Set Chrome policies using the Custom Configurations page

For administrators, signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, who manage Chrome policies from the Google Admin console.

You can enforce Chrome policies from your Google Admin console using JSON code.

You can customize policies as follows:

• Add policies that are currently not available in the Admin console.
• Recommend policies that cannot be set as recommended in the Admin console.
• Add policies that are only partially available in the Admin console. For example:
  • ExtensionSettings
  • RestoreOnStartup
  • DefaultDownloadDirectory
  • DownloadDirectory

The policies are enforced when users sign in to a managed Google Account or open Chrome browser on managed Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, or Linux computers and on iOS and Android devices. 

Considerations

• Supported platforms—JSON-based settings are not supported on ChromeOS. For other platforms, support varies per setting.
• Inheritance rules for JSON-based settings—JSON-based settings for an organizational unit share the same inheritance, either inherited or locally applied. The inheritance for any single policy cannot be individually set.
• Precedence for JSON-based settings—When a JSON-based setting becomes available in the Admin console settings, the setting's value in the JSON code is respected and overrides the Google default value shown in the settings. You can edit the setting in the Admin console.
• Unsupported policies—Policies that are already available in the Admin console settings are not available via the JSON configuration page. Cloud-only policies are also unavailable.

Add JSON configurations

Before you begin: You must have Chrome Enterprise Core to set custom configurations in the Admin console.

You can copy JSON code for the policies you need to add and paste them into the Admin console. You can then edit the values to meet your organization's needs. For an example of JSON code, see Sample JSON code.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. Go to MenuChrome browserCustom Configurations.
3. To apply the setting to all enrolled browsers, leave the top organizational unit selected.
4. In Configurations, add your JSON configurations.
   • Chrome policies that are not in the Admin console:
     • Add the Chrome policy name as the key and the value of the policy that you want to set.
   • Set a policy as recommended:
     • Add recommended as the key and add the policy names as the value.
   • Set extensions settings that are not available in the Admin console:
     • Add the Extension ID as the key and add installation_mode : install_mode_type as the value.

Sample JSON code

{
  "BooleanPolicy": true,
  "IntegerPolicy": 1,
  "StringPolicy": "value",
  "ListPolicy": ["item1", "item2"],
  "DictionaryPolicy": {
    "Key1": "value",
    "Key2": {
      "NestedKey": "value"
    }
  },
  "recommended": ["RecommendedPolicy"]
}

FAQs

Can I set a policy that is already in the Admin console settings using the Custom configurations page?

No. Policies that are fully available in the Admin console cannot be set using the Custom configurations page. See above for the custom configuration scenarios.

When a policy is newly-released in the in the Admin console settings, what happens to the policy values that are already set using the Custom configurations page?

The policy value set using the Custom configurations page continues to apply. If you want to modify the policy value, you must use the Admin console settings page. Once modified, the Admin console settings policy value overwrites the JSON configuration. We recommend that you then remove the policy from the Custom configurations page.

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