Yes, this (= doesn’t run if you set it to always run as admin) seems to happen with Chrome 138 too but not with 137. I reproduced by checking in/out Windows’ “Run this program as an administrator” box for each version.
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Hi
Some bad news - I don’t really see related reports of this in the Chromium issue log yet. I think it’s happening, but mostly only programmer knows how to create bugs on crbug.com. I don’t see an easy solution to this either.
Making a ZIP file of your profile directory is a great thing to do. I do this on a frequent basis. Then, if something happens, you can restore the backup.
All of the information is there in this profile directory. It’s just unfortunate that a permissions issue is causing a problem. You might find more information in the Windows event viewer. You can do Windows + R to bring up Run, then type eventvwr and hit Enter. In here, you can often find useful information under Windows Logs > Application and also Windows Logs > System.
You might be able to see errors about not being able to read a specific file. If that’s the case, then you know which file you can either delete or move or fix permissions for.
There is a last resort you can always do which works. As shared, if you want to try this, please make a backup first.
When you’re ready you can move the profile aside. I mentioned adding the 2 at the end.
For example, rename:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data
as
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data2
Then you can launch Brave and you should have an empty profile again. You can use Hamburger menu > More tools > Add new profile to add more empty profiles one by one until you have the same number of profiles again. From the picture above, it seems you have 17 additional profiles.
Once you have this new profile directory created you can exit Brave.
Now - you can move the files from the old one to the new one, one profile at a time. There are several that we’re interested in. For example, you can be copying from:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data2\Default
into the new one at:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
You can then move all the regular files (not the folders). Try this with Default folder first. You should then be able to launch into Brave and see if (after copying) it moved the bookmarks and history. If that looks good, exit out, and repeat for the Profile 1 folder. It seems your numbers got mixed up, but if you don’t have a Profile 1, you can move the old Profile 2 into the new Profile 1. I hope this makes sense.
As shared earlier, you had a screenshot showing the Windows SID of a user which was removed on the files. All of these steps I’m sharing is to try to work-around fixing that. I don’t know which file it is for you. Windows is not the most user-friendly operating system at times. This permission is part of NTFS. There might be tools to find the SIDs which don’t exist and fix ownership, I just don’t know any. I hope the eventvwr (Event Viewer) tool gives more information.
At any point, you can put your backup in place. Then, if you want to use an old version of Brave, that’s OK. You can use the 1.79 release by downloading the installer here:
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/download/v1.79.126/BraveBrowserStandaloneSetup.exe
You would need to uninstall the current Brave from add/remove programs (Windows + R, appwiz.cpl, Enter). Then you can run this installer.
With your original profile (doesn’t have any experimental changes I mentioned) back into the place it’s supposed to be, you can set Brave to launch as Admin. And then load this old version of Brave (1.79.126). It should work.
Be aware that when you load the old one, it will check for updates. So don’t exit. If you need to export items, that is something you can do too.
I hope this helps - I wish there was more I can do.
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when you say
im not sure if i understand what i should do.
im guessing copy everything inside this
folder
into this folder
this shows me a lot of errors but mostly from kaspersky, i see nothing about brave, also can find options to do anything, like delete move or fix permissions.
really not sure what to do with this.
also when it comes to help me, i am pretty noob on this kind of settings, all ways afraid of messing things up.
will try to do all those steps see what works.
In case you’re interested, if it’s only for YouTube, what you can do is install a fantastic app called Freetube and it works like a charm, no ads no distraction, there is only one downside, you can read all the comments but you won’t be able to interact with them, if anyone is interested, I run Brave for all other things, but for YouTube I run Freetube.
I hope this will be useful to some people.
One more thing, you will also need to add all of your subscriptions manually, but it’s well worth it. No ads and peace of mind.
Cheers!
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thanks, but i wish it was only about youtube.
I understand, when you reinstall brave remove all the old icons as well, do you have any third party software that interferes with these apps? I had a similar problem, could not start Brave, Chrome and other apps, it took me weeks of hair pulling, could not find a solution.
Guess what it was? Ccleaner for some reason had put many of the apps to sleep including Chrome and brave, as soon as I unsleeped them, they started working without an issue.
It’s worth checking these little b**ers as they interfere and block other apps.
I hope this helps
Same problem for me, all of a sudden Brave just wont start when running as admin. Made a fresh install without success, waiting for a new update/fix from the devs, These ads everywhere makes me go crazy…
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ye, i cant make it work. hope they just fix things soon, and i havent permanently loss all my login credentials, and data on profiles.
thanks for you help! really apreciate it, shame that i cant make it work.
