Block/Whitelist Chrome Extensions using Intune

This blog post will show how to Block or Whitelist extensions in Chrome browser using Intune. This will give you greater control over which extensions can be used on your organization’s devices, helping to keep your data secure and your employees productive.

Allowing users to install extensions in browsers can pose a security risk. Users may unknowingly Install a malicious extension, which could cause issues. Therefore, as Intune administrators, we should control the extensions allowed to be installed by end users.

A best practice is to block all extension installations and allow only specific extensions approved by the administrator. We’ll use the Google Chrome ADMX template settings to Block or Whitelist extensions. For configuring this policy, we will need Extension’s ID. Let’s check the steps to get the Extension’s ID.

Step 1: Find the Extension ID that you want to Whitelist

Let’s check the steps to get the Extension’s ID from Chrome browser.

• Launch Google Chrome browser.
• Go to Google Webstore.
• Search for the extension that you want to whitelist, and then from the address bar of the browser, you can copy its Extension ID.

• Repeat this process for any other extensions you wish to whitelist or block, copying their respective Extension IDs into a notepad for later use in the Intune device configuration policy.

Step 2: Block All Extensions in Chrome and Whitelist Only Approved Ones

You can either Block All Extensions in Chrome and Whitelist only the ones you want to allow. Secondly, you also have the option to block specific Extensions while allowing the rest of the Extensions.

The first approach is more controlled as it allows only the approved extensions to be accessible to users while remaining ones remain blocked. Let’s configure it via Intune admin center.

• Sign in to the Intune admin center > Devices > Configuration > Create > New Policy.
• Select Platform as Windows 10 and later.
• Profile type as Templates.
• Click on Administrative Templates > Create.

If you are unable to Import Chrome ADMX template in Intune, you can refer to my other blog post, which provides a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to Import an ADMX file into Intune.

Note

• Basics Tab: Provide a Name and Description of the Policy and click Next.

Configuration Settings

We will configure two settings under the configuration settings tab. First one is Configure extension installation blocklist and another one is Configure extension installation allow list.

• Go to Computer Configuration > Google > Google Chrome > Extensions folder.
• We will first use Configure extension installation blocklist setting and then Configure extension installation allow list.

• Configure extension installation blocklist: Enable this setting and add * in the text box, and click OK to save. This will block all Extensions in chrome.

Instead of blocking all extensions using a wild card character *. You can also provide the extension IDs to block only specific extensions in Chrome.

In this scenario, we are Blocking All Chrome Extensions and using Configure extension installation allow list setting to whitelist specific Extensions.

Note

• Configure extension installation allow list: Enable this setting and provide the Extension IDs to Whitelist. As an example, we want to Whitelist the Super Dark Mode extension, therefore we have provided its extension ID. [Skip this step if you do not want to whitelist any Extensions in Google Chrome]

• Assignments: Click Add groups and select Entra security group containing Windows 10/11 devices or Entra ID users.
• Review + Create: Review the device configuration profile on the Review + Create tab and click Create.

Sync Intune Policies

The device check-in process might not begin immediately. If you’re testing this policy on a test device, you can manually kickstart the Intune sync from the device itself or remotely through the Intune admin center.

Alternatively, you can use PowerShell to force the Intune sync on Windows devices. Restarting the device is another way to trigger the Intune device check-in process.

End User Experience

Let’s see how this policy affects the end user’s device. After successfully deploying this policy, open the Chrome browser to test whether the installation of all extensions is blocked and whether only the specific extension (in this case, Super Dark Mode) is allowed according to the whitelist.

If any existing extensions were installed when this policy was applied, they will also be blocked. Only the extensions that you whitelist from Intune will be allowed. An error may show up on Chrome: Blocked by admin. When you click this button, you will receive a pop-up message: Your admin has blocked <extension name> – App ID <app ID>.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we’ve explored a simple method for creating block lists and whitelists of extensions using Intune for the Chrome browser. You don’t need to utilize OMA-URI settings; instead, you can use Chrome ADMX settings to establish block lists and whitelists for Chrome extensions and apply the policy to end-user devices.

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