The Chrome device settings in the Admin console configure your organization's Chrome devices regardless of who signs in. To manage device settings:
- Sign in to the Admin console.
- Select Settings from the menu at the top.
- Select Chrome from the list of services on the left and then click Device Settings.
- Select the organizational unit to which you want the settings to apply.
- Configure the policies on the page.
- Click Save changes at the bottom of the screen. Settings typically take effect within minutes but might take up to an hour to propagate through your organization.
The device policies are as follows.
Specifies whether Chrome devices you purchase from Google can be enrolled in your domain automatically the first time a user in your domain logs into it. If this setting is disabled, an administrator must enroll each Chrome device manually using the steps decribed in Enroll Chrome devices.
Controls whether to allow guest browsing on managed Chrome devices. If you select Allow guest mode (the default), the main sign-in screen offers the option for a user to sign in as a guest. If you select Do not allow guest mode, a user must sign in using a Google Account or Google Apps account. When a user signs in using guest mode, your organization's policies are not applied.
Enables you to control which users have permission to sign into a managed Chrome device.
By default, any user with a Google Account or Google Apps account can sign in; however, if you include one or more user names in the text box, only the named users can sign in; other users will receive an error message. Enter user names in the form of their primary email addresses, with names separated by commas. The names can include the wildcard * (to match any set of characters).
Specifies whether enrolled Chrome devices delete all locally-stored settings and user data every time a user signs out. Data the device syncs persists in the cloud but not on the device itself.
Specifies whether the Chrome device's sign-in screen displays the names and pictures of users who have signed in to the device.
Specifies whether Chrome devices automatically update to new versions of Chrome OS as they are released. Allow auto-updates is strongly recommended.
Prevents Chrome devices from updating to versions of Chrome OS beyond the version number specified. Using this setting is recommended only if a later version of Chrome OS causes compatibility issues with tools in your domain that need to be resolved prior to updating.
You can configure one or more of your Chrome devices to use the development or beta channel to help identify compatibility issues in upcoming versions of Chrome OS.
Specifies the approximate number of days over which managed Chrome devices in your organization download an update following its release. The downloads occur at various times during this period to avoid causing traffic spikes that can impact old or low-bandwidth networks. Devices that are offline during this period download the update when they go back online.
Set this policy to its default (none) or a low number unless you know your network can't handle traffic spikes. This lets users benefit from new Chrome enhancements and features quicker, minimizes the number of concurrent versions in your organization, and simplifies change management during the update period.
Specifies whether users can change the release channel on this device.
- If the device is enrolled, wipe or recover it. Do not re-enroll the device yet.
- Sign in to the Chrome device.
- Update the channel.
If you change to a more stable channel, the Chrome device starts receiving updates from the more stable channel when its Chrome OS version number catches up to the Chrome OS version number of the less stable channel currently running on the Chrome device. To immediately change to the stable channel, recover the Chrome device.
- Check the About Chrome OS page to verify Chrome downloads the update according to the newly-selected channel. If Chrome does not download the update, click Check for updates.
- After the update installs, reboot, wipe, and re-enroll the device.
- Become familiar with new Chrome OS features before they appear on the stable channel.
- Prepare users for any user interface changes prior to the update.
- Determine whether your network has incompatibilities or issues with the next version of Chrome.
- Understand if problems are specific to certain versions of Chrome when troubleshooting.
- Provide feedback on upcoming Chrome updates.
Specifies whether users on this Chrome device can go online using a mobile network maintained by a different carrier. With this setting, you fix the value of the Allow mobile data roaming check box on the Internet page in the Chrome device Settings.
If you allow data roaming, charges may apply.
Specifies whether the Chrome device sends Google usage statistics and crash reports whenever a system or browser process fails.
Usage statistics contain aggregated information such as preferences, button clicks, and memory usage. They don't include web page URLs or any personal information. Crash reports contain system information at the time of the crash, and may contain web page URLs or personal information, depending on what was happening at the time of the crash.
Specifies whether Chrome devices enrolled in your domain report their current device state, including firmware, Chrome and platform version, and boot mode. If this setting is enabled, you can view a Chrome device's current device state by clicking on the device in the Devices tab.