another tab with some ad). And I just can’t fix it. Can someone help me? I already downloaded Brave Beta and I don’t have this issue there, but why is this happening on normal Brave?
NOTE: This only happens in my personal PC, when I use Brave on another computer, it works just fine.
I have Windows 11 x64, and the latest version of Brave.
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Description of the issue:
today i have try to open my brave and did not worked, then i read some posts here and try :
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download and instal with out unisntaling ( did not work)
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i allways add it opening like administrator
-downloaded nightly to try, opened but when i input my sync code it was saying that the code is expired.
nothing was working, then i read something about changing the name of the app (.exe)
and it worked, but now i can’t see any of my previous profiles but the main one.
i realy need help on geting them back, cant understand why any of this happend, really dont know how to fix it.
ain’t all profiles linked to same brave?
how can i get my profiles back. help pls.
yesterday was working fine.
microsoft windows 11 home (10.0,build 26100)
Brave 1.80.113 (oficial compilation) (64bits)
update:
so i restarted pc, and at the end it still not working. also realise now, that on previous try that worked (changing name of app .exe) all my logging credentials are gone.
so:
-still not working. brave browser click and nothing happends(as admin).
-when name of file is changed and download/instal without uninstal previous, then opens but:
-no logging saved usernames and passwords.
-no brave profiles.
update 2
- it doesnt block adds.
I am facing exactly the same issue, I used to use the brave browser the same way this person did. Logging in on an account with normal privileges and then running brave browser as admin with privileges and access everything but it is no longer working now.
I use my machine the same way this person does for security reasons and facing the same problem.
OS - Windows 10 Build 19045
Brave version - v1.80.113
Setup Information - I am not sure what is that
Yes.. I got this problem today 27.6.6025 (2025 by old silly Bible book’s timeline) & it’s no fun.. Not at all 
Now to see ads on CorpTube & elsewhere. Sigh.. Luckily after 1hr of struggle i tried to launch Brave without admin rights & it worked. Right after that i made new backup copy of Bookmarks. Please Brave Tech Crew fix this ^^
Rig is up to date & OS is Win10 X64. Good July & remember to replace plastic bags with fabric bags 
Backpack & Fabric or just Fabric Bags is good when do grocery shoppings. Nature & Sentient Beings say thanks. Namaste o/
No new information yet but wanted to let everyone know we’re looking into this presently. Appreciate everyone reporting and sharing their OS/Brave/Setup information so we can track this properly.
2 Likes
Same issue here brave will not launch at all on my PC
yes. anything, i will help you guys help me thats a minimum, but how do i find that? (OS/Brave/Setup information) i think the 2 1st’s i already shared, but ‘‘setup info’’ not sure what it is!
also 2 question:
- is better to stay put untill its solved, or should we try to fix it in mean time?
im scared of doing even worst, like permenantly delete my data.
- all profiles created are saved or linked in same brave correct?************
meaning if this get fixed i will have the brave browser like it was before************
pls if you could only answer to this ************ so i can relax a bit!
im burning on inside for being unsure if all profiles are or not lost.
you can try this:
change the name of brave.
but it wont have any of your passwords or profiles.
do it only so you able to use it in the mean time that it is not solved.
Catching up on replies here - but I wonder if this is related to the upstream issue here:
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/6515318
This first appears in Stable Chromium w/ version 138.0.7204.35. I’ll check for reports on Chromium slack / crbug
To share my perspective:
You should always be able to run as your regular user account. If you’re needing to run as admin that might be masking a problem. The uninstall/reinstall is a great strategy to make sure the install happens properly - you won’t lose anything as the profile is stored in another location.
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" we’re looking into this" ← Thanks for the update 
to make sure i dont mess it up.
i can uninstal brave, and wont lose my porfile/profiles?
even knowing the sync phrase i have saved from the original is saying that is expired!
Yes that’s correct. If you uninstall, there will be a popup that has a checkbox. Leave that one alone! Make sure it’s NOT checked. Then you can do the re-install.
Installing as your user account should make sure the permissions are correct
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I did the uninstall and reinstall, and I know we weren’t expecting it to fix the issue, but I just wanted to report that it did NOT in fact fix the issue. Running normal or as admin can not launch brave.
Changing the name oh the program from brave.exe to bb.exe however does allow it to launch with my profile passwords and bookmarks.
Wow - this is crazy. Do you have a virus scanner or something else on your machine? I know some anti-cheat software (ex: Epic Games - Anti Cheat) has flagged brave.exe before and would kill processes as they launch (based on the name). Some video drivers also will make decisions keyed off the executable name (ex: not switching back to integrated video card unless executable is chrome.exe). Let us know if there’s anything like this installed
same for me exept no passwords and only recognises one profile out of more than 20 that i have
Looks like reinstalling Brave completely fixed it for me BUT, I can’t no longer run it as administrator. Other than that, Brave works fine. Well, except maybe the fact that, when watching videos on YouTube, the video itself gonna go white for a second or two, then continues playing, and then stops and keeps loading while it shows that video is loaded way ahead, then it continues but will stutter a bit. To fix this I tried to disable hardware acceleration and yesterday it fixed it, but today the lag and stutter returned on YouTube. That is the only annoying issue that I have with Brave right now.
i have, antivirus (kaspersky), and vpn (nordvpn),
it did not solve the issue, i am scared that i lost everything on my brave profiles.
is it recoverable? when the issue is fixed.