Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and also for Android, where it is the default browser. The browser is also the main component of ChromeOS, on which it serves as the platform for web applications.

Most of Chrome's source code comes from Google's free and open-source software project Chromium, but Chrome is licensed as proprietary freeware. WebKit was the original rendering engine, but Google eventually forked it to create the Blink engine; all Chrome variants except iOS used Blink as of 2017.

As of September 2025,^[update] StatCounter estimates that Chrome has a 71.77% worldwide browser market share (after peaking at 72.38% in November 2018) on personal computers (PC), is most in use on tablets (having surpassed Safari), and is also dominant on smartphones. With a market share of 71.77% across all platforms combined, Chrome is the most used web browser in the world today.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt was previously involved in the "browser wars" (a part of U.S. corporate history) and opposed the expansion of the company into such a new area. However, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page spearheaded a software demonstration that pushed Schmidt into making Chrome a core business priority, which resulted in commercial success. Because of the proliferation of Chrome, Google has expanded the "Chrome" brand name to other products. These include not just ChromeOS but also Chromecast, Chromebook, Chromebit, Chromebox, and Chromebase.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt opposed the development of an independent web browser for six years. He stated that "at the time, Google was a small company", and he did not want to go through "bruising browser wars". Company co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page hired several Mozilla Firefox developers and built a demonstration of Chrome. Afterwards, Schmidt said, "It was so good that it essentially forced me to change my mind."

In September 2004, rumors of Google building a web browser first appeared. Online journals and U.S. newspapers stated at the time that Google was hiring former Microsoft web developers, among others. It also came shortly after the release of Mozilla Firefox 1.0, which was surging in popularity and taking market share from Internet Explorer, which had noted security problems.

Chrome is based on the open-source code of the Chromium project. Development of the browser began in 2006, spearheaded by Sundar Pichai. Chrome was "largely developed" in Google's Kitchener office.

The release announcement was originally scheduled for September 3, 2008, and a comic by Scott McCloud was to be sent to journalists and bloggers explaining the features within the new browser. Copies intended for Europe were shipped early, and German blogger Philipp Lenssen of Google Blogoscoped made a scanned copy of the 38-page comic available on his website after receiving it on September 1, 2008. Google subsequently made the comic available on Google Books, and mentioned it on their official blog along with an explanation for the early release. The product was named "Chrome" as an initial development project code name, because it is associated with fast cars and speed. Google kept the development project name as the final release name, as a "cheeky" or ironic moniker, as one of the main aims was to minimize the user interface chrome.