# Set the Edge and Chrome Homepage with Group Policy: Complete Guide

Source: https://srvscripts.com/guides/set-the-edge-and-chrome-homepage/
Updated: 2026-10-03
Publisher: srvScripts (https://srvscripts.com/)

To set the Edge and Chrome homepage for every domain user, you configure the same small group of browser policies twice: once in the Microsoft Edge administrative templates and once in the Google Chrome templates. Both browsers read the same kind of policy (`HomepageLocation`, `RestoreOnStartup`, `RestoreOnStartupURLs`, `ShowHomeButton`, `NewTabPageLocation`) from their own registry keys, so one GPO can control both, and Intune can do the same for cloud-managed devices.

**Short answer:** Copy `msedge.admx`, `chrome.admx` and `google.admx` with their `.adml` files into the Central Store. In a GPO linked to the computer OU, set Microsoft Edge » Startup, home page and new tab page: “Action to take on startup” = Open a list of URLs, “Sites to open when the browser starts” = your intranet, “Configure the home page URL” = the same URL, “Set the new tab page as the home page” = Disabled. Repeat under Google » Google Chrome » Startup, Home page and New Tab page, run `gpupdate /force` and check `edge://policy` and `chrome://policy`.

In short: Copy msedge.admx, chrome.admx and google.admx with their .adml files into the Central Store.

## Which method to use

You can set the Edge and Chrome homepage in five ways. The table compares them; most domains use the first or second, and add Intune for devices that never see a domain controller.

| Method | Scope | Needs | Pros | Cons |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GPO, mandatory policies | Computer or user | ADMX files, domain join | Locked; users cannot change it | Users lose their own start pages |
| GPO, recommended policies | Computer or user | ADMX files, domain join | Sets a default users can override | Not enforced |
| Registry values (GPP or script) | Computer or user | No ADMX | Works without templates | Values persist after removal unless cleaned up |
| Intune Settings catalog | Device or user | Intune enrolment | Covers Entra-joined devices; Edge and Chrome both built in | No on-premises-only machines |
| Firefox policies.json or ADMX | Computer | Firefox templates or a JSON file | Same result for a third browser | Separate policy set |

## Prerequisites

Before you set the Edge and Chrome homepage with Group Policy, check the following:

- Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise or Education, or Windows Server 2016 to 2025, joined to Active Directory. Microsoft and Google both mark the homepage and startup policies as available on Windows only when the device is joined to an Active Directory domain, joined to Microsoft Entra ID or enrolled in device management. A standalone PC ignores them.

- The current policy templates: the Microsoft Edge policy files from the Microsoft Edge for Business download page, and the Google Chrome policy templates from Chrome Enterprise. Newer templates add settings; they never remove the ones in this guide.

- A Central Store: `\\contoso.com\SYSVOL\contoso.com\Policies\PolicyDefinitions`. See [importing ADMX templates into the Central Store and Intune](/guides/import-admx-templates-intune/) if you have not built one.

- Rights to create and link GPOs, and a test OU.

## The policies you need

Each browser uses the same policy names. Only the Group Policy display names differ slightly:

| Goal | Policy name | Edge setting | Chrome setting | Type and value |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open specific pages at startup | RestoreOnStartup | “Action to take on startup” | “Action on startup” | REG_DWORD 4 (open a list of URLs) |
| Which pages | RestoreOnStartupURLs | “Sites to open when the browser starts” | “URLs to open on startup” | Subkey with REG_SZ values 1, 2… |
| Home button target | HomepageLocation | “Configure the home page URL” | “Configure the home page URL” | REG_SZ URL |
| Home page is not the new tab page | HomepageIsNewTabPage | “Set the new tab page as the home page” | “Use New Tab Page as homepage” | REG_DWORD 0 (Disabled) |
| Show the Home button | ShowHomeButton | “Show Home button on toolbar” | “Show Home button on toolbar” | REG_DWORD 1 |
| New tab page URL | NewTabPageLocation | “Configure the new tab page URL” | “Configure the New Tab page URL” | REG_SZ URL |

Other `RestoreOnStartup` values are `1` (restore the last session), `5` (open a new tab) and `6` (restore the last session and open the listed URLs, Edge 125 and later). Chrome ignores the startup URL list unless Action on startup is set to open a list of URLs.

## Plan the URLs first

- Use the final HTTPS address of the page. A URL that redirects through a login page on every start makes the browser feel slow and confuses users.

- If the intranet uses Windows authentication, make sure the site is in the Local intranet zone (Site to Zone Assignment List), so Edge and Chrome sign users in silently.

- Test the page from a VPN and from a site office: a startup URL that times out delays every browser launch.

- Keep the list short. Each extra startup page loads on every browser start.

## Step 1: Add the ADMX files to the Central Store

- Extract the Edge policy files. From `windows\admx`, copy `msedge.admx` to `PolicyDefinitions` and `en-US\msedge.adml` to `PolicyDefinitions\en-US`.

