How to Use Kiosk Mode in Chrome (Windows, Mac & ChromeOS)

Chrome kiosk mode removes the browser’s interface — address bar, tabs, menus, window controls — and displays a single web page full-screen. It is used for public terminals, digital signage, and any situation where you want a browser running a specific URL without users being able to navigate away or change settings.

There are two distinct approaches: the --kiosk command-line flag for Windows, Mac, and Linux (browser-level, free, no license required), and ChromeOS managed kiosk mode configured through the Google Admin console (device-level, requires a license, much harder to exit).

The –kiosk Flag: Windows, Mac, and Linux

What it does

Launching Chrome with --kiosk opens a full-screen window with no UI chrome — no address bar, no tab strip, no title bar, no close button. The user sees only the page. The –kiosk flag is available on all desktop platforms that run Google Chrome.

Windows syntax

Create a shortcut or run this command in a Command Prompt or PowerShell:

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --kiosk https://yoursite.com

To create a desktop shortcut:

1. Right-click the desktop and choose New > Shortcut.
2. In the location field, enter the full path above with your URL.
3. Click Next, give the shortcut a name, and click Finish.

Mac syntax

Open Terminal and run:

/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --kiosk https://yoursite.com

Or using open:

open -a "Google Chrome" --args --kiosk https://yoursite.com

Linux syntax

In a terminal:

google-chrome --kiosk https://yoursite.com

On some Linux distributions the binary is named chromium-browser or chromium:

chromium-browser --kiosk https://yoursite.com

Useful companion flags

A typical digital signage command looks like:

chrome.exe --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --disable-session-crashed-bubble https://yoursite.com

Exiting Kiosk Mode

Windows

• Press Alt+F4 to close the Chrome window.
• If that does not work, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open Task Manager and end the chrome.exe process.

Mac

• Press Cmd+Q to quit Chrome.
• Or press Cmd+Option+Esc and force-quit Chrome from the Force Quit window.

Linux

• Press Alt+F4 in most desktop environments.
• Or switch to a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T (if available) and run pkill chrome.

Important: The --kiosk flag does not lock down the operating system. Anyone who knows the exit shortcut can leave kiosk mode and use the computer normally. For public terminals where you need stronger restrictions, combine this with OS-level user account restrictions.

ChromeOS Managed Kiosk Mode

ChromeOS offers a fundamentally different kind of kiosk mode — one that locks down the entire device, not just the browser.

How it differs from the –kiosk flag

License requirement

ChromeOS Single-App Kiosk Mode requires one of the following paid licenses, tied to the device (not a user account):

• Chrome Enterprise Upgrade
• Chrome Education Upgrade
• Chrome Kiosk & Signage Upgrade

Without a license, the kiosk settings in the Admin console are not available for that device.

Setup steps in the Admin console

1. Sign into admin.google.com.
2. Go to Devices > Chrome > Apps & extensions > Kiosks.
3. Select the organizational unit (OU) the device belongs to.
4. Click the + icon and add either a Chrome app from the Web Store or a web URL (for a hosted web app kiosk).
5. Set it as the Auto-launch app so the device boots directly into it.
6. Enroll the ChromeOS device in your domain (follow the enrollment flow at startup).

Once enrolled and the policy is applied, the device boots straight into the kiosk app. Users cannot access the ChromeOS desktop, settings, or any other apps.

Exiting ChromeOS managed kiosk

Exiting requires administrator intervention in most configurations. An admin can sign in to the Admin console and push a policy change, or the device can be physically de-enrolled. Some kiosk setups include an admin password prompt accessible via a keyboard shortcut defined in the policy.

Use Cases

Digital signage: A wall-mounted display showing a web-based dashboard or menu board. The --kiosk flag with --noerrdialogs on a Windows or Linux mini-PC is a common low-cost setup.

Public terminals (libraries, airports, retail): For these, ChromeOS managed kiosk mode is more appropriate than the browser flag because users cannot exit or access other applications.

Interactive product displays: A tablet or touchscreen running a product configurator or guided experience. Either method works, depending on the OS.

Point of sale: Most POS vendors run purpose-built software, but web-based POS systems in Chrome kiosk mode are common in smaller retail environments.

Auto-Launching Kiosk Mode on Windows Startup

For an unattended display (signage, public terminal), you want Chrome in kiosk mode to start automatically when the machine boots, without anyone logging in and manually launching it.

Using Windows Task Scheduler

1. Open Task Scheduler (search for it in the Start menu).
2. Click Create Basic Task in the right panel.
3. Give it a name like “Chrome Kiosk Start” and click Next.
4. Set Trigger to When the computer starts and click Next.
5. Set Action to Start a program and click Next.
6. In the Program/script field, enter the full path to Chrome:

   C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

7. In Add arguments, enter your flags and URL:

   --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars https://yoursite.com

8. Click Next, check “Open the Properties dialog,” and click Finish.
9. In the Properties dialog, check Run whether user is logged on or not and set the user account that Chrome should run under.

For the kiosk to start at boot without a user login, you also need to configure Windows for automatic login: in Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), or by setting the registry keys HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AutoAdminLogon to 1 with the appropriate username and password values.

Using the Startup Folder

A simpler but less configurable alternative: create a shortcut to your kiosk Chrome command and place it in the Windows Startup folder. Press Win+R, type shell:startup, and press Enter to open the Startup folder. Copy your kiosk shortcut here. Chrome launches in kiosk mode when the current user logs in.

