Developer tools getting disabled

Question

I am on Version 45.0.2454.101 m and for some reason dev tools option is getting disabled.

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I reinstalled chrome 3 times, no luck.

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I tried to delete the registry file based on this answer Google chrome develop tools disabled

I do not see chromium under policy folder :(.

I searched the user data --> Default --> Preferences folder to see if I can delete the devtools reference, nothing helped :(

Update: Based on lossleader's comment I checked chrome://policy and I see devtools is disabled, how should i enable or set this to false

Please help

UPDATE : 10/13/2015 My preference file as of today, still dev console is disabled:

10/16/2015 I do not see anything under group policy object too

Solution 1

UPDATE:

I've made a small video with step by step instructions.

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1 - Close Chrome
2 - Open the file:

C:\users\[your users account]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Preferences

3 - SEARCH FOR:

"devtools": {
something...
"disabled": true,
something...
},

4 - CHANGE TO:

"devtools": {
something...
"disabled": false,
something...
},

5 - Restart Chrome.

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DISABLED:

ENABLED:

TIPS
1 - If you cannot find "disabled": true, just add the value "disabled": false, under devtools. 2 - You may want to copy the contents of the file to http://jsonlint.com/ in order to read properly.
3 - Backup the Original file (just in case)
4 - I've tested enabling and disabling devtools and it works as expected.
5 - If the problem persists, you may want to disable your extensions in order to ensure they aren't messing with your preferences. The same applies to antivirus.

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UPDATE

You said:

notepad ++ complaints saying the source file has been modified by another program

It doesn't matter, other values may have changed on the file, and that's normal, but the values you've added won't change.

Solution 2

Try deleting this folder:

[user drive]\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\Google

which I got from a Superuser question.

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Or, do:

Press the Windows key + R, type regedit.exe and press Enter HKEY_USERS\ -> S-1-5-21-1177238915-1897051121-839522115-1003\ -> Software\ -> Microsoft\ -> Windows\ -> CurrentVersion\ -> Group Policy Objects\ -> {91DD4E7D-FE0F-4B62-A092-91DC1486888E}User\ -> Software\ -> Policies\ -> Google\ -> Chrome

Delete the ones in RED. Click on "Google" and click on "Edit" and select "Delete". Click on "File" and then "Exit".

Did it work?

Solution 3

If you are logged into Google under a managed account that has the preference off, you'll have to log out to get around it. Other than that the administrator of your account has to change the setting for you to be able to use Dev Tools in Chrome.

Solution 4

This is clearly a Windows box, but you didn't say if it's a personal or work computer.

Looking at the policy in chrome://policy, you will notice that the policy is being set at the "Machine" level.

Read google's documentation here:

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Machine Policies are applied through Group Policy Objects (GPO) on Windows..

..(machine policies) are pushed to the user using Windows Group Policy Objects (GPO), Managed Preferences on Mac, or another out-of-band management system for Windows/Mac/Linux..

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In other words, it's likely that your workplace has set up a group policy object and is forcing these 3 settings onto your machine. Group Policy Objects generally can't be disabled and often can't even be seen by a non-administrator. Note that when I say "administrator" I'm talking about a domain admin, not a local-machine admin.

The purpose of group policy ("Managed Preferences" on the Mac) is to force certain settings onto a large group of machines. Common examples include password policies, ability to install plug-ins, etc.

It looks like someone in your organization thinks that disabling Chrome's developer tools and incognito mode are good for security. This is kind of a dumb idea, but that's not relevant to the discussion.

EDIT: "that would be highly unlikely but I will look"

You have more confidence in your IT department than I do. :)

Someone probably read this NSA "briefing" and thought it was a good idea.

View more solutions

Comments

[ajp15243]

@rao I think you'll only see the source column if you install the dev version of Chrome with unreleased features, per lossleader's comment. You likely just have the stable released version, as that's the default.

[rao]

tried everything ran malware bytes, cc cleaner, windows defender no malware or virus

[rao]

I do not see anything inside the "devtools"{ } as mentioned in your answer.

[Pedro Lobito]

@rao I've the file opened right now and it contains devtools, please read the TIPS of my answer.

[Pedro Lobito]

Just add "disabled": false, right after "devtools": {

[Pedro Lobito]

I can assure it works and this is the right solution :)

[rao]

As previously mentioned the preferences file is being modified by some other program every time I open chrome :(. I save it open chrome and notepad ++ complaints saying the source file has been modified by another program. I load the modified file and the disabled:false is gone

[Pedro Lobito]

Just click the X button when you restart chrome. it won't bug you again.

[Pedro Lobito]

You're complicating something easy, while talking with you I've already enabled and disable it several times.

[rao]

Pedro Chrome does not complaint anything, notepad++ is complaining that the file is being modified when I save the preferences file and restart chrome. When chrome restarts some process is overwriting the chrome preferences file. I totally understand what you are asking me to do but unfortunately I am unable to apply the fix provided by you.

[Pedro Lobito]

Close chrome first, edit the file , restart chrome. I can assure you it works.

[rao]

I totally appreciate your efforts to help me out and want to award the bounty for the efforts, but even after setting disabled:false in preferences the dev console wont show up :(

[rao]

that would be highly unlikely but I will look into this and get back

[rao]

I updated my question with what I see under group policy objects, thanks for the help :)

[rao]

my company admin has clearly stated there are no policies around chrome that restricts dev tools

[rao]

I sat with an admin and he assured there are no policies preventing devconsole

[rao]

I still have not solved this, but for the efforts you put in I want to assign the bounty to you :). Thanks again for trying to help me

[Pedro Lobito]

I'm sorry to ear that. I honestly don't know how to help you further. You may want to report the problem to google support.google.com/chrome/answer/95315?hl=en , GL !

[rao]

I already did :/ hoping some day debugging around I will find an answer to this mystery

[gsamaras]

As long as you fixed the issue, I am happy @rao!