Google Chrome Portable 156.0.8078.80

Google Chrome Portable is the normal Chrome browser, kept in one folder instead of being installed into Windows.

Put that folder on a USB stick and your own Chrome opens on a work laptop, a school PC or a friend's computer.

It is free, it is built from Google's own Chrome files, and it comes in 64-bit and 32-bit builds.

Version 156.0.8078.48 is packaged by PortableApps.com, the long-running home of portable Windows apps. If you only want Chrome on your own PC, the regular Google Chrome installer is simpler and keeps itself up to date.

Which File to Download

The download page lists nine files, and most people only need the first one.

The word online in the file name matters. The 1.45 MB file is an installer that fetches Chrome from Google while it runs, so do the setup on a working internet connection.

What Portable Actually Changes

It is the same browser, with the same engine, the same Chrome Web Store and the same Google sign-in and sync. The difference is where it keeps its files: your profile, bookmarks and extensions all sit inside the folder you chose instead of inside Windows.

Two things do not travel the way you might expect. Saved passwords are locked by Windows to the PC they were saved on, so sign in to Chrome sync if you want them everywhere, and security certificates come from Windows rather than from the folder.

It also does not update itself the way installed Chrome does. Update it through the PortableApps.com Platform, or download the newer file from this page and install it into the same folder, which keeps your profile.

Setting It Up in Three Steps

1. Download the 64-bit file. Save it anywhere on your own PC.
2. Run it and choose the destination. Point it at a folder on your USB drive and let it download Chrome.
3. Start GoogleChromePortable.exe. Open that folder on any Windows 10 or 11 PC and double-click it to launch Chrome.

Our guide to running Chrome Portable from a USB drive covers drive formats, speed and sign-in step by step.

A USB 3 stick or a small portable SSD makes a real difference, because a browser reads and writes lots of small files. Our comparison of USB sticks and portable SSDs helps if you are buying a drive for this.

Chrome for Testing Is a Different Thing

The chrome-win64.zip files are Google's Chrome for Testing builds, made for automated tests rather than everyday browsing. They never update themselves, and they are meant to be paired with the matching ChromeDriver version.

If Selenium complains that your driver and browser do not match, our guide to fixing the ChromeDriver version mismatch walks you through it.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If you can install software on the PC and only ever use that one machine, portable gives you nothing extra, so use the installed browser.

If what you want is privacy rather than portability, Chrome is not the strongest choice either way. Tor Browser also runs from a folder with no install, and Brave blocks ads and trackers out of the box.

For a browser without Google's services built in, Chromium is the open-source base that Chrome is made from. Our Chromium vs Chrome comparison explains what you gain and what you lose.

More choices, including Firefox, sit in our web browsers section.

Quick Questions

Download Google Chrome Portable 156.0.8078.80 and carry your browser on a stick, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.