Frequently Asked Questions

What is Google Chrome?

Google Chrome is a new, fast web browser from Google.

Why should we use Google Chrome?  What would it give my organization?

Google Chrome offers a number of benefits, including security, speed, stability, and simplicity.  Find out about all the features of Google Chrome here.

What is Google Chrome for Enterprise?  Is it a different build than the Google Chrome I install from google.com?

Google Chrome for Enterprise is just Google Chrome.  Every Google Chrome has the same features, so it's equivalent to the Google Chrome you can download from google.com.

What enterprise features does Chrome offer?

Support for (group) policy and centralized configuration (list of supported policies here), a specialized MSI installer, and control over auto-update frequency.

Does Google Chrome support enterprise features on all platforms?

Yes.

How do I install Google Chrome?

You can download Google Chrome from http://www.google.com/chrome.

Do you have an offline installer or an MSI?

Yes.  You can download the latest MSI here.

Can I roll back Google Chrome to a previous version?

No - rollback is not supported.

To get to a previous version (which would not be supported by Google), you would need to uninstall your current version, delete every user's saved profile data, and re-install the older version.  Users' personal profile data is kept in:

On Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data 
On Windows Vista / 7: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data

This means users will lose their bookmarks, history, etc., so use this method with extreme caution.

Are there older versions of the MSI available?

No, we do not currently make older versions of the MSI available, as they are no longer supported.

How can I install per-system instead of per-user?

The MSI will only install at system-level, which means all users on the machine will have access to the same instance / version of Google Chrome.

Does Google Chrome install over itself?  What if users already have it installed?

Google Chrome does not install over itself.  It first checks if it is already installed at the same elevation level.

However, if Google Chrome is already installed by the user at user-level, installing it system-level will remove the user-level installs and replace them with a system-level install.  User/profile data would remain.

How do I control Google Chrome's settings?

You can control and lock down user preferences through Group Policy settings on Windows, MCX configuration on Mac, and JSON files in special directories on Linux.  For Windows, it is recommended to use Group Policy vs. preferences files because only Group Policy can be enforced.

What settings does Google Chrome allow an administrator to configure?

A list of supported policies is here.

Does Google Chrome allow me to set mandatory preferences and recommended preferences through policy?

Yes.  On Windows, you can set policies in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER, respectively.  On Linux, set the policy files under /etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed and /etc/opt/chrome/policies/recommended, respectively.

Do you have group policy templates, or an example of a policy file?

Yes.  You can find group policy templates here.

Where can I get a policy template for Google Chrome for Mac?

The template is bundled into the application package itself.

What if I need to pre-configure a setting that is not a supported policy?

You can put some preferences into a file called "master_preferences" next to the Google Chrome executable, and those will be interpreted as part of the user's preferences.  You can find out more about this technique here.

What if users have already installed Chrome themselves?  Will those Chromes respect policies I set?

Yes.

How do I pre-install extensions?

Information on pre-installing extensions is here. 

How do I turn off auto-updates?

Although it is not recommended, you can find out how to turn off auto-updates here.

How often does Google Chrome update?  How many versions per year should one expect?

Google Chrome's stable channel updates often.  You can see how many major and minor updates there were to the stable channel on http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com

Where do I go to find out about Google Chrome updates?  How do I know a new update is coming?

Follow the updates on http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com.  We suggest adding this as one of your regular RSS feeds.  We post here every time there is a new release of any channel.

Does Google Chrome auto-update, even if the users on a machine do not have administrative rights?

Yes.

Where can I find release notes for each version?

http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com has high-level release notes and lists security fixes for each release.  We suggest you follow this blog.

How can I get early warning and information about security updates?

Subscribing to the blog at http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com will give you information about security updates as soon as they are public; this is the right list to watch.

How many versions back do you support?

We only support the most current stable channel release.  Older releases are not supported.

How do I know what the most current version of Google Chrome is for Windows?

We've created a utility at https://omahaproxy.appspot.com/win to list the current stable version on Windows.

How do I know what the most current version of Google Chrome is for other platforms?

As above, https://omahaproxy.appspot.com/viewer provides a list of current revisions.

Can I get phone or email support?

Yes, if you are a Google Apps for Business customer.  Call the same number, use the same email address, or file a ticket via your control panel the same way you do for any Google Apps issues.  Click here for information on how to access the Google Enterprise Support Portal.

What other support resources are available?

Google Chrome has a full help center, along with a help forum, and public bug tracker.

I found a bug in Chrome that I need fixed.  Who should I contact and when can I expect it fixed?

Please file a bug in our public issue tracker.  You may want to search for any other similar bugs to make sure the issue isn't already being resolved.

Unfortunately, we cannot give exact timing on when specific issues will be fixed.  You can follow the public bug to see when changes are made, when it is marked as fixed and closed.

If you have support from Google via Google Apps subscription, please contact Google as you would for a Google Apps issue.

Google Chrome doesn't work with some of our internal applications.  Will you fix this?

Most of these issues are not actually bugs in Google Chrome -- the applications themselves were written for a specific web browser, and do not handle other browsers properly.  You may want to contact whoever administrates those applications and ask about browser compatibility, as Google Chrome cannot fix those issues.

Of course, if you do find issues that are true bugs in Google Chrome (pages crash, it shows web pages differently than Safari, etc.), then please let us know by filing a bug.

We want to deploy Google Chrome, but we have legacy applications that don't work in it.  What can we do?

There are a couple of options in this scenario:

1.  Update the legacy application to work on modern browsers (if possible)
2.  Make Chrome the default browser and deploy shortcuts to just those applications that you want to open in the other browser.  For instance, you could create a shortcut to Internet Explorer and pass the URL you want IE to open as the first parameter - e.g. create a shortcut that would execute "C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe 'www.google.com'".




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