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Google Chrome Group Policy settings

744 settings · 157.0.8103.79 · 11 Nov 2026

13 settingsCSV
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Google › Google Chrome › Legacy Browser Support

Alternative browser to launch for configured websites.

Computer and userIntune-readyAlternativeBrowserPath

Supported on Microsoft Windows 7 or later

What it does

Setting the policy controls which command to use to open URLs in an alternative browser. The policy can be set to one of ${ie}, ${firefox}, ${safari}, ${opera}, ${edge} or a file path. When this policy is set to a file path, that file is used as an executable file. ${ie} is only available on Microsoft® Windows®. ${safari} and ${edge} are only available on Microsoft® Windows® and macOS. Leaving the policy unset puts a platform-specific default in use: Internet Explorer® for Microsoft® Windows®, or Safari® for macOS. On Linux®, launching an alternative browser will fail. Example value: ${ie}

What it writes

Hive
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key
Software\Policies\Google\Chrome

Options

OptionTypeRegistry valueAllowed values
Alternative browser to launch for configured websites. Text (text) AlternativeBrowserPath Up to 1000000 characters

Configure and deploy

Choose a state and the option values; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

State
Apply to
Options used when Enabled

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome]
"AlternativeBrowserPath"=""


PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Alternative browser to launch for configured websites.
# Name: AlternativeBrowserPath
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: chrome.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'AlternativeBrowserPath' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''
  • The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
  • Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.
  • The generated payload is incomplete because one or more ADMX element values were not supplied: AlternativeBrowserPath

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_chrome/AlternativeBrowserPath
Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' {
            $actualBits = if ($actual -is [uint64]) { $actual } else { [BitConverter]::ToUInt64([BitConverter]::GetBytes([int64]$actual), 0) }
            $expectedBits = if ($Expected -is [uint64]) { $Expected } else { [BitConverter]::ToUInt64([BitConverter]::GetBytes([int64]$Expected), 0) }
            return $actualBits -eq $expectedBits
        }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: Alternative browser to launch for configured websites.
# Name: AlternativeBrowserPath
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: chrome.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'AlternativeBrowserPath' -Kind 'String' -Expected ''
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\AlternativeBrowserPath') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Alternative browser to launch for configured websites.
# Name: AlternativeBrowserPath
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: chrome.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'AlternativeBrowserPath' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

History 6 retained releases

  1. 155.0.8059.8519 Oct 2026
    • Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

5 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name
AlternativeBrowserPath
Namespace
Google.Policies.Chrome
Template file
chrome.admx
Release
Google Chrome 157.0.8103.79 · file set 6e824af7f6d85cb6…
Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.AlternativeBrowserPath)" explainText="$(string.AlternativeBrowserPath_Explain)" key="Software\Policies\Google\Chrome" name="AlternativeBrowserPath" presentation="$(presentation.AlternativeBrowserPath)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Google.Policies.Chrome:BrowserSwitcher" />
      <supportedOn ref="Google.Policies.Chrome:SUPPORTED_WIN7" />
      <elements>
        <text id="AlternativeBrowserPath" maxLength="1000000" valueName="AlternativeBrowserPath" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="AlternativeBrowserPath" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions"><textBox refId="AlternativeBrowserPath"><label>Alternative browser to launch for configured websites.</label></textBox></presentation>

Supported platforms and category

Google.Policies.Chrome:category:BrowserSwitcher
<category displayName="$(string.BrowserSwitcher_group)" name="BrowserSwitcher" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Google.Policies.Chrome:googlechrome" />
    </category>
Google.Policies.Chrome:category:googlechrome
<category displayName="$(string.googlechrome)" name="googlechrome" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Google.Policies:Cat_Google" />
    </category>
Google.Policies.Chrome:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Google.Policies:category:Cat_Google
<category displayName="$(string.google)" name="Cat_Google" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Google.Policies.Chrome:category:BrowserSwitcher
<category displayName="$(string.BrowserSwitcher_group)" name="BrowserSwitcher" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Google.Policies.Chrome:googlechrome" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Google.Policies.Chrome:BrowserSwitcher_group">Legacy Browser Support</string></strings>
Google.Policies.Chrome:category:googlechrome
<category displayName="$(string.googlechrome)" name="googlechrome" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Google.Policies:Cat_Google" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Google.Policies.Chrome:googlechrome">Google Chrome</string></strings>
Google.Policies.Chrome:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Google.Policies.Chrome:SUPPORTED_WIN7">Microsoft Windows 7 or later</string></strings>
Google.Policies:category:Cat_Google
<category displayName="$(string.google)" name="Cat_Google" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Google.Policies:google">Google</string></strings>
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Sources read 13 Nov 11:05 UTC · 270 of 275 readable · 268 fully read · documentation 469/469 current