Staff and students who use Chromebooks get a predictable, consistent experience. That’s not always true for staff who are using Chrome on a Mac or PC. 

A common issue is staff combining and mixing their personal Gmail account and their school-issued Google account. This combination causes a lot of confusion and is a data security risk for your school. 

The solution is to enable managed Chrome profiles for your non-Chromebook users. Previously, managing Chrome on a Mac pro PC required installing and manually enrolling a special version of the Chrome browser. It was a lot of work. Today, there is a NEW, better option available! 

Managed Chrome Profiles

Google recently added a second way to manage the Chrome browser called “managed profiles.” This solution can be configured remotely without any software updates or hardware configurations.

Here are the benefits of enabling managed Chrome profiles for your staff: 

• Consistency is key: Ensure your staff has a consistent browser experience across all their devices, whether it’s a district-issued device or a personal laptop they use for work. 
• Prevent mixing personal and work data: One of the key settings is “force managed profile,” which prevents users from mixing their personal and work accounts. This separation can be configured to prevent services like TikTok, Honey, or Temu from accessing district browsing data, while still allowing these services for personal profiles. Managed Chrome profiles force a clear separation between work and personal data.
• Security and compliance: Keep district data safe and meet compliance needs by applying policies directly to their Chrome profiles. You can control what extensions they can use, manage their browser history settings, and even force security updates.
• Easier troubleshooting: If a staff member is having issues with their Chrome browser, you can often troubleshoot it more effectively because their profile settings are managed and predictable.
• Easier access to district resources: When staff use managed profiles, you can give them access to critical district resources by pushing out bookmarks, startup tabs, and extensions, making these resources easier to find. 

If any of these benefits sound enticing, the first thing you need to do is “upgrade” your workspace domain to include “Chrome enterprise core.” Don’t worry, it’s free, you just have to request the upgrade. Enabling this feature won’t have any immediate impact on your users. 

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Chrome Enterprise Core: free upgrade

1. Visit billing > subscriptions from the admin console. 
2. Click “add or upgrade a subscription” at the top of the page. 
3. From the add a subscription page, look for “devices and browser” and select “Chrome Enterprise Core.” 
4. “Purchase” this upgrade for $0.00. 
5. Wait for the upgrade to process (usually half a day)

Once the upgrade has been processed you will see “Chrome browser” appear in the admin console navigation, just above devices. Requesting this upgrade won’t have any immediate effect on your users until you configure your profile requirements. ‘

Configure manage profile settings

Once Chrome browser management appears in your console, you can begin configuring your managed profile experience.

The first step is to enable Chrome management for signed-in users (direct admin console link). This will apply your existing Chrome policies to any user signed into their school-issued Google accounts.

Note: you might want to take a minute to review your Chrome user & browser policies for staff to ensure they are configured as desired.

If this setting is OFF, policies will not be enforced for signed-in users. This setting will NOT impact your Chromebook deployment.

Next up, you will want to review the following policies in the “sign-in settings” (direct admin console link) policies located within the user & browser section of the console. These options only apply to non-Chromebook users:

• Sign in interception – this policy will “catch” users who attempt to add their school account to a personal Chrome profile. I recommend that you set this to “enable interception.”
• Separate profile for managed Google Identity – this is the policy that will ask users set up a separate profile for their school account. I recommend that you set this policy to “force profile separation.” This will keep personal and school data separate.
• Profile separation data migration – this policy can be used to ask users if they want to migrate their existing profile data (bookmarks, extensions, history, etc) to their managed profile. I recommend that you set this policy to “suggest profile migration.”

View & audit managed profiles

Once managed profiles have been set up and configured, you will see user profiles begin to show up in the admin console.

To see more detailed profile information such as what Chrome extensions are being used, browser version information, and policy application, make sure that “managed profile reporting” is enabled.

Related Post: Your Google Admin reports are failing you (here’s the fix!)

Enabling profile reporting also allows IT admins to use the audit and investigation tool to review users actions such as clicking on a malicious Link or accessing malware.

Deploying manage Chrome profiles will ensure that your staff have a consistent and secure browsing experience and allow you to protect sensitive information.

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