Windows OS > Brave Browser users > User Data tips re backup, permissions, recovering or restoring some of the data:
Windows OS users. Brave Browser data is within the folder and sub-folders of the User Data folder; location:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\
Also written as:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\
Let us say that you have backed up the User Data folder to a safe location - away from the BB installation paths, such as: on an external USB drive.
Next, because of some issue with BB, you decide to set aside the User Data folder - ie remove it from location:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\
for the moment, placing that User Data folder on your Windows Desktop; and then Restart the computer; and then Start up Brave Browser . . . BB will create an entirely new User Data folder that will include a fresh, new Default folder:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\
Let us say, that you previously had 2 additional BB user profiles. And, you want to try and restore what you can, from them ← therefore, create 2 new additional BB user profiles ← their respective new folders (Profile 1 folder and Profile 2 folder) will be created at:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2\
From the backup of the User Data folder that you created (and may also located on the external USB drive ← smart move!) -OR- from the User Data folder that you placed on your Windows Desktop . . . and while BB is NOT RUNNING after a Restart of the computer, there are some items that can by drag-copied (I am not a fan of Copy-and-Paste method) from the old (backed up) data location to the new.
SOMETIMES, you might succeed by “simply” replacing the new Default folder with the old ← BUT THAT MAY NOT PRODUCE THE RESULTS THAT YOU WISH.
Of BB PROFILE data, within a BB user’s profile folder, the following list of items, are known for being replaceable - BUT AGAIN, NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS:
BB PROFILE data, within a BB user’s profile folder (Default example):
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
The following list of items, are known for being replaceable - BUT AGAIN, NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS:
- Bookmarks [JSON file]
- History [SQLite file]
- Login Data [passwords, SQLite file]
- Preferences [majority of browser settings, JSON file]
- Sessions [folder ← do not copy]
- [but you can copy the Sessions and Tabs files:]
- Session file example: “Session_13387619522050810” [SNSS file]
- Tabs file example: “Tabs_13396004968468207” [SNSS file]
- Tops Sites [saved tiles on new tab page, SQLite file]
- Visited Links [binary file]
- Web Data [autofill data, SQLite file]
NOTICE: Re Session_13387619522050810 ← the long string of numbers are a date-and-time stamp. On a MacOS computer, the following command (date -r 13387619522050810) will reveal: Thu Apr 6 12:40:10 EST 424238744
NOTICE: A Profile 1 folder, for example, cannot be replaced by a profile folder of another name (such as Profile 2). Same for the other BB user profile folders. DO NOT CHANGE the BB user’s profile folders names.
NOTICE: The most durable files, are Bookmarks, Bookmarks.bak. They can be copied between the BB user profile folders.
SOMETIMES: A BB user has recovered passwords by using the backed up Login Data file; and sometimes by doing that PLUS using the backed up Local State file; and sometimes by a combination of: Resetting the Brave Browser Settings, using the backed up Login Data file, plus, using the backed up Local State file.
FILE AND FOLDER PERMISSIONS: See https://community.brave.app/t/browser-wont-launch-after-install/606342/18 and https://community.brave.app/t/brave-doesnt-start-when-i-run-it-as-administrator-and-brave-shield-doesnt-work/628494/41
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thanks, this looks easy to follow, i will try now.
if it does not work i guess i will have to spend the hole week trying to get everything i possibly can back manualy.
wich is making me ansious.
GM, i know i have taken a lot of your time past 3 days.
but i have a few question that i will be thankfull if you could clarify/ help in order to something like this doesnt happen anymore.
-
i am wondering why did you censure what comes after your name in this pictures, becose when i posted them here i havent, does that exposes you in any way?
-
you mention before that you usualy make a back up of your browser regularly.
when you say this you are talking about the folder ‘’ user data ‘’, or is there any specif thing i can just backup in order to have my data safe on a regularly bases.
- also about the sync phrase, i hade saved and written down on paper, then when i tryed to input it it sayd that that sync phrase was expired,
is this normal, and if so do i need to regularly back up the sync phrase, and if so, what is the time it takes to expire?
or maybe im not getting the real use of the sync phrase, isnt it like a eg: ‘‘seed phrase from a wallet’’? that works like a recovery phrase.
or is it just used for transfer profiles data on short therm period.
last thing, what do you advise me to do in order to prevent this thing to happen again?
or at least have my data safe and be able to get it back to work.
do you use cloud services, or phisic backup storage.
any recomendations i will apreciate.
and is there a repartment of your team that can do like a remote help. eg: ‘‘video call sharing screen to guide users, step by step’’, i would pay for that. even if it does not work at the end, just for being sure i did everything it can be done CORRETLY, and it did not work.
cose i am never sure if the guides you guys are sharing ain’t working, or if its me not doing it correctly.
thanks in advance.
