How to fix file:///tmp/error.html error in Google Chrome?

file:///tmp/error.html is not a Chrome error code. It is the address of a page stored in the temporary folder of the machine that runs the browser, and some program other than Chrome put it there or tried to open it. Read the message Chrome really shows on that tab first: it tells you which of the fixes below is yours.

Facts checked on 14 October 2026. Steps written for Chrome 155 on Windows 11 (screenshots), and Chrome on Linux, ChromeOS and Android as read from Chromium source code and vendor documentation, not reproduced on those devices.

What file:///tmp/error.html means

The text in the address bar is a file address. The standard for such addresses, RFC 8089, says that a file address with nothing between the second and third slash names a file on the local machine. So file:///tmp/error.html reads: the file error.html in the folder /tmp of the very machine that runs the browser. No website is involved, and no network.

/tmp is the folder for temporary files on Linux and other Unix-like systems. The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard says programs must not assume that anything in /tmp survives until they run again, and recommends emptying it at every boot. That is why a page there is often already gone when the browser asks for it.

What opens file:///tmp/error.html: what is confirmed and what is not

We read the Chromium source code, Google's Chrome and Chromebook help, the ChromiumOS design documents and the snapd source code on 14 October 2026. None of them names a product that opens file:///tmp/error.html or file:///tmp/initial.html. We also found no router, hotspot or parental-control vendor document that does. So the exact program on your device has to be found on the device, and Fix 2 shows how.

• Confirmed: it comes from the device, not from a website. Chrome treats a redirect from a web server to a file address as unsafe and stops it with ERR_UNSAFE_REDIRECT. A hotel sign-in page, a router or an internet provider cannot send Chrome to a file on your disk.
• Confirmed: Chrome itself does not create it. Chrome's error pages have an internal address and are not written to /tmp.
• Confirmed: other programs do work this way. A program that wants to show a report or an error in the browser writes an HTML file to the temporary folder and starts the browser with that file. Kiosk shells and scripts that drive a browser do the same with a start page.
• Not confirmed: which program it is in your case. The names error.html and initial.html are generic. Many programs could use them.
• Not confirmed: the captive portal theory. A sign-in network can be the trigger, because the device's own software may fall back to a local error page when the internet is closed. We found no vendor that documents this, so Fix 3 is offered as a test, not as a fact.

What Chrome does with file:///tmp/error.html on each kind of device

The same address ends differently on each system, because Chrome's right to read local folders differs. The rules below are read from Chrome's source code. We did not reproduce them on each device, and we say so in the table.

What causes the file:///tmp/error.html tab, from most to least likely

No vendor publishes numbers for this address, so the order below is our reading of the mechanisms we could confirm and of our search data. Each cause is tied to one fix.

How to fix file:///tmp/error.html in Chrome

Fix 1 and Fix 2 are for everyone: they show what Chrome really reports and what opens the address. Fix 3 to Fix 6 are one case each: a sign-in network, a Linux snap browser, a managed device and your own script. Fix 7 is the last step on your own PC.

Fix 1. Read the message Chrome really shows and check whether the file exists

2 minutesNo riskEveryone who sees the address and does not know what opened it.

The address only says where Chrome was sent. The heading and the code on the tab say what went wrong there: the file is missing, the browser may not read the folder, or a policy blocks it. Each answer leads to a different fix.

1. Stay on the tab that shows file:///tmp/error.html. Do not reload it yet.
2. Read the heading in the middle of the page and the grey code under the text.
3. Compare them with the table below.
4. On Linux or macOS, open a terminal and run the command below. It shows whether the file exists, who owns it and when it was written.
5. Note the moment the tab appeared: at Chrome start, after you started another program, or after you joined a network.

Linux or macOS terminal: does the file exist?

ls -l /tmp/error.html /tmp/initial.html

Fix 2. Find what opens the address and remove it there

5 minutesLow riskThe tab opens at every Chrome start, on the Home button, or from a shortcut.

Chrome opens a file address only when something hands it over: a startup page, the Home button, a bookmark, or the command that launched the browser. Chrome shows that command on its version page, so you can see whether another program passed the address in.

1. In Chrome, select More (three dots) at the top right, then Settings.
2. Select On startup in the left menu. If Open a specific page or set of pages is selected, look for file:///tmp/error.html or file:///tmp/initial.html in the list.
3. Select More next to that entry, then Remove. Or select Open the New Tab page instead.
4. Select Appearance. If Show home button is on and a custom address is entered under it, replace it or select the New Tab page.
5. Type chrome://version in the address bar and press Enter. Read the row Command Line.
6. If the row ends with a file address or with an option that names one, the program or shortcut that started Chrome passes it in. Go to the steps below.

When the command line carries the address, the fix is outside Chrome:

• Windows shortcut. Right-click the Chrome shortcut you use, select Properties and read the Target box on the Shortcut tab. Delete anything that follows chrome.exe", then select OK.
• Another program. If the tab appears when a certain program starts or finishes, that program opens it. Look in its settings for an option that shows a report or a page in the browser, or update the program.
• Linux launcher. Check the menu entry or script that starts the browser for a file address at the end of its command.
• Remote session. If you reach the browser through a remote desktop or a cloud workspace, the address belongs to that remote machine. Its operator has to fix it.

