solved 'Google' or 'Search' keywords always crashes Google Chrome

[Paul Holbrook]

Whenever I use the 'Search' or 'Google' keywords for Alfred - ie, type those keywords followed by return - I get a crash reporter window saying "Google search quit unexpectedly".

 

I'm almost sure that this is because when I type those keywords, alfred previews that it's going to launch something odd looking - /Users/holbrook/Applications/Chrome Apps.localized/Default coobgpohoikkiipiblmjeljniedjpjp .. and more. I've attached a screenshot of the report; I can attach the actual report if desired.

 

I'm almost certain that weird path is my issue; on another Mac, Google maps to a much more reasonable path /Applications/Google Chrome.app. There is in fact a '/Users/holbrook/Applications/Chrome Apps.localized/' directory and there appears to be a directory or app that matches the screenshot below, but I don't know why Alfred is honing in on that specific directory.

When I looked in my preferences and search for 'google' or 'search', I don't see anything like the weird path above.

 

I have tried clearing my application cache.  I have only two workflows, neither of which matches those keywords.

Version: 4.3.1 [1214]

MacOS 11.1

Edited January 27, 2021 by Paul Holbrook
correct grammer in title

[Andrew]

@Paul Holbrook This isn't Alfred crashing, it's Chrome, or whatever that peculiar looking path is within Chrome.

 

If you change your default browser to Safari, does it work normally?

 

Have you tried reinstalling Google Chrome?

Cheers,

Andrew

[deanishe]

2 hours ago, Paul Holbrook said:

but I don't know why Alfred is honing in on that specific directory.

 

It isn't Alfred. That's a Chrome "app" you've created, and it's your OS/Chrome configuration causing the URL to be opened with that app, which is then crashing.

 

If you don't know what it is, delete it. There's a good chance that will fix your issue.

[Paul Holbrook]

T

Quote

This isn't Alfred crashing, it's Chrome, or whatever that peculiar looking path is within Chrome.

Right. Turns out that I had Choosy as my default browser; that's an app that lets you choose which browser to use in which circumstance. I did try setting default browser to Safari away from Choosy; didn't work. Uninstalled and reinstalled Chrome; also didn't work.

 

Quote

It isn't Alfred. That's a Chrome "app" you've created, and it's your OS/Chrome configuration causing the URL to be opened with that app, which is then crashing.

This certainly sounds right. However, I can't figure out where Alfred picked up the association between my keyboards and that weird app path. I see the weird path when I invoke Alfred and type the keyword, but when I go into Alfred Preferences, I can't find that weird path anyplace.

I'm sure I could nuke Alfred and make it work, but I'm just not sure where that association might be.

[deanishe]

17 minutes ago, Paul Holbrook said:

This certainly sounds right. However, I can't figure out where Alfred picked up the association between my keyboards and that weird app path. I see the weird path when I invoke Alfred and type the keyword, but when I go into Alfred Preferences, I can't find that weird path anyplace.

 

Alfred is only launching the app because you keep telling it to.

 

2 hours ago, Paul Holbrook said:

Whenever I use the 'Search' or 'Google' keywords for Alfred

 

Well, yeah. You're not telling Alfred to search Google, you're telling it to search for applications/preference panes/… that match "search" or "google", so of course Alfred will show you an application called "Google Search". Alfred is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

 

Delete the broken app. Read Web Searches and Fallback Searches in the Alfred help to learn how to search the web from Alfred.

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by deanishe

[Paul Holbrook]

Thanks, @deanishe, once I understood what you meant by "delete the app", you were entirely correct - that fixed it.

 

The confusion was that in Alfred I was seeing that 'search' or 'google' were mapping to this weird path that looked nothing like an app. But when I went into ~/Applications/Chrome Apps, I found an "app" called 'Google Search' that was in fact the thing behind that weird path. I deleted that, and things went back to normal.

 

Thanks for the help.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Paul Holbrook

[deanishe]

1 minute ago, Paul Holbrook said:

But when I went into ~/Applications/Chrome Apps, I found an "app" called 'Google Search' that was in fact the thing behind that weird path.

 

Right, I understand your confusion. Finder lies a lot about what files are, where they are and what they're called (e.g. viewing /Applications in Finder shows the merged contents of /Applications and /System/Applications). It's difficult for other apps like Alfred to keep up with the lies