Sep 4, 2023

Google Chrome v116 installing Chrome Web Apps as desktop applications

Updated Google Chrome and we get the following applications installed. 
Docs, Slides, Gmail, Sheets, YouTube, Google Drive. 

I wish to use a registry key to stop this from happening when updating Chrome. 
We use windows environment so a registry key is preferable or if you give a json please include the registry key as well please. 
 
Thanks!

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All Replies (3)
Sep 5, 2023
Hi Joe,

Welcome to the Chrome Enterprise Help Community!

I see that you're concerned about unwanted app installations after upgrading Chrome to 116. Chrome apps can be made to blend in with the desktop environment and appear more like native desktop applications than web-based applications.

The behavior that you mentioned is known by our team. You may track the progress of the Chromium bug here. Feel free to join the discussion and star the bug so that you'll receive email notifications when the bug is updated.

Please reach out to us in case you have further questions.

Best,
Brad
Sep 15, 2023
Do you have any resolution for this?
Oct 5, 2023
Hi there,

As per the latest update from the Chromium team, Chrome 118 should resolve this issue. It will prevent future installs of these preinstalled apps.

Meanwhile, you can either use the ExtensionInstallBlocklist policy or the registry key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallBlocklist) to block / disable the apps that are already installed.

Please follow this workaround which suggests how to use the ExtensionInstallBlocklist policy (or) registry key to achieve the desired outcome

Best,
Brad
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