Set up Chrome

As an administrator, you can download the Chrome MSI or the Chrome Enterprise Bundle. The bundle contains Chrome MSI, Chrome Legacy Browser Support (LBS) extension, and administrative policy templates. For information about setting up and deploying Chrome browser in your organization using the Chrome Enterprise Bundle, see Download Chrome Enterprise Bundle.

The instructions are for how to install the Chrome MSI in a Windows environment. To set up Chrome for an organization:

1. Download Chrome.

   For Windows environments, download the Google Chrome Microsoft installer (MSI), which installs Chrome without an internet connection. For Mac and Linux environments, download the consumer version.

   Chrome installs at the system level, giving all users on the machine access to the same instance of Chrome.

2. Configure Chrome preferences and policies.

   Preferences are user settings that configure an individual instance of Chrome, while policies are administrator settings that configure multiple Chrome instances and override any conflicting user preferences.

   • Configure preferences to establish default Chrome settings that you want to let users modify. (See Manage preferences.)
   • Configure policies to control Chrome settings that you don't want to let users modify. (See Manage policies.)

3. Pre-install Chrome extensions.

   Extensions enhance the functionality of Chrome. (See Pre-install Chrome extensions.)

4. Push Chrome to your users' computers.

   In Windows environments, you can use Systems Management Server (SMS) or a similar set of tools to push out the MSI, or run the MSI on the target machines directly, and silently, with this command:

   Msiexec /q /I GoogleChrome.msi

5. Test your installation.

   On a target machine, launch Google Chrome and verify that your configurations appear.

   If the policies do not appear, run Microsoft's Group Policy Update Utility (gpupdate) to refresh policy settings.

After you install Chrome on your users’ computers, there are three ways you can manage your users’ instance of Chrome on your corporate-managed devices:

• Group Policies to push Chrome to users, install applications, manage auto-updates, and enforce policies.
• Windows Registry to install apps and extensions on users’ instances of Chrome.
• Master Preferences to set up Chrome defaults, which users can later configure.

In addition to device-based policies, you can optionally provide users with the convenience of having their work tabs sync, and pre-install Chrome apps, extensions, and themes when they sign in to Chrome from a non-work computer. These cloud policies are set in the Admin console and include most of the same 100+ policies that are available via Group Policies. They apply to a user no matter which device they use, when they sign in to Chrome with their G Suite account.

1. Have your users download Chrome on their personal computers.

2. Sign in to your Admin console.

3. Create the organizational units that you want to set policies for, if you haven’t already. For example, full-time employees and contractors, or teachers and students.

4. Go to Device management > Chrome management > User settings and set the policies you want to configure for your organization. Note that many admins choose to leave the default settings in Chrome, and only configure settings such as startup pages, new tab pages, apps, and extensions.

5. When you’re done, click Save, and these policies will be enforced when your users sign in to Chrome with their G Suite accounts, no matter what computer they’re signing in with.

   • Unlike corporate-managed devices, these settings will only apply to a user’s personal computer when the user signs in to Chrome with their G Suite account. Common settings admins configure are startup pages, new tab pages, apps, extensions, and themes.
   • Group Policy settings (device-based settings) take precedence if there’s a conflict between Group Policy settings and cloud-managed policies on corporate-managed devices.

You need to turn on Chrome Management so that user policies will work on Windows^®, Mac^®, and Linux^® computers. If you purchased Chrome licenses, policies apply to users who sign in to a managed Chrome device, even if Chrome Management is turned off.

If your organization wants to take advantage of the Chrome browser, but your users still need to access older website and apps that require Internet Explorer, you can use the Chrome Legacy Browser Support extension to switch automatically between Chrome and another browser. When your users click links that require a legacy browser to open, the URL will automatically be opened in the legacy browser from Chrome.

Learn more how to set up Legacy Browser Support for Chrome and Internet Explorer.