Multiple instances of chrome in Privacy & Security - local network access

I had this same issue - as well as not being able to access local networks via IP address, like my NAS server or internet router etc..

I could access it in Safari, but could not access it in Chrome no matter what I did. Toggling any of the 10+ instances of Chrome in the Local Networks tab via Privacy & Security tab wouldn't do anything either. I tried all of the cache clearing and DNS setting/resetting, messing with IP/DNS settings, etc... to no avail.

The resolution was getting Chrome to trigger Apple to ask me to 'allow this app to access devices on your local network' and clicking 'allow'.

I followed a combination of what others have said here with success. This was my process:

1. Shut down MacBook Pro, leaving the 're-opoen windows' checkbox UN-checked
2. Hold shift, press power button, and keep holding shift all the way through until the lock-screen
3. Sign in
4. Open Finder > Applications Folder
5. Right click "Google Chrome" and click the trash icon (delete chrome) - it should now be in your trashcan
6. Open trash can, click empty trashcan
7. Open Terminal (press command + spacebar and type 'Terminal' and hit enter - it should open)
8. Without typing anything else, enter the following command without the parenthesis: "sudo tccutil reset SystemPolicyNetworkVolumes" and hit enter
9. You should be prompted on the next line to enter your password - enter your password that you log in to your computer with and hit enter (you should get a success notification on the next line down)
10. Before restarting; Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network - you should not see any instances of 'Google Chrome' in here anymore
11. Close out of everything, and hit Apple Icon (top left) > Restart... and restart again leaving the 're-open windows' checkbox UN-checked
12. Log in like normal, and repeat step 10 above - you should still not see chrome on this list
13. Open Safari, and re-download Google Chrome following instructions once opening download file
14. Eject the Google Chrome install media on your desktop
15. Open/launch Chrome - you should still be logged into your chrome profile (if you aren't then don't worry about logging back in yet)
16. Try to access your Router or other local network device via IP address/domain
17. **WAIT (do nothing)** until Apple/MacOS notification pops up and asks if you want to allow Google Chrome to access devices on your local network
18. CLICK ALLOW for the love of all things good
19. If you're a dingus and failed to click allow then start back at step one; Otherwise continue on to step 20
20. Repeat step 10 above - you should see only one instance of Google Chrome with the toggle turned on.
21. If that's all you were seeking to accomplish then congrats - you did it! Otherwise continue to step 22:
22. Enjoy accessing your local networks without issue

This is absolutely an Apple bug that needs to be fixed. For reference I am on a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro (base model) running Sequoia 15.5 displaying 'up to date' post-checking for updates, and running the latest version of Chrome (Version 137.0.7151.56 (Official Build) (arm64)). Note that I was up to date on both MacOS and Chrome when the issues were originally happening as well.

Everything is finally working - I'm sure I declined the Apple/MacOS notification originally, which initiated these issues. But that again shouldn't mean that the toggle in MacOS settings won't work/do anything/add a plethora of worthless instances of Chrome within the local network settings.

Hope this helps someone else who has spent hours banging their head on the counter whilst trying to setup a new NAS or other network device like I have been.

Good luck.

After trying many standard approaches (like `tccutil reset` commands, etc.), I fixed the issue with these steps:

1. Boot Mac in Safe Mode (hold Shift while starting up)

2. Delete Chrome from Applications folder

3. Run `sudo tccutil reset SystemPolicyNetworkVolumes` in Terminal

4. Restart normally

5. Reinstall Chrome

The duplicate entries were gone after this.

Hello guys this solved the issue in my Macbook. After having 20+ Google Chrome Local Network Permissions listed:

• 1. Follow this steps to restart in Safe Mode depending on your MacOS version and Processor.
• 2. Uninstall Google Chrome: just move the app from /Applications to Trash. (Note: You do not need to delete ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome folder).
• 3. Run this command in Terminal (that will reset permissions to installed apps, as Chrome is not, they will be deleted):

sudo tccutil reset SystemPolicyNetworkVolumes

• 4. Check Privacy & Security >> Local Network permissions. Google Chrome must be gone.
• 5. Now you can restart your computer.
• 6. Download and install latest Google Chrome version.

Happy ending (for me).

Looked through some approaches, but the only one that worked is https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/477507

It basically disable Apple's SIP to allow us to delete 2 network extensions file under /Library/Preferences then restart. Afterward my Local Network under Privacy and Security is reset, and I have to reapprove any other app for local network access.

Remember to re-enable SIP afterward, and I am just sharing what I found and worked for me.

