How to set a company start page in Chrome without Group Policy

What Chrome lets you do without a managed browser

Less than you would hope. Chrome has policies for the home page and the new tab page, and a policy that force-installs an extension on every machine. All of them need a managed browser: a Windows domain with Group Policy, a configuration profile on macOS, or browsers enrolled in Google’s enterprise console. If you had any of those, you would not be reading this.

Without them, Chrome treats every profile as its owner’s business. You can walk to each desk and set a home page, and the person can change it back the same afternoon. Bookmark sync belongs to the person’s Google account, so a folder you set up on one machine does not appear on the next. There is no “apply to everyone” button.

The fixes that get tried first, and why they stop working

A pinned message in the team chat holds the links for about a month, until the channel gets a second pinned message. A shared document works until the person who made it leaves, and nobody else knows it exists. An exported bookmarks file emailed around is accurate on the day it is sent and never again. A proper intranet solves all of this and costs more than the problem, in money or in the time of whoever has to maintain it.

The pattern is the same each time. The links live in a place people have to go to on purpose, and the one copy that is current is on your machine. What you want is the reverse: the links live where people already look, which is the new tab, and the copy on their screen is yours.

The setup: one board, one license, everyone subscribed

ReadyTab is a new tab extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Brave. One person hosts a board; everyone else subscribes to it. The host’s copy is the source of truth, and changes reach subscribers on their own. The host needs the Full plan, CHF 25 a year. Subscribers use the free extension. The whole thing takes about half an hour.

1. Build the board. Install ReadyTab from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons and create a workspace called something like “Company”. Make a group per department: HR, Finance, Sales, Support. Put the tools everyone uses in a group at the top. Add a callout block with the IT contact and a step list for new hires. You can import the links you already have from your browser bookmarks.
2. Activate Full on the hosting account. Open Settings → Account and paste the license key. This is the only paid plan in the whole setup. If you would rather the office manager own the board, put the license on their machine and give yourself an edit key in step 5.
3. Publish it as a live board. Go to Settings → Spaces → Sharing → Live boards and choose New live board. Pick the Company workspace, give it a name and set a password. ReadyTab encrypts the board in your browser before it is uploaded; the server only ever holds something it cannot read.
4. Send people the install link, the read token and the password. One email or chat message, three lines. Each person installs ReadyTab, opens Settings → Spaces → Sharing → Live boards → Join board, and enters the token and password. The board shows up as a tab in their new tab, read-only. They keep their own personal workspaces next to it.
5. Give edit keys to the people who maintain it. In the same Live boards screen, choose Edit keys and add one named “Office manager”, one named “HR”. Send each person their key. They enter it once under Boards you joined and can change the board from then on. When a role changes, revoke that one key; the others keep working and nobody loses viewing access. The managed boards guide has the details on keys and conflicts.
6. Publish a public copy for everyone who will not install anything. Some contractors, some people on phones, and some people on principle. From Sharing → Public links, publish the same workspace as a public board. It is a read-only web page behind one link. When you update it, every visitor sees the new version.

What changes for the company

New hires get the token on day one and have every internal link in front of them the first time they open a tab. When Finance moves to a new expense tool, one person edits one link and the change is on every screen within a minute of the next tab opening. The questions in the IT channel drop from “where is the…” to things that need you. And when the office manager changes, you revoke one key and issue another, without touching anyone’s computer.

What this does not do

Nobody is forced. Each person installs the extension once, and anyone can uninstall it or set a different new tab. That is the trade for not having a managed browser. In practice it holds up because the board is useful on the first day, but if you need the page enforced, you need enterprise policy and the force-install list, and you may want a product with user administration and single sign-on. The start.me comparison covers where that line falls.

Edit keys are also labels, not identities. Several people can share one, and the board does not record who made a change. For a small company this is the point: no accounts to create, no directory to maintain. For an audit requirement it is not enough.

Related

• How teams use ReadyTab: the three sharing modes side by side and the practical questions.
• ReadyTab vs start.me for teams: a $25-a-month team subscription for 10 users versus one owner on Full.
• Pricing: what a team of 5, 15 or 50 pays.
• Sharing and publishing in the docs: share codes, public boards and live boards.

Frequently asked questions

Can I set the Chrome new tab page for all employees without Group Policy?

Not by force. Chrome only lets you set the new tab or home page for other people through enterprise policy, which needs a managed browser. Without it, each person installs the extension once and subscribes to the shared board. After that, updates arrive on their own.

Does every employee need to pay for ReadyTab?

No. The person hosting the board needs Full at CHF 25 a year. Everyone else uses the free extension, joins with the board’s token and password, and edits with an edit key if they are given one.

What if someone changes the shared board by mistake?

Only people holding an edit key can change it; everyone else sees it read-only. If two editors save at the same time, the second one is asked to review the conflict before replacing anything, and the owner can revoke any key at any time.

Can people who refuse to install an extension still see the page?

Yes. Publish the same workspace as a public board. It is a read-only web page that opens in any browser, including on phones, and the owner can update it in place.