Why Google Chrome Shows Managed By Your Organization?

Google introduces many features in Chrome browser in every update. From version 73, you may notice a menu in “Settings” showing that “Managed by your organization”. If you wonder what the heck is this then you are not alone!!! In this article, we will explain why you see this message and what you can do to get rid of it.

Enterprise Policies

In March 2019, Google updated Chrome browser to 73. One of the changes that came with Chrome 73 is the ability to show users when a third party is managing their browser. A third party, in this case, could be your employer or your IT department at work or even an installed extension. The past versions of Chrome simply did not display this message even when there was third-party management.

Employers may want to manage Chrome browser for various reasons. For example, to regulate the kinds of websites employees visits or the types of extensions they install on the browser. These regulations are applied on Chrome using administrative policies. Therefore, if you are seeing the “Managed by your organization” message on your work computer, it is probably because your employer has instituted Chrome enterprise policies to manage company-wide browser settings.

Personal Use

But what if the message appears on your home computer? Often, programs on your computer can install extensions or policies without intervention from an admin. These programs are usually safe, serve a purpose, and the extensions they install are generally safe too. Other times, malware can install malicious policies.

Chrome cannot really differentiate between a legitimate policy and one that is installed by malware. As long as it detects a policy, Chrome will display the “Managed by your organization” message in different places of the browser.

How to View the Message?

Before explaining, how to remove the message you need to understand how to check and confirm the message on different devices.

On Windows PC and Mac, you can click on the “Customize and Google Chrome” settings icon to view the option appears in the menu item.

You will also see the message all over the browser, like on the “Settings” or “Extensions” page.

You can click on the menu or link to go to the command URL “chrome://management” page to view more details about the message. Generally, it will show you that an administrator can monitor the by managing remotely.

On Android smartphones, type the “chrome://policy” URL in the browser and open the page. If you see any policies, then your browser is managed by administrator or some other extensions. If you are using iPhone, you will not see any policies as iOS Chrome app can’t be managed by others.

How to Deal with Managed by Your Organization Message?

Generally, this message is non-invasive and it will not prevent you from using your browser as usual. That’s being said, the message can be a little annoying and you might want to get rid of it. To do this, follow these simple steps:

• Check whether a policy has been installed on your computer. Open a new tab and paste this path: chrome://policy. If you see any of the policies listed, then your browser is managed otherwise not.

• The good part is that you can click on the respective policy link to get more information about a given policy. This way, you can find out if the policy is necessary or malicious.

Disabling the Message

There are many ways to disable the message on your browser:

1. Use Chrome Flag

If you do not want to delete any policy, you can simply get rid of the “Managed by your organization” message.

• Open a new tab and paste this path on the browser: chrome://flags. Search for “show managed ui” and find the “show-managed-ui” flag.
• Click on the drop-down menu against the flag and select the “Disabled” option.
• To effect the changes, click on the relaunch option at the bottom of the page.

The “Managed by your organization” message should disappear once you restart Chrome. Note that you will not see this flag on the latest Chrome version.

2. Disable All Extensions

In most cases on personal computer, Mac or Android, one of the installed extensions might have permission to modify some policy settings. You might have accepted the permissions when installing the app and forgot after that. If you see any policies related to extension, you can either remove the extension from the browser or disable all extensions to check the message appears.

3. Use Registry Editor in Windows

If you don’t find the UI flag (on latest Chrome version), then the only way is to open the registry editor and modify the settings. However, you should have administrator permissions to modify the registry entries on Windows.

• Press “Win + R” to open Run command prompt.
• Type regedit and hit enter open the registry editor.
• Navigate to the location “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome”.
• Right click and delete the folder.
• Similarly delete the Chrome folder in this location “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome”

Close the registry editor and restart Chrome to check whether the message is disappeared. We recommend you back up the registry entries in case if you need to restore later.

4. Delete Plist File in Mac Chrome

If you are using Chrome on personal Mac and playing around the preferences file, then the easy way to get rid of the managed message is to delete the plist file.  

• Open Finder app and press “Shift + Command + G” shortcut keys.
• Type “~/Library/Preferences/” in the “Go to the folder” text box and hit enter.
• This will open the “Preferences” folder, where you can see all plist files.
• Find and delete com.google.Chrome.plist file. Alternatively, you can rename the file. Chrome will regenerate the file when you restart.

• Close Chrome completely and relaunch it. Now, you will not see the managed by message.

Wrapping It Up

Although Google says it is nothing to worry about, the “Managed by your organization” issue can be confusing, especially if it appears on your home computer. Fortunately, with a little patience, you can resolve the problem on your own.