There are report under the comment of that stack exchange link saying this also removed some network tunneling config on the device (like if you are using wireguard) - I used openvpn and it still function normally without issue.

Lastly, Please do it at your own risk.

Putting this here, hope it helped someone.

This is ridiculous and still happening. Updates mess it up.

Usually just trashing an app and restarting mac removes it's permissions but Chrome is naughty.

Nuking Chrome solved it for me.

For peace of mind backup this folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome

all user data is in there, put it back after reinstalling, it will be trashed after uninstalling with brew

Uninstall Chrome with homebrew

`brew uninstall --verbose --zap --force --cask google-chrome`

or to do it manually check the folders here https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/blob/HEAD/Casks/g/google-chrome.rb

Restart mac, at this point Chrome should be gone with all of it's entries in local network permissions

Reinstall `brew install --cask google-chrome` and restore data

I have same issue of multiple instances of the same app listed in local network permissions on my new M4 iMac. I’ve got a handful of Chromes, and almost 20 of an audio app. Like many of you, it won’t provide access even though all instances of the app are toggled on.

I, too, accidentally hit the “deny access” button, and Mac will not allow it. Got a very good expert-level AppleCare technician on the phone for a couple hours isolating variables - deleting and reinstalling the app and it’s folders, and a bunch of other things as most of you did. We also created a TEST user login, and using the shared folder opened the exact same app and it was successfully granted network access. After that AppleCare agreed this was on Apple. He passed his report to the engineers and he’s supposed to get an initial report back tomorrow. Stay tuned.

I just got off the phone with AppleCare "Expert" technician. We solved the problem(s) of devices not being asked for and given permission to access the local network despite being listed in Local Network Permissions and toggled on.

We also solved the related "symptom" of multiple listings of the same device in Local Network Permissions.

My problem was I could net get local network access for HQ Player, an audio software app, after having no issues for years. When opening the app, I was not asked to give permission, despite the app being listed and toggled on in Local Network Permissions. The app was also listed 17 times. Chrome was listed 4. All of them were toggled on. I called AppleCare, and after being elevated to an expert-level technician, we spent considerable time on the phone sharing my screen and going thru a variety of tests to eliminate potential causes. Ultimately, he agreed this was not a device issue, but Apple's. He took some screen video and captures and elevated it to Apple engineers.

Within 2 days they got back to him with a solution. It involves using Terminal to access the Data volume, and code to access Library Preferences, and remove all local market permissions - which you cannot do any other way. When we were done, there were no devices listed in local network permissions. When we launched the app, things worked as they should -- permission was requested, granted and all was good.

The only bad news is that Apple will not publish the Solution Steps, as they believe there is a high risk of deleting lots of data if any inadvertent steps, words or letters are typed into code. So, anyone who wants to fix this problem must do it thru AppleCare. Ask to expedite escalation. Not sure how responsive they will be, but it will be worth it if you want the problem to go away. It does not take that long to implement the solution, but getting to the point where they're satisfied the problem exists can take a while.

Hope this helps.

Bruce

For those still following this six page thread after over a year, here's the answer. Alas, due to the default forum sort order, only a handful of old timers will ever see it. But it's hilarious nevertheless.

Anyway, since people are still complaining about this, I thought I would take another look at it.

I checked the Chromium bug report for the issue. They blame Apple, even though few other apps have this problem. They filed feedback FB15681423 and washed their hands of the problem. As anyone who has ever filed an Apple feedback report knows, Apple isn't ever going to fix anything. If your app has a problem, and most other apps don't, then it's probably your problem to fix.

So what is the ultimate cause of the problem then? In 2020, Apple posted a Local Network Privacy FAQ on the Apple Developer Forums. There's an awful lot of information there. Later, in 2024, Apple upgraded that post to an official Tech Note: TN3179: Understanding local network privacy.

The first paragraph highlights special macOS Considerations. Right below that are "Build considerations". Here's where it gets interesting. Apple says:

Local network privacy uses your main executable UUID as part of its implementation. If your main executable has no UUID, or shares a UUID with other programs, local network privacy may behave weirdly. To fix that, make sure your main executable has a UUID and that it’s unique. For more about this, see TN3178: Checking for and resolving build UUID problems.

So let's check out that other Tech Note. Right off the bat, it describes how to check for problems using the "dwarfdump --uuid" command. So let's try that with Google Chrome.

Google Chrome has a lot of parts. We'll need to use something fancy to find them all. Here is a command that performs that dwarfdump on all the executables in Chrome:

find /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app -type f  -path "/Applications/Google Chrome.app/*/MacOS/*" -exec dwarfdump --uuid {} \;

If you clean up and sort that output, you'll notice something interesting...

