Admin Tips & Tricks

Chrome OS 128 rolls out with AI-based history search

See the changes that truly matter, and our guide for admins on all of the latest policies.

Last updated September 5, 2024

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Rollout tracker

X / YYY Chromebook models are on version ZZZ exactly
X / YYY models are still on a prior version and X / YYY models are already on a later version
XX models have already received their final update and are not included

Three new features for Chrome OS admins to review

The latest Chrome release notes include 58 updates, but there are only a few worth your time to dig into.

AI-based history search - Another AI-based feature coming to Chrome OS (see our latest guide on Chrome OS AI features), you'll now be able to search browser history based on page contents. You can block this with HistorySearchSettings.
Data controls - You can now block users from taking screenshots on a per-URL basis, and you can block users from copying text from one page to another based on their URLs using DataControlsRules.
Admin-configurable site search - Site search is when you type, for example, Wikipedia into your Chrome URL bar, press tab, and then type a search that goes straight to Wikipedia, bypassing Google. You may have also used it for Amazon and other sites. In Chrome OS 128, admins can pre-configure site search for end-users with SiteSearchSettings.

You can see the full list of new Chrome OS features here.

New settings & recommended configuration

Isn't it annoying to find and configure each of these new policies one by one in Admin Console? We're building a tool that will instantly audit these policies for you and provide a 1-click button to set all of them at once. Get in touch to try a beta version

Name	Recommended setting
HistorySearchSettings	Blocked
PromotionsEnabled	Disabled
ExtensionDeveloperModeSettings	Don't use this setting. Use DeveloperToolsAvailability instead.
DataControlsRules	(configure as needed)
SiteSearchSettings	(configure as needed)
QRCodeGeneratorEnabled	-
StandardizedBrowserZoomEnabled	-