DOWNLOAD the newest version of Google Earth at earth.google.com and this problem will never recur.

This happens when you have far too many items open for Google Earth to handle. It is a known issue with Google Earth and can be avoided by simply not keeping everything open in “Places/Temporary Places.” Once this happens, you can simply close Google Earth, and make sure you press the “n” button (short for “no”) when prompted with the request of whether or not to save your “Temporary Places.” This prompt may not be physically visible, but usually you can press the “n” button if Google Earth has “focus” on your desktop, after you’ve pressed the “X” at the top right to close it.

It also helps to avoid displaying a large number of items (history, in partiular) at once, even if they are technically open.

If Google Earth will not close, you can kill it using the directions in this page

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