This approach requires a user to be logged in — it does not run at the boot screen. It works well for single-user machines where the account is set to auto-login.

Security Considerations and Limitations

The --kiosk flag restricts the browser interface but does not secure the underlying operating system. Understanding what kiosk mode does and does not lock down is important for any deployment where you want to limit user access.

What the –kiosk flag does not block

• Ctrl+Alt+Delete: This is an OS-level interrupt that Chrome cannot intercept on Windows. Any user who knows this shortcut can open Task Manager and exit the browser.
• Windows key: Pressing the Windows key still opens the Start menu on many Windows configurations.
• Alt+F4: This closes Chrome. It is the intended exit method, but it means any user can exit kiosk mode.
• Right-click context menus: Right-clicking on the page still shows the browser’s context menu (Inspect, View Page Source, etc.) unless you also restrict this at the page level or via Group Policy.

Strengthening security at the OS level

For public terminals where the --kiosk flag alone is insufficient, combine it with operating system restrictions:

• Windows Assigned Access (covered in the next section) restricts a dedicated user account to a single app and can block access to the desktop.
• Group Policy can disable Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Windows key behavior, and Task Manager access for specific user accounts.
• Keyboard physical restriction: Some public terminal setups use keyboards with limited keys, or software key blockers, to prevent OS-level shortcuts.

Chrome auto-update behavior

Chrome updates itself automatically, which can cause the browser to display a “relaunch to update” notification — visible even in kiosk mode as an orange or red dot in the menu area. In full --kiosk mode there is no menu, so the update nag does not appear visually, but Chrome will still update the binary in the background. After an update, the next restart of Chrome runs the new version. For production kiosks, test updates in staging before they reach your live kiosk by pinning Chrome to a specific version via Group Policy or by disabling auto-update.

Windows Assigned Access as an Alternative

Windows 10 and 11 Pro (and later) include a built-in Assigned Access feature that provides stronger kiosk-level restrictions than the --kiosk flag alone. It locks a specific local user account to run only a single designated application — when that user logs in, they see only that app and cannot reach the desktop, Start menu, or any other software.

To set up Assigned Access:

1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Other users (Windows 10) or Settings > Accounts > Family & other users (Windows 11).
2. Click Set up a kiosk or Assigned access.
3. Click Get started and choose or create the local user account to use for kiosk mode.
4. Select Microsoft Edge or a web browser, then enter the URL you want displayed.

Note: Windows Assigned Access works natively with Microsoft Edge. For Chrome, you would need to configure a custom app or use a third-party kiosk software wrapper. For Chrome-specific full-lockdown kiosks, the combination of Chrome’s --kiosk flag plus OS-level Group Policy restrictions on the kiosk user account is more common.

Troubleshooting Common Kiosk Mode Issues

Chrome opens in a window instead of full screen. The most common cause is incorrect path or flag syntax. Verify there are no extra spaces or incorrect quotes around the URL. On Windows, ensure the path to chrome.exe is correct and quoted if it contains spaces. Try running the command from a Command Prompt window to see any error output.

“This site can’t be reached” on launch. Chrome is starting before the network is fully available. Add a startup delay to your Task Scheduler task (set a delay under the trigger options), or configure the kiosk page to detect the network and reload automatically once connectivity is established.

Notifications or permission prompts appear and break the display. Notification prompts (push notification requests, clipboard access requests) can surface in kiosk mode. Suppress them by adding --disable-notifications to your launch flags, or by pre-configuring Chrome’s permission settings via Group Policy before the kiosk session starts.

Chrome shows a “Chrome didn’t shut down correctly” dialog on next launch. Add --disable-session-crashed-bubble to your flags. Also add --disable-infobars to prevent the extension warning banner from appearing.

The page requires scroll or touch interaction that is not responding. If you are using a touch screen, ensure Chrome is not blocking touch events. The --touch-events=enabled flag forces Chrome to treat pointer input as touch. For scroll-only displays, verify the web page is designed to scroll without requiring user interaction (such as CSS auto-scroll or JavaScript).

Chrome exits kiosk mode unexpectedly after running for hours. This can happen when the OS sends low-memory notifications, when Chrome updates itself in the background and restarts, or when a page crashes and Chrome tries to show an error dialog. Add --disable-hang-monitor and --disable-prompt-on-repost to reduce unexpected dialog appearances. Monitor the display remotely if possible.

Touch Screen and Input Considerations

If your kiosk runs on a touch screen (a common setup for retail terminals and interactive displays), a few additional steps improve the experience:

Force touch events: Add --touch-events=enabled to ensure Chrome registers touch as touch rather than falling back to mouse simulation.

Disable text selection: Users touching a page with body text may accidentally trigger text selection, which looks unprofessional. Add CSS user-select: none on the page, or configure the kiosk page to handle this at the application level.

On-screen keyboard: For kiosks that need text input, Windows’ on-screen keyboard (osk.exe) can be triggered from the page via JavaScript or configured to appear automatically on focus events. ChromeOS managed kiosk mode handles the on-screen keyboard more seamlessly than the Windows --kiosk flag approach.

Disable right-click context menus: In the kiosk web application, add document.addEventListener('contextmenu', e => e.preventDefault()) to suppress the browser’s right-click menu on touch-and-hold events.