- Extract the Chrome policy templates. From `windows\admx`, copy `chrome.admx` and `google.admx` to `PolicyDefinitions`, and `chrome.adml` and `google.adml` from `en-US` to `PolicyDefinitions\en-US`. Chrome’s template depends on `google.admx`; without it the editor reports a namespace error.

- Close and reopen the Group Policy Management Editor. The new folders appear under Administrative Templates: Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Edge – Default Settings (users can override), Google » Google Chrome and Google » Google Chrome – Default Settings (users can override).

## Step 2: Configure Microsoft Edge

Create a GPO such as USR – Browser Home Page and link it to the OU that holds your computers (for computer-side settings) or your users (for user-side settings). The Edge settings exist under both configurations.

- Go to `Computer Configuration » Policies » Administrative Templates » Microsoft Edge » Startup, home page and new tab page`.

- **“Action to take on startup”**: Enabled, Open a list of URLs.

- **“Sites to open when the browser starts”**: Enabled, click **Show…** and add each URL on its own line, for example `https://intranet.contoso.com`.

- **“Configure the home page URL”**: Enabled, `https://intranet.contoso.com`.

- **“Set the new tab page as the home page”**: Disabled. This makes the Home button open your URL instead of the new tab page.

- **“Show Home button on toolbar”**: Enabled.

- Optional: **“Configure the new tab page URL”**: Enabled, with the page new tabs should open, or `about:blank` for an empty tab.

## Step 3: Configure Google Chrome

- Go to `Computer Configuration » Policies » Administrative Templates » Google » Google Chrome » Startup, Home page and New Tab page`.

- **“Action on startup”**: Enabled, Open a list of URLs.

- **“URLs to open on startup”**: Enabled, add the same URLs.

- **“Configure the home page URL”**: Enabled, same URL.

- **“Use New Tab Page as homepage”**: Disabled.

- **“Show Home button on toolbar”**: Enabled.

- Optional: **“Configure the New Tab page URL”**.

Google notes that the home page is only fully locked when you either set it to the new tab page or set it to a URL and provide the URL. If you disable “Use New Tab Page as homepage” but leave the home page URL unset, users can still point the Home button at `chrome://newtab`.

## Mandatory vs recommended

Settings under Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome are mandatory: the browser greys them out and users cannot change them. The same settings under … – Default Settings (users can override) are recommended: they apply as a starting value, and the user’s own choice wins after they change it. They write to a `Recommended` subkey instead:

- Edge: `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended`

- Chrome: `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\Recommended`

Decide this before you set the Edge and Chrome homepage for the whole domain. Use mandatory policies for shared devices and kiosks, recommended policies for office staff who only need a sensible default. If the same policy is set both ways, the mandatory value wins.

## Step 4: Registry values behind the policies

Where you cannot use the templates, write the policy values directly, for example with Group Policy Preferences Registry items or a script. Computer policies go under HKLM; user policies under the same path in HKCU.

```
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v RestoreOnStartup /t REG_DWORD /d 4 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\RestoreOnStartupURLs" /v 1 /t REG_SZ /d "https://intranet.contoso.com" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v HomepageLocation /t REG_SZ /d "https://intranet.contoso.com" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v HomepageIsNewTabPage /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v ShowHomeButton /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v RestoreOnStartup /t REG_DWORD /d 4 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\RestoreOnStartupURLs" /v 1 /t REG_SZ /d "https://intranet.contoso.com" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v HomepageLocation /t REG_SZ /d "https://intranet.contoso.com" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v HomepageIsNewTabPage /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome" /v ShowHomeButton /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
```

Scripts that set the Edge and Chrome homepage this way must run elevated for HKLM. In a GPP Registry item, tick **Remove this item when it is no longer applied** on the Common tab, so the values disappear when the GPO no longer applies. The domain-join requirement still applies: writing the values on a standalone PC does not make the browser honour them.

## Step 5: Intune Settings catalog

- In the Intune admin center, go to **Devices » Configuration » Create » New policy**, platform **Windows 10 and later**, profile type **Settings catalog**.

- Click **Add settings**, search for home page and select the category **Microsoft Edge » Startup, home page and new tab page**. Add the six settings from the table and configure them as in Step 2. The Microsoft Edge – Default Settings (users can override) category holds the recommended versions.

- For Chrome, pick the **Google Chrome » Startup, Home page and New Tab page** category, which the Settings catalog includes, and configure it as in Step 3.

- Assign the profile to a device or user group and sync a test device.

Intune is the simplest way to set the Edge and Chrome homepage on Entra-joined laptops. On Intune-enrolled devices the “managed device” requirement is met, so the homepage policies apply without an Active Directory join. If the same device also gets a GPO with different values, pick one source per browser to avoid confusing results.

## Bonus: Firefox homepage

Firefox uses its own policy engine, with two options.

### ADMX templates

Copy `firefox.admx` and `mozilla.admx` (and their `.adml` files) from Mozilla’s policy templates into the Central Store. Then go to `Computer Configuration » Policies » Administrative Templates » Mozilla » Firefox » Home page`:

- **“URL for Home page”**: Enabled, your URL, and tick Don’t allow the homepage to be changed to lock it.