Fix 3. Sign in to the network when the page appeared on hotel, school or guest Wi-Fi

5 minutesNo riskThe address appeared right after you joined a network that asks for a room number, a code or a consent click, or it is on a kiosk or shared screen.

A network with a sign-in page lets nothing through until you sign in. Software that needs the internet at start may then show its local error page. We could not confirm from a vendor that any such software uses this exact address, so treat this fix as a test.

1. Open a new tab.
2. Type the address below and press Enter. It is the plain test address that Chrome itself uses to detect a sign-in network.
3. If a sign-in page of the hotel, school or provider opens, complete it.
4. Open a normal website to confirm that the internet works.
5. Close the file:///tmp/error.html tab and start the program or device function again that showed it.

Chrome's own connectivity test address

http://connectivitycheck.gstatic.com/generate_204

• Chromebook. Google's help says that on a public network you get a prompt to go to a sign-in page in your browser. Select that prompt. ChromeOS decides that a network needs sign-in when its test request does not come back as an empty page with status 204.
• Windows PC. If no sign-in page opens and no site loads, follow How to check your internet connection in Windows.
• Kiosk, smart TV or other device you do not own. You cannot sign in for it. Tell the staff that the screen shows a local error page and that its network connection probably needs a sign-in or a restart.

Fix 4. On Linux, let the snap browser reach the file

10 minutesLow riskLinux, the file exists in /tmp, another program opened it, and Chrome or Chromium says the file could not be accessed.

snapd, the service that runs snap packages, mounts a private /tmp for every snap. A browser installed as a snap looks into its own private folder and never sees the page that another program wrote into the real /tmp.

1. Open a terminal and run the first command below. If the browser is listed, it is a snap.
2. Run the second command to confirm that the page exists in the real /tmp.
3. Copy the page to your home folder with the third command.
4. Open the copy in the browser: type file:///home/ followed by your user name and /error.html in the address bar.
5. To fix it for good, set the program that writes the page to use a folder inside your home folder, or to send the page to a browser that is not a snap.

1. Is the browser a snap?

snap list | grep -i -E "chromium|firefox"

2. Does the page exist?

ls -l /tmp/error.html

3. Copy it where a snap browser may read it

cp /tmp/error.html ~/error.html

Fix 5. Check whether your organisation manages the browser

5 minutesNo riskA work or school laptop or Chromebook, a greyed-out startup setting, or the message This page is blocked.

An administrator can set the pages Chrome opens at start and can block every file address with one policy. Chrome lists every policy in force, so you can see in a minute whether the address or the block comes from there.

1. Select More (three dots) at the top right. If the bottom of the menu says Managed by your organization, the browser is managed.
2. Type chrome://management in the address bar and press Enter to see who manages it.
3. Type chrome://policy and press Enter.
4. Look in the list for the policy names in the table below.
5. Select Export to JSON and send the file to your administrator with the exact heading from Fix 1.

Fix 6. Developers: make your script open a page that exists and that the browser may read

20 minutesLow riskYour own script, test suite, container or kiosk configuration opens file:///tmp/error.html or file:///tmp/initial.html.

A page in /tmp fails for three reasons that the browser reports the same way. The file was deleted before the browser read it, the browser runs in a container or sandbox with its own /tmp, or the address has the wrong number of slashes.

1. Print the exact address your code hands to the browser. It must start with file:///, three slashes, followed by the absolute path.
2. Check that the file exists at the moment the browser starts, from the same user and the same container as the browser.
3. Keep the file until the page has loaded. Delete a temporary file only after the browser reports the load as finished.
4. If the browser runs in a container, a snap or a remote machine, write the page inside that environment or mount the folder into it.
5. If the page loads other local files or needs normal web features, serve the folder over http://localhost instead of opening it as a file.

Serve the folder locally instead of using a file address (Python 3)

cd /tmp && python3 -m http.server 8000
# then open http://localhost:8000/error.html

• file://tmp/error.html with two slashes names a computer called tmp. Chrome's policy documentation calls that form invalid for file patterns.
• A web page cannot redirect to your file. Chrome stops a server redirect to a file address with ERR_UNSAFE_REDIRECT. Open the file directly or serve it.
• On ChromeOS, Chrome reads local files only from a short list of folders that includes the system temporary folder. On Android the list holds shared storage, download folders and /data/local/tmp.
• Files in /tmp may be removed at boot or by a cleanup job. A start page such as initial.html belongs in a folder that is not cleaned.

Fix 7. Reset Chrome settings on your own PC

5 minutesRead the warningYour own computer, no policy, and the startup page or shortcut keeps returning after Fix 2.

The reset puts the startup page, the new tab page and Chrome's shortcuts back to their defaults and turns extensions off in one step. That removes a stored file address that you could not find by hand.

