How to configure Windows Group Policies for Google Chrome Browser Extension installation – Voicegain

Installing Voicegain’s Copilot requires setting up Google Chrome policy settings on Windows devices for users at the domain level. We assume you are already running Windows 11 Pro/Business Editions and have Google Chrome installed on the target devices.

Before starting, ensure you have received a Voicegain Configuration Sheet from your Voicegain account representative. This sheet contains all policy values and the extension download URL required during setup. If you have not received one, contact your representative before continuing.

Where do I start?

Check whether the Google Chrome Administrative Template is already installed on your domain controller or local machine:

Open Group Policy Editor — press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
In the left-hand tree, expand Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates.
Look for a Google node containing a Google Chrome folder.

If the Google Chrome node is visible, skip Step 1 and proceed directly to Step 2. If it is not visible, start at Step 1 below.

Step 1 — Install the Google Chrome Administrative Template

If you already have the Google Chrome Administrative Template installed, skip this step and go to Step 2.

Go to the official Chrome Enterprise policy template download page.
Download the Chrome browser policy templates or the Chrome Enterprise bundle for Windows.
Extract the downloaded package to an accessible location.
Inside the extracted package, locate the Windows ADMX template directory. Depending on the downloaded package, this is typically located under:
```
windows\admx
```
or:
```
Configuration\admx
```
Proceed to section 1.1 below to place the template files.

1.1 — Place the template files

Choose the method that matches your environment.

Method A — Active Directory (recommended for domain-managed devices)

On a domain controller or workstation with RSAT, navigate to the PolicyDefinitions folder. For older versions of Windows Server, you may need to create this folder — see How to create and manage the Central Store for Group Policy Administrative Templates for guidance.
Inside the extracted Chrome policy package, navigate to the folder containing the ADMX files.
Copy both of the following files into the domain PolicyDefinitions folder:
- google.admx
- chrome.admx
```
%systemroot%\sysvol\domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions
```
Open the appropriate language folder in the extracted package, such as en-US for English.
Copy both of the following language files into the matching language subfolder inside PolicyDefinitions:
- google.adml
- chrome.adml
```
%systemroot%\sysvol\domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions\en-US
```
Create the matching language subfolder if it does not already exist.
If your domain has multiple domain controllers, the files will replicate automatically according to your domain’s replication schedule.
To verify the installation, open Group Policy Management Editor and expand:
```
Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome
```
A Google Chrome node should now be visible.

Method B — Individual computer (use if Active Directory is not present)

Inside the extracted Chrome policy package, navigate to the folder containing the ADMX files.
Copy both of the following files to the local Policy Definition folder:
- google.admx
- chrome.admx
```
C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions
```
Open the appropriate language folder in the extracted package, such as en-US for English.
Copy both of the following files into the matching local language subfolder:
- google.adml
- chrome.adml
```
C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US
```
To verify, press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.

Expand:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome

A Google Chrome node should now be visible.

If an error occurs when Group Policy Editor opens, one or more ADMX or ADML files have likely been placed in the wrong location. Check both the main PolicyDefinitions folder and its matching language subfolder.

Step 2 — Set extension policies

All values required in this section are provided in your Voicegain Configuration Sheet. Copy and paste each value directly from the sheet rather than typing it manually.

You can apply policies at the Computer Configuration level, which applies them to all users of a device, or at the User Configuration level, which applies them to selected Windows users. Choose the appropriate scope for your organisation.

Open Group Policy Editor and navigate to:

(Computer Configuration or User Configuration) > Policies > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome > Extensions

On an individual computer using Local Group Policy Editor, the Policies node might not appear in the displayed path. In that case, navigate to:

(Computer Configuration or User Configuration) > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome > Extensions

Policy 1 — Configure extension installation allow list (required)

This policy permits the Voicegain Copilot extension to be installed on managed Chrome browsers.

Double-click Allow specific extensions to be installed and set it to Enabled.
Under Options, click Show….
In the Show Contents window, enter the Extension ID from your Voicegain Configuration Sheet in the Value field.
If the Configuration Sheet contains more than one extension ID, enter each ID on a separate row.
Click OK to close the Show Contents window, then click OK again to apply the policy.

Policy 2 — Configure extension, app, and user script install sources (required)

This policy specifies the trusted locations from which the Voicegain Copilot extension may be installed.

Double-click Configure extension, app, and user script install sources and set it to Enabled.
Under Options, click Show….
In the Show Contents window, enter the Install Source URL values from your Voicegain Configuration Sheet, with one value per row.
Copy the values exactly as provided. Do not remove wildcard characters, URL schemes, or path components.
Click OK to close the Show Contents window, then click OK again to apply the policy.

Both the location of the extension package and the webpage from which the installation is initiated may need to match the allowed URL patterns. Therefore, ensure that every value supplied in the Voicegain Configuration Sheet is added to this policy.

Additional policies (optional)

Your Voicegain Configuration Sheet may list additional optional policies beyond the two required policies above. These policies are not required in every deployment but may be recommended based on your organisation’s Chrome configuration and extension-management rules.

If your Configuration Sheet does not contain any additional policies, skip this section.

For most list-based policies, follow the same procedure as the required policies:

Open the policy.
Set it to Enabled.
Click Show….
Enter the values from the Voicegain Configuration Sheet, one value per row