- **“Start Page”**: Enabled, Homepage.

These write `URL`, `Locked` and `StartPage` under `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Mozilla\Firefox\Homepage`.

### policies.json

Without Group Policy, create a folder named `distribution` next to `firefox.exe` (for example `C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\distribution`) and add `policies.json`:

```
{
  "policies": {
    "Homepage": {
      "URL": "https://intranet.contoso.com/",
      "Locked": true,
      "StartPage": "homepage"
    }
  }
}
```

Check the result at `about:policies`. Use one method per machine, not both.

## Exceptions and targeting

- **Different home pages per department:** create one GPO per department and use [security filtering](/guides/group-policy-security-filtering/) with user groups, configured under User Configuration. Machine policies take precedence over user policies in both browsers, so do not also set the homepage on the computer side.

- **Kiosks and shared devices:** use the computer-side mandatory settings in a GPO linked to the kiosk OU, often combined with [loopback processing](/guides/group-policy-loopback-processing/) for the user settings.

- **IT staff:** exclude an admin group with a Deny on Apply group policy for user-side GPOs, or use recommended policies so they can change the page.

- **Multiple start pages:** add several lines to the startup URL list. The home page itself takes one URL.

- **First-run screens:** on new Edge profiles, enable “Hide the First-run experience and splash screen” in the top-level Microsoft Edge folder so users land on your start page instead of the welcome wizard.

## Verify it works

After you set the Edge and Chrome homepage, test on one client from each OU the GPO targets:

- On a test client, run `gpupdate /force` and confirm the GPO appears in `gpresult /r`.

- Open `edge://policy`, click **Reload policies** and check that `HomepageLocation`, `RestoreOnStartup` and `RestoreOnStartupURLs` show status OK, with source Platform and level Mandatory (or Recommended).

- Open `chrome://policy`, click **Reload policies** and check the same entries.

- Query the registry: `reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge` and `reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome`.

- Close every browser window (including background processes) and start the browser: the startup URLs should open and the Home button should go to your page.

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Policy listed with an error that the device is not managed | PC not domain joined, Entra joined or MDM enrolled | Join or enrol the device; the homepage policies are ignored otherwise |
| Settings folders missing in the editor | ADMX not in the Central Store, or Chrome missing google.admx | Copy all four files plus ADML, reopen the editor |
| Home button opens the new tab page | New-tab-as-homepage still enabled or home URL unset | Disable it and set the home page URL |
| Startup URLs ignored | Action on startup not set to open a list of URLs | Set RestoreOnStartup to 4 |
| Users can still change the page | Recommended instead of mandatory policies | Move settings to the mandatory folder |
| Nothing changes after gpupdate | Browser still running in the background | Use Reload policies, or close the browser fully |
| Wrong URL on some machines | Computer and user GPOs, or GPO and Intune, set different values | Keep one source; machine values win |

## Roll back or undo

- Set each policy to **Not Configured** in the GPO (or unlink it) and run `gpupdate /force`. Administrative Template values are removed from the Policies key automatically.

- For GPP registry items without Remove this item when it is no longer applied, delete the values yourself: `reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v HomepageLocation /f`, and likewise for the other values and the `RestoreOnStartupURLs` subkeys.

- In Intune, remove the assignment or delete the profile and sync.

- Click **Reload policies** in each browser. Mandatory settings disappear; the user’s own settings return, or the browser defaults if they never set any.

Whether you set the Edge and Chrome homepage for a whole domain or one department, keep the values in a single GPO per audience. That way one change updates both browsers together.

## Set the Edge and Chrome homepage at a glance

**Official documentation:** [Microsoft Edge policy: HomepageLocation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-browser-policies/homepagelocation), [Microsoft Edge policy: RestoreOnStartup](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-browser-policies/restoreonstartup).

**Related guides:** [Import ADMX templates (Office, Chrome, Edge) into Intune and the AD Central Store](/guides/import-admx-templates-intune/) · [Default Browser Group Policy: Set Chrome or Edge on Windows 11](/guides/default-browser-group-policy/) · [Proxy settings with Group Policy (WinINET/WinHTTP)](/guides/proxy-settings-group-policy/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does Edge ignore my homepage policy?

The homepage and startup policies only apply on Windows devices that are joined to Active Directory, joined to Microsoft Entra ID or enrolled in device management. On a standalone PC, edge://policy shows the policy with an error and the browser ignores it.

### Should I use Computer or User Configuration?

Use Computer Configuration when every user on a device should get the same pages, such as kiosks and shared PCs. Use User Configuration when different departments need different pages. Machine policies win if both are set.

### How do I let users change the homepage after I set it?

Configure the settings under the Default Settings (users can override) folders instead. They write to the Recommended registry key and act as a default users can change.

### Can I set more than one startup page?

Yes. Add several URLs to Sites to open when the browser starts in Edge or URLs to open on startup in Chrome. The home page itself accepts one URL.

### Do I need Intune to manage Chrome?

No. Group Policy with the Chrome ADMX templates works on domain-joined PCs. Intune’s Settings catalog includes Chrome settings for cloud-managed devices.