Enable or Disable Guest Mode in Google Chrome

Enable / Disable Guest Mode in Chrome using the Registry

You can manage guest mode in Chrome by adding a policy value to the Windows Registry. Chrome reads this value at startup and applies it to every user on the PC. Because the value sits under 🗝️HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEcopy, you need administrator rights to create it.

This method works on both Windows 11 Home and Pro. It is useful if you want to stop other people from browsing on your PC without saving their history, or if you want to make sure guest browsing stays available.

It also fails if you did not open the Registry Editor as an administrator. If you see a permissions error when creating a key, close the editor and reopen it with administrator rights.

1. Open the Windows Registry as an administrator. Click Yes if the User Account Control prompt appears. You should see the Registry Editor window with a folder tree on the left.
2. Before you change anything, back up your registry (a record of your computer's settings) or create a System Restore point. If something goes wrong, you can then return to a known good state.

3. Go to this path. You can expand the folders one by one in the left pane, or paste the path into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window and press Enter:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome

4. Check whether the Google folder exists under Policies. If you do not see it, right-click the Policies folder, select New › Key, and name the new key Google.
5. Do the same for Chrome if it is missing: right-click the Google folder, create a new key, and name it Chrome. This is normal on a PC where no Chrome policies have been set before.

6. Right-click the Chrome folder.
7. Select New › DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new entry appears in the right pane with its name ready to edit.
8. Type BrowserGuestModeEnabled as the name and press Enter. Use the exact spelling, because Chrome ignores a misspelled name.

Browser Guest Mode is a privacy setting in Google Chrome version 110 and later. It allows temporary users to browse without saving history or cookies. The BrowserGuestModeEnabled value controls it.

9. Double-click BrowserGuestModeEnabled. The Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window opens.
10. Type 0 in the Value data box to disable Browser Guest Mode. Type 1 to enable it, which keeps guest browsing available so that other people's sessions stay out of your own profile and personal data.
11. Click OK. The entry now shows your new value in the right pane.
12. Close the Registry Editor and fully close and reopen Chrome. Open the profile menu and check whether the Guest option is there.

To restore the default settings, go back to the same Chrome key, right-click the BrowserGuestModeEnabled entry, and select Delete. Confirm when asked. Chrome then goes back to its normal behavior, and users can choose guest mode again.

You may need to restart your computer for these changes to work. If the Guest option does not change after you restart Chrome, restart Windows and check again.

Using Google Chrome ADMX Templates

Businesses and IT teams can manage guest mode settings for many computers using Google Chrome ADMX templates with the Group Policy Editor. Download the Chrome templates from Google and add them to your policy definitions first. Then you can set the guest mode policy once and apply it across your domain.

The Group Policy Editor is not included in Windows 11 Home. On Home editions, use the registry method above instead. Policies applied this way write the same value that you would create by hand, so they override any manual change.

Conclusion

Always back up your registry before you change anything. To undo a change, set the value back or delete the entry. If your computer is managed by an organization, contact your IT department to change these settings.

Reference:

Chrome Enterprise Policy