1. Select More (three dots), then Settings.
2. Select Reset settings in the left menu.
3. Select Restore settings to their original defaults.
4. Read the list in the box, then select Reset settings.
5. Close Chrome completely and open it again.

Turn your extensions back on one at a time at chrome://extensions and restart Chrome after each. If the address returns after one of them, remove that extension.

It still failed: what to record and who can fix it

If the address is still not gone after the fixes, it still failed for one reason: the program that opens it has not been identified. Chrome cannot name that program, but it records enough to find it.

1. Open chrome://version and copy the rows Command Line, Executable Path and Profile Path. The executable path shows which browser really runs, and on Linux whether it sits under /snap/.
2. Write down the exact heading and code from the tab (Fix 1).
3. Write down what you did in the minute before the tab appeared: which program, which network, which device.
4. On Linux or macOS, add the output of ls -l /tmp/error.html /tmp/initial.html. The owner and the time of the file point to the program that wrote it.
5. On a managed device, add the file from Export to JSON on chrome://policy.

How to keep the file:///tmp/error.html tab from coming back

The address itself is harmless: it points at your own machine, and a page there can do no more than any other local file you open. What matters is that a program opened your browser without telling you why. Once you know which one, the tab stops being a mystery.

Frequently asked questions

Is file:///tmp/error.html a virus?

No source connects this address with malware. It is a plain file address that points at the temporary folder of the machine running the browser, and many harmless programs show pages from there. One sign still deserves attention: a startup page or a shortcut target that you never set and that returns after you remove it. Google's help says a startup page that changed suddenly may mean unwanted software. In that case remove the entry, reset Chrome settings as in Fix 7 and run a scan with your security software.

What is file:///tmp/initial.html?

It is a second page in the same temporary folder. By its name it is the page that some program loads first, before it goes to its real content, and error.html is the page the same kind of program shows when that fails. We could not find a vendor document that names the program, so we do not name one. Everything on this page applies to both addresses: read the message on the tab, then find what hands the address to the browser with Fix 2.

Why do I get this address on my PC when Windows has no /tmp folder?

On a Windows PC the address almost never comes from Windows itself, because a standard installation keeps temporary files in %TEMP% and has no /tmp. The usual sources are a startup page or Home button address saved in Chrome, a shortcut whose target carries the address, or a program written for Linux. Another one is a browser that really runs on another machine through a remote desktop or cloud service. Fix 2 checks the first three in a few minutes. We did not reproduce the address on Windows ourselves.

Will clearing the cache, updating or reinstalling Chrome fix it?

No. Those steps are repeated in many guides, but none of them has a link to a file address. The cache holds copies of web pages, not instructions to open a local file. An update changes the browser, not the program or setting that hands it the address. A reinstall usually keeps your profile with its startup pages, so the tab returns. The one Chrome step that can help is the settings reset in Fix 7, because it clears startup pages and Chrome's shortcuts.

Can a website, a router or my internet provider send Chrome to this address?

No. Chrome refuses a redirect from a web server to a file address and reports ERR_UNSAFE_REDIRECT, as its list of network errors states. A hotel sign-in page, a router's block page or a provider's notice is always a web address that starts with http or https. A closed network can still be the trigger: software on the device may show its own local error page when it cannot reach the internet. That page is opened by the device, not by the network.

Why won't my HTML file open in Chrome?

Most often the address is wrong or the browser may not read the folder. A local file needs three slashes after file: and the full path. Check that the file exists and has not been moved. On Linux, a browser installed as a snap cannot read /tmp or hidden folders, so copy the file to a visible place in your home folder. On Android, Chrome reads only shared storage and download folders. On a managed device a policy may block all file addresses, and Chrome then shows This page is blocked.

What is the difference between file://tmp/error.html and file:///tmp/error.html?

The third slash. In file:///tmp/error.html the computer name is empty, which the standard RFC 8089 defines as the local machine, and the path is /tmp/error.html. In file://tmp/error.html the word tmp stands where the computer name belongs, so the address asks for the file /error.html on a computer called tmp. Chrome's policy documentation says a file pattern with only two slashes is invalid. People who type the address from memory usually drop one slash, which is why both forms are searched.

What does it mean on a Chromebook?

On ChromeOS, Chrome may read local files only from a short list of folders, and the system temporary folder is on that list. So the address is allowed, but there is normally no error.html in it and you get Your file couldn't be accessed. If it opens at every start on a school or work Chromebook, the start pages are set by the administrator: Google's help says you cannot change them yourself. Check chrome://management and report it. On public Wi-Fi, select the sign-in prompt first.

I see this on my PC in French or another language (sur mon PC). Does that change the fix?

No. The address is the same in every language, and only the text of Chrome's message is translated. The code under the message stays in English: ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND, ERR_ACCESS_DENIED or ERR_BLOCKED_BY_ADMINISTRATOR. Use that code with the table in Fix 1 instead of the translated heading. The menu names in the fixes follow Chrome's own translation, in the same order: the settings page for startup, the appearance page for the Home button, and the reset page at the bottom of the left menu.