Developer tools getting disabled - google-chrome

Question

I am on Version 45.0.2454.101 m and for some reason dev tools option is getting disabled.
I reinstalled chrome 3 times, no luck.
I tried to delete the registry file based on this answer
Google chrome develop tools disabled
I do not see chromium under policy folder :(.
I searched the user data --> Default --> Preferences folder to see if I can delete the devtools reference, nothing helped :(
Update:
Based on lossleader's comment I checked chrome://policy and I see devtools is disabled, how should i enable or set this to false
Please help
UPDATE : 10/13/2015
My preference file as of today, still dev console is disabled:
10/16/2015 I do not see anything under group policy object too

Answer 1

UPDATE:
I've made a small video with step by step instructions.
1 - Close Chrome
2 - Open the file:
C:\users\[your users account]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Preferences
3 - SEARCH FOR:
"devtools": {
something...
"disabled": true,
something...
},
4 - CHANGE TO:
"devtools": {
something...
"disabled": false,
something...
},
5 - Restart Chrome.
DISABLED:
ENABLED:
TIPS
1 - If you cannot find "disabled": true, just add the value "disabled": false, under devtools.
2 - You may want to copy the contents of the file to http://jsonlint.com/ in order to read properly.
3 - Backup the Original file (just in case)
4 - I've tested enabling and disabling devtools and it works as expected.
5 - If the problem persists, you may want to disable your extensions in order to ensure they aren't messing with your preferences. The same applies to antivirus.
UPDATE
You said:
notepad ++ complaints saying the source file has been modified by
another program
It doesn't matter, other values may have changed on the file, and that's normal, but the values you've added won't change.

Answer 2

Try deleting this folder:
[user drive]\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\Google
which I got from a Superuser question.
Or, do:
Press the Windows key + R, type regedit.exe and press Enter
HKEY_USERS\ -> S-1-5-21-1177238915-1897051121-839522115-1003\ -> Software\ -> Microsoft\ -> Windows\ -> CurrentVersion\ -> Group Policy Objects\ -> {91DD4E7D-FE0F-4B62-A092-91DC1486888E}User\ -> Software\ -> Policies\ -> Google\ -> Chrome
Delete the ones in RED. Click on "Google" and click on "Edit" and select "Delete".
Click on "File" and then "Exit".
Did it work?

Answer 3

If you are logged into Google under a managed account that has the preference off, you'll have to log out to get around it. Other than that the administrator of your account has to change the setting for you to be able to use Dev Tools in Chrome.

Answer 4

This is clearly a Windows box, but you didn't say if it's a personal or work computer.
Looking at the policy in chrome://policy, you will notice that the policy is being set at the "Machine" level.
Read google's documentation here:
Machine Policies are applied through Group Policy Objects (GPO) on Windows..
..(machine policies) are pushed to the user using Windows Group Policy Objects (GPO), Managed Preferences on Mac, or another out-of-band management system for Windows/Mac/Linux..
In other words, it's likely that your workplace has set up a group policy object and is forcing these 3 settings onto your machine. Group Policy Objects generally can't be disabled and often can't even be seen by a non-administrator. Note that when I say "administrator" I'm talking about a domain admin, not a local-machine admin.
The purpose of group policy ("Managed Preferences" on the Mac) is to force certain settings onto a large group of machines. Common examples include password policies, ability to install plug-ins, etc.
It looks like someone in your organization thinks that disabling Chrome's developer tools and incognito mode are good for security. This is kind of a dumb idea, but that's not relevant to the discussion.
EDIT: "that would be highly unlikely but I will look"
You have more confidence in your IT department than I do. :)
Someone probably read this NSA "briefing" and thought it was a good idea.

Answer 5

I don't know how helpful this will be, but are there any other unknown processes running in task manager on your computer. This sounds less like a bug and more like some malware may be forcefully editing any chrome installation. It could also be that when you re-install chrome and sign in some kind of chrome add-on is being loaded which is causing problems.

Answer 6

The only thing that worked for me was changing this value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\DeveloperToolsDisabled
to 0
Unfortunately, after a logon or some time (I'm no domain admin) the setting is set to 1 again. Thinking about starting Chrome via a batch file and applying the value to the registry key, like this
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v DeveloperToolsDisabled /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0
Complete commandline (with UAC):
powershell Start-Process cmd.exe -ArgumentList "/C","'reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v DeveloperToolsDisabled /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0'" -Verb runAs
Complete batch file:
REG QUERY "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v "DeveloperToolsDisabled" | Find "0x0"
If %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 goto start_chrome
powershell Start-Process cmd.exe -ArgumentList "/C","'reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v DeveloperToolsDisabled /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0'" -Verb runAs
:start_chrome
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"
exit

Answer 7

In the case of Microsoft Edge, I changed the DeveloperToolsAvailability setting value from:
2 (Don't allow using developer Tools)
to
1 (Allow using the developer tools)
Set the Registry Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\DeveloperToolsAvailability
And check afterwards:
edge://policy
But since this is work laptop, you at mercy of site admins, when they run group policies. But this worked for me, on laptop where setting is controlled by group policy
Reference: (DeveloperToolsAvailability)

Answer 8

Follow the steps below or refer to these 4 screenshots to enable developer tools.
You will need to be familiar with the Windows registry editor.
Run regedit :Windows key +r then type regedit or search for it
Browse registy to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
Double click on DeveloperToolsDisbaled
Change the value from 1 to 0
Issue should be resolved
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome:
DeveloperToolsDisabled:
Change Value to 0:
Developer Tools should now be enabled: