Google to restrict Chrome Sync for outdated systems by 2025
New rules have been announced for the Chrome Sync service, an element of Chrome that allows passwords and other data to be synchronised between users' devices. Google intends to limit this option to regularly updated Chrome versions and exclude the oldest computers.
Users of the Google Chrome browser on exceptionally old computers should pay attention to the announced change related to data synchronisation. Currently, once a user logs into Google in the browser, they can be assured that search history, passwords, or certain preferences will be continuously transferred and available between different user devices.
After this change, which, according to the announcement, will take effect "in early 2025," there will be some exceptions. Google stated that Chrome Sync will only work for those browsers that are updated relatively regularly; that is, the version installed on a computer should be no more than 4 years old.
At first glance, this restriction may seem to affect a few people (as browsers update themselves in the background almost daily), but in practice, the impact may be larger than it appears. The problem may ultimately affect, for example, loyal Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users and, in extreme cases, force them to replace their computers.
This is because Google has long since stopped supporting such old versions of Windows—justifiably, as Microsoft no longer supports them. Nonetheless, practice shows that Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 still have users. According to StatCounter data specifically for the Polish market, this accounts for slightly over 2% of all Windows users—a significant group in the country.
According to information about Chrome updates from Google support, the latest version of the browser that can be installed on computers with Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 is Chrome 109, which was released in January 2023. Thus, this version will be four years old in January 2027, at which point data synchronisation in the browser will cease to function on the specified devices.
If this is a key function of Chrome for someone and they cannot update the operating system on their current computer—for example, due to hardware requirements—they should plan to replace their PC within the next two years. It is uncertain when a similar situation will affect Windows 10, let alone the latest Windows 11. However, it is essential to remember that the Ten will lose Microsoft's support in October of this year.