Hi @rjeasy,
-
The computer name I don’t care about too much. I change this sometimes. There’s no significance of the name. To me, it’s fine if somebody sees it
-
When I do a backup, I backup the
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Datafolder specifically. For me, I don’t use profiles. But if I did, this way is still capturing all the information (all the profiles are inside here). -
The sync phrase is an interesting one. There is a 25th word now where before it was only 24 words. The 25th word is time sensitive. That way, if your secret gets shared, someone can only join in a certain span of time. Kudos to @fmarier for this
-
What to do to prevent this happening again? That’s a good question. Basically, anytime that you NEED to run as administrator that should be a red flag. For macOS or Linux, this is like running as root or using
sudofor everything. That is not a recommended behavior and it can have dangerous consequences (if the app you run does something malicious). If you it only works when you are admin, that means there is a problem. In this case, it was permissions problem. It seems you either copied the folder from a different machine or you had another user account on the machine at some point. Windows has a record of this - which is held as a SID and it is associated with some of the files. If you have a way to verify your user account is the owner for all the files recursively and even better if you can remove that invalid account (it shows as Unknown account I think) then you should be in good shape. There is always a reason why something doesn’t work - switching to admin may have fixed the problem for a while, but now that Chromium has put preventive measures in place (because running as admin can be dangerous), the real problem is coming out and must be faced.
There are some key files I can share. This should help as you try to fix the problem.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Local State - this one has all the global settings for your browser. It can be quite important. If you want to inspect it, you can open it with a text editor. It’s in JSON format.
The profile specific ones - I’ll pretend we are inside:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
Bookmarks- your bookmarksExtensions- this folder has the extensions you had installed. Each extension is a folder with a crazy name likemlomiejdfkolichcflejclcbmpeaniij.Extension Cookies- this could be an important one if you have installed extensions and you are logged into them. There is also a folderExtension Statefolder which might have valuable files (if your extension stored data).History- your browsing historyLogin Data- the saved username/passwords for this profilePreferences- this is a JSON file which has your profile specific settings. This is an important file. Anything you changed in brave://settings would be in here.Top Sites- this has the sites which show on the new tab page (ex: custom sites you added or the most frequently visited).Web Data- I believe this is the Autofill data that is saved.
Sometimes, there’s one called ... for Account. That should be the same as the regular file but it means you used sync.
This is a quick overview - but it should help you locate what is important for each of your profile. Once you have backed up your profile, you can always move the non-working one (ex: %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data) out of the way (ex: rename it as %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data2) and then open Brave. It should look like a new install again and it should work. Then close Brave and copy the files one by one. For example:
Move the file %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data2\Default\Bookmarks into %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\ and when it asks to replace say YES.
You can create new profiles in the working one and move the files too. Nothing is lost - this is just unfortunate.
NTFS permissions can be annoying - I suspect there are some administrative tools that can help fix permissions… but I just don’t know what they are. I am pretty good at fixing the problems with Windows when it’s in front of me. I love Windows- but it’s like living with a crazy person sometimes. For Linux, you can simply use chown to fix this type of issue.
If anybody else is having this issue too and some of the steps I have shared help, please do let us know. Thanks!
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Hello i reinstaled browser bcs it wont start as administrator anymore 1 thing only working is rght click and run as administrator but i have diferent problem now i cannot update some components thats why i cannot use streaming services like netflix/prime anymore any solution for update that components i supouse its becouse browser is no logner run as admin or what happend ?
@Mexo usually is good to read replies on topics. For example: Brave doesn't start when I run it as administrator and Brave Shield doesn't work - #41 by clifton
Or mine at Brave doesn't start when I run it as administrator and Brave Shield doesn't work - #13 by Saoiray
i read them and did that still only half componets updated rest gving me error what i shoudl do agan reinstall. Strage that update of browser braking things
@Mexo If you have changed the permissions over and are not launching as administrator that you should have no problem. But if you’re still trying to launch as administrator that would be part of your issue.
At this point you have not clarified anything about what you have tried or changed. It would be nice if you can be specific on your device, the version of Brave you’re using, what’s things you have tried, etc. rather than to leave people to make assumptions.
Ok i restarted pc and it start work thx for help 
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I would conclude that 50% of problems with the Brave browser are caused by users, 50% by Windows itself and 10% by the developers who created Brave. 
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The latter. The code is for pairing two devices together. It’s not meant to be saved.
As a special case, you can save it just before reinstalling so that you can restore your data after the installation is over. However we don’t officially support that use case yet. A better way to do this is to simply re-pair your new installation with another device (assuming you have more than one device in your Sync chain), or export data manually (e.g. bookmarks, passwords) and then restore.
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