Chrome Enterprise is Google’s set of tools for deploying and managing Chrome in an organization. As Google’s Chrome Enterprise download page says, there is no separate enterprise version of the browser, and Chrome is free to download and deploy.
Download Chrome Enterprise (MSI)
Google’s installers for IT deployment, from dl.google.com. Each link serves the current stable release.
- Windows 64-bit (x86): googlechromestandaloneenterprise64.msi
- Windows 64-bit (ARM): googlechromestandaloneenterprise_arm64.msi
- Windows 32-bit (x86): googlechromestandaloneenterprise.msi
- Enterprise bundle (MSI plus policy templates): 64-bit or 32-bit
- Mac (Apple silicon and Intel): GoogleChrome.pkg
Google’s download page offers the same choices: for Windows, a Bundle or an MSI in 64-bit (x86), 64-bit (ARM) and 32-bit (x86), in the Stable or Beta channel, and for Mac a PKG or DMG universal installer. Google’s help page Download bundle says the bundle holds the Windows Installer package (.msi), the policy and preferences templates (.admx), the auto-update template (.admx) and Legacy Browser Support files. Deployment steps are in our Chrome MSI installer guide.
Enterprise Features of Chrome
From Google’s Chrome Enterprise pages:
- Policies: admins can set browser policies with on-premise tools such as Windows Group Policy, or from the cloud. Google publishes the full Chrome Enterprise policy list. See also our guide to Chrome policies.
- Cross-platform management: Google says Chrome Enterprise Core manages Chrome on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android from one Admin console, at no additional cost.
- Extension control: admins can approve or block extensions, or install them for users automatically.
- Chrome Enterprise Premium: a paid tier that adds advanced security protections on top of Chrome Enterprise Core. Google’s download page has a table comparing the two.
To check whether a Chrome browser is managed, Google says to open Chrome, select More at the top right and look at the bottom of the menu for “Managed by your organization”.
Chrome Enterprise Core (Cloud Management)
Google’s cloud management for Chrome is called Chrome Enterprise Core. Older guides call it Chrome Browser Cloud Management. From Google’s help page Set up Chrome Enterprise Core, it lets you manage Chrome from the Google Admin console, enforce Chrome policies on managed devices (users do not have to sign in or have Google Accounts to receive them), block suspicious extensions and see reports on browser versions, extensions and policies.
Steps to Set Up Chrome Enterprise Core
From Google’s help page Enroll cloud-managed Chrome browsers:
- Sign up for Chrome Enterprise Core, then sign in to the Google Admin console with an administrator account.
- Go to Menu, then Chrome browser, then Managed browsers (or Devices, Chrome, Managed browsers). At the top, click Enroll and copy the enrollment token.
- Put the token on each computer. On Windows, set the
CloudManagementEnrollmentTokenpolicy at machine level, with Group Policy or the registry. On Mac, push it as a policy with your device management software. On Linux, put it in a file calledCloudManagementEnrollmentTokenin/etc/opt/chrome/policies/enrollment. - Quit and reopen Chrome on the computer, then check in the Admin console that the browser shows up under Managed browsers.
Google notes that on Windows only system-level installations of Chrome can be enrolled.
MSI Installers for Windows
The MSI packages above let you install Chrome with any tool that deploys Windows Installer files. Google’s help lists Active Directory Group Policy and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager among them.
Download and Install MSI
- Download the MSI installer for your computers’ architecture from the list at the top of this page, or the bundle if you also want the policy templates.
- Deploy it with your usual software deployment tool, or run it on a single computer.
Google’s help page Deploy and test notes that an MSI install overrides a copy of Chrome a user installed, and that Chrome does not allow an older version to be installed over a newer one.
Group Policy Management for Windows
Google provides policy templates so you can manage Chrome with Windows Group Policy. From Google’s help page Set Chrome browser policies on managed PCs:
Configure Group Policies
- Download the Chrome enterprise bundle and open it. The policy templates are in the Configuration folder.
- Install the ADMX templates. Google’s bundle guide says to copy the ADMX files from
/Configuration/admxtoC:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions, and the ADML files from the language folder to the matching language folder there. - Open the Group Policy editor (for a single computer,
gpedit.msc) and go to Computer Configuration, then Administrative Templates. - A Google, Google Chrome folder appears under Administrative Templates. Open it and set the policies you need.
- Apply the policies to the target computers. Google notes this can take time to propagate.
The bundle also has older ADM templates. Google warns not to deploy both ADM and ADMX templates, and says ADMX is preferred.
Managed Chrome on macOS
On a Mac, Chrome policies are set with a configuration profile. From Google’s help page Chrome Browser quick start (Mac): Set policies:
Set Up Managed Chrome
- Download the Chrome enterprise bundle, which has the Mac configuration files too, and copy
com.google.Chrome.plistfrom its Configuration folder. - Edit the policies in that file.
- Convert the file to a configuration profile with a conversion tool, then deploy the profile to your Macs with your device management software.
You can also set the same policies from the cloud with Chrome Enterprise Core.
Managed Chrome on Linux
On Linux, Chrome reads policies from JSON files. From Google’s help page Chrome Browser quick start (Linux): Set policies:
Configure Managed Chrome
- Create the folders
/etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed(policies users cannot change) and/etc/opt/chrome/policies/recommended(defaults users can change). - Put your JSON policy files in those folders. Make sure the managed files are not writable by non-admin users, and do not set the same policy in more than one file.
- Restart Chrome, open
chrome://policy, click Reload policies and check that each policy you set shows the status OK.