How to disable profile name in Google Chrome?

I want to get rid of the little name icon in the upper right. It wasn't there until a few updates ago. I tried disabling avatar/new profile management stuff in chrome://flags, but that didn't work. The settings are saved on Disabled but the profile name doesn't go away. Any help?

Thanks in advance. I'm running Ubuntu 14.04, and my Chrome version is 44.0.2403.130.

2 Answers

For Chrome 44 and higher:

chrome://flags/#enable-new-profile-management no longer works, and probably won't be fixed in future too. But there is workaround:

If you want a temporary solutions (that works only for a 'session', you can start chrome from terminal with the --disable-new-avatar-menu flag as in:

google-chrome --disable-new-avatar-menu

If you want a permanent solution:

1. Edit your Chrome .desktop and add the parameter --disable-new-avatar-menu. So:

   sudo nano /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop

   and edit the Exec line as follows:

   Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable --disable-new-avatar-menu %U

   My .desktop file for chrome looks like this:

   [Desktop Entry]
   Version=1.0
   Name=Google Chrome
   GenericName=Web Browser
   Comment=Access the Internet
   Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable --disable-new-avatar-menu %U
   Terminal=false
   Icon=google-chrome
   Type=Application
   Categories=Network;WebBrowser;
   MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml_xml;image/webp;x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;x-scheme-handler/$
   X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;NewIncognito
   [NewWindow Shortcut Group]
   Name=New Window
   Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable
   TargetEnvironment=Unity
   [NewIncognito Shortcut Group]
   Name=New Incognito Window
   Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable --incognito
   TargetEnvironment=Unity

2. Restart Chrome

For Chrome 43 and lower:

1. Copy/paste the following into the omnibox: chrome://flags/#enable-new-avatar-menu
2. Set the value to "Disabled"
3. Restart Chrome

I was trying to avoid this for as long as I could and now I gave up. There is one thing you can do. Click on the name button and select "Switch person" and then select "Browse as guest". In that way your chrome will not synchronize setting over all computers.