Look at that. A whole bunch of duplicate UUIDs. (By the way, UUID stands for universally unique identifier. So clearly, duplicate UUIDs are bad).

The second to last comment in that Chromium bug report event mentions, "Another reason for this may be that Chrome keeps the previous version in the Framework." But Google discounts that in the last reply saying, "Keeping around previous framework versions is unrelated to this."

And that, my friends, is what's called "an impasse".

I unchecked all the chrome entries, closed all chrome instances (google meet, etc too), check the chrome entry again and relaunched chrome. Navigating to a local site prompts me to grant it permission and then it works.

I had a dozen chrome entries there as well.

I simply deleted chrome, restarted mac and all entries were gone.

Reinstalled chrome and after accessing local network it showed a dialog requesting access.

I tried almost all solutions from this thread, all failed. Eventually, disabling SIP and deleting network files

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkextension.plist
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkextension.uuidcache.plist

was the only successful workaround to get rid of many orphaned instances of Chrome left in Local Network Access tab. I get rid of Chrome using standard 'move to tray' method, but to be sure there are no leftovers, I wiped it out to the bottom with help of Homebrew

brew uninstall --verbose --zap --force --cask google-chrome

BTW it is a shame that MacOS still lacks a decent uninstaller. Anyway, I confirm this method works.

All - new to the Apple Support community, but want to offer my experience. I support a local small business that has about 50 mac minis, recently upgraded to Sequioa. Across all the machines, we are seeing the same behavior with multiple Google Chrome instances found in the Privacy and Security settings. Some of the mac minis have upwards of 8 instances of Google Chrome listed.

These machines connect to a web server running on the Local Network. When running on Ethernet and doing a system restart, the Chrome browser does NOT adhere to the "Local Network" setting -- I am unable to send/receive http requests from the web server. I can resolve this by toggle off/on the Local Network setting.

However, if running over the local wifi network, the Chrome browser is able to send/receive http requests. The browser does not have the same behavior. (perhaps the wifi router is somehow tricking the browser to thinking it is not accessing something on the Local Network)

We know that Google Chrome gets frequent updates - basically pushed - out to the browser. I'm wondering if there is something within the mac OS that is treating each point release as a separate installation - at least as it relates to the Privacy -> Local Network settings. That could explain why multiple instances are getting registered, and why you might see the pop-up 'reappearing' when accessing the browser. It would look like this:

1. Chrome gets a silent update. If this happens while you have Chrome open, the "updated version" isn't fully installed until you restart Chrome.
2. mac OS sees the update, begins the install, but treats it like "a new app". A new entry is made into Security and Privacy --> Local Network.
3. You close and restart the Chrome browser. mac OS sees that Chrome may try to connect to the Local Network, but since it thinks it is "new app", it gives you the prompt.

Were/are you having issues with Chrome.

Uninstall Chrome as per Googles instruction.

Startup in Safe Mode followed by a normal Restart.

Then recheck the items on the Local Network settings.

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95319?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop#zippy=

I have a similar problem with Google Chrome showing multiple instances in Local Network policies.

On top of that, I just bought a new Macbook and I rejected the access to local network by mistake, and the toggle in "System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network" doesn't have any effect when I enable it.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Installed Google Chrome App in macOS 15.2.
2. Opened Chrome and tried to access a local network address
3. Got a prompt asking if Chrome should have permission to access the local network, replied No
4. Go back to "System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network" menu and tried to re-enable the local network access and it didn't work
5. Uninstalled Chrome using AppCleaner (also deleting all the related files from "~/Library/Application Support/Google")
6. App didn't disappear from "System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network" policies list.
7. Rebooted and the App is still listed there
8. Reinstalled Chrome and it didn't ask for permissions anymore
9. Tried to disable and then enable the local network access, it didn't work.

Tried creating a second user account, ran Chrome, accepted the permissions, worked just fine, but this is not a solution.

Tried logging in in Safe Boot with my user, to check if the toggle would have any effect, but also didn't work.

Also tried editing "/var/db/locationd/clients.plist", although not exactly related to Local Network, but it doesn't work because apparently in macOS Sequoia we don't have permissions to edit any of those files in "/var/db/locationd/" even with sudo. Tried enabling the root user (How to enable the root user or change the root password on Mac - Apple Support) to see if I could get around it, didn't work.

I believe this is a bug that must be addressed by Apple.

Would help if we could just have a way to remove the permissions for each App in that Local Network policies list, or if the tccutil would also reset the Local Network policies.