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Google Chrome Group Policy settings

739 settings · 155.0.8059.85 · 19 Oct 2026

13 settingsCSV
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Google › Google Chrome › Legacy Browser Support

Enable the Legacy Browser Support feature.

Computer and userIntune-readyBrowserSwitcherEnabled

Supported on Microsoft Windows 7 or later

What it does

Setting the policy to Enabled means Google Chrome will try to launch some URLs in an alternate browser, such as Internet Explorer®. This feature is set using the policies in the Legacy Browser support group. Setting the policy to Disabled or leaving it unset means Google Chrome won't try to launch designated URLs in an alternate browser.

What it writes

Hive
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key
Software\Policies\Google\Chrome
Value name
BrowserSwitcherEnabled
When enabled
DWORD 1
When disabled
DWORD 0

Configure and deploy

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

State
Apply to

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome]
"BrowserSwitcherEnabled"=dword:00000001


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: Enable the Legacy Browser Support feature.
# Name: BrowserSwitcherEnabled
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: chrome.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'BrowserSwitcherEnabled' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1
  • 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.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_chrome/BrowserSwitcherEnabled

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_chrome/BrowserSwitcherEnabled</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>
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]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        '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: Enable the Legacy Browser Support feature.
# Name: BrowserSwitcherEnabled
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: chrome.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'BrowserSwitcherEnabled' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\BrowserSwitcherEnabled') | 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: Enable the Legacy Browser Support feature.
# Name: BrowserSwitcherEnabled
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: chrome.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome' -Name 'BrowserSwitcherEnabled' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 1 retained release

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

Template

Internal name
BrowserSwitcherEnabled
Namespace
Google.Policies.Chrome
Template file
chrome.admx
Release
Google Chrome 155.0.8059.85 · file set 1f03ffd12695d620…
Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.BrowserSwitcherEnabled)" explainText="$(string.BrowserSwitcherEnabled_Explain)" key="Software\Policies\Google\Chrome" name="BrowserSwitcherEnabled" presentation="$(presentation.BrowserSwitcherEnabled)" valueName="BrowserSwitcherEnabled" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Google.Policies.Chrome:BrowserSwitcher" />
      <supportedOn ref="Google.Policies.Chrome:SUPPORTED_WIN7" />
      <enabledValue>
        <decimal value="1" />
      </enabledValue>
      <disabledValue>
        <decimal value="0" />
      </disabledValue>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="BrowserSwitcherEnabled" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />

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>
ChangeIntel

An IT change radar: releases, security, known issues, retirements, documentation changes, and service status from public sources. Every item links to supporting evidence; dates and statuses can change after they are read.

Sources read 20 Oct 22:55 UTC · 258 of 260 readable · 256 fully read · documentation 416/439 current