Make Chrome default browser (Windows 10)

Equally an ambassador, you may demand to configure Chrome as the default browser on computers in your domain. Yous must complete these steps to set up Chrome every bit the default browser on domain-joined computers running Microsoft Windows 10 and above.

On Windows 10 and above

Step 1: Create a default application association XML file (sampled provided)

The default application association file is an XML file that associates a file type with an application. For case, if y'all acquaintance .html or .htm files with the Chrome awarding, then by default Chrome is launched each time the user opens a html or htm file.

For domain-joined computers, you lot create a single shared XML file that automatically sets Chrome as the default browser application. You must identify this file in a shared folder, on your server, that all of the domain-joined computers tin admission.

Note: If Chrome is not installed on the target computer, the file associations are not practical and users must choose an application when they open up a link (http or https) or file (html or htm).

Download the default application association file

It is possible to have various Chrome channels installed side-past-side in Windows. Below are example xml files showing how to set a specific Chrome aqueduct equally the default browser to open html, htm, http and https files or links.

Chrome Stable instance (chromedefault.xml):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DefaultAssociations>
<Association Identifier=".htm" ProgId="ChromeHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome" />
<Clan Identifier=".html" ProgId="ChromeHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome" />
<Clan Identifier="http" ProgId="ChromeHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome" />
<Association Identifier="https" ProgId="ChromeHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome" />
</DefaultAssociations>

Chrome Beta example ( chromedefault.xml):

<?xml version="ane.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DefaultAssociations>
<Association Identifier=".htm" ProgId="ChromeBHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Beta" />
<Association Identifier=".html" ProgId="ChromeBHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Beta" />
<Association Identifier="http" ProgId="ChromeBHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Beta" />
<Association Identifier="https" ProgId="ChromeBHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Beta" />
</DefaultAssociations>

Chrome Dev example ( chromedefault.xml):

<?xml version="one.0" encoding="UTF-eight"?>
<DefaultAssociations>
<Association Identifier=".htm" ProgId="ChromeDHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Dev" />
<Association Identifier=".html" ProgId="ChromeDHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Dev" />
<Association Identifier="http" ProgId="ChromeDHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Dev" />
<Association Identifier="https" ProgId="ChromeDHTML" ApplicationName="Google Chrome Dev" />
</DefaultAssociations>

Note:The default clan policy is fix at each login. The user can change an association after they login, simply the change applies to that login session just. The association will be reset to the policy at the side by side login.

Step 2: Create a Group Policy Object

The Grouping Policy Management panel lets y'all create and manage Group Policy Objects (GPO) for your domain. These GPOs control the policies that are applied to all your domain-linked computers. Subsequently you create the GPO, you use security filtering to apply information technology to the computers in your domain.

In the following example, you create a GPO (Set Chrome as default browser) and apply information technology to computers in the chromeforwork.com domain.

  1. Open up the Group Policy Management Console. Go to Offset > All programs > Authoritative Tools > Group Policy Management.
  2. In the navigation pane, go to Group Policy Management > Domains.
  3. In the navigation pane, right-click on the chromeforwork.com domain, and click Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it hither...
  4. Type the proper noun of the new GPO (in our example, the name is Set Chrome equally default browser) and click OK.

  5. In the navigation pane, go to Group Policy Management > Domains > chromeforwork.com > Group Policy Objects and select Set Chrome every bit default browser.

  6. In the Security Filtering pane, click Add.
  7. In the Select User, Estimator, or Group window, blazon the name of the object yous want to add, click Check Names (to verify the name you entered), and click OK.

    You tin can type Domain Computers to add all workstations and servers joined to this domain (as in the example beneath) or you can specify a different group of computers.

  8. The GPO now applies to all domain-linked computers.

Step three: Set a default associations configuration file

To set the default associations configuration file for domain-linked computers, y'all edit the related GPO on your windows server.

  1. Open the Grouping Policy Direction Panel.

    Go to Showtime > All programs > Administrative Tools > Grouping Policy Management.

  2. In the navigation pane, click Group Policy Direction > Domains > chromeforwork.com.
  3. Click the Linked Grouping Policy Objects tab to view all GPOs for this domain.
  4. Right-click on the GPO you desire to select, and click Edit to open up the Group Policy Management Editor.

    In this example, right-click on Set Chrome equally default browser.

  5. In the Group Policy Management Editor, go to Computer Configuration > Policies > Authoritative Template > Windows Components > File Explorer, and double-click Set a default associations configuration file.

  6. In the Ready a default associations configuration file window, select the Enabled pick.

  7. In the Options box, enter the location of your default application association XML file.

    This is the XML file that assembly file types (such as .htm, .html, http, and https) with the Chrome application. This tin be the Google provided sample XML file or one you created yourself.

Annotation: The file tin can't be a local file on the server. It must be at a location that is accessible to every computer in the domain.

Step 4: Verify your configuration

On your target computers (that is, the Active Directory domain-joined computers running Windows ten), y'all can verify that the GPO you created has been applied, and that the computer is using Chrome as the default browser.

The GPO is applied automatically when the policy is refreshed past the Windows Client, or you lot tin run the GPUpdate.exe /forcefulness command to force a manual refresh at any time.

Notation: Later the policy is downloaded and practical, the computer must be rebooted in order for the policy to take effect.

  1. On a Windows Client, get to Windows > System32. Right-click rsop.msc and select run as ambassador.
  2. Authenticate with administrator credentials and click Yes.
  3. Get to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer to ostend that Set a default associations configuration file is bachelor.

  4. Open up the Set a default associations configuration file to confirm that the setting is enabled and that the XML file location is correct.

  5. When Chrome is set as the default browser, and then all files with htm and html extensions use the Chrome icon.

Related topics

More than details from Microsoft TechNet:

  • Generate default application associations files
  • Use a group policy to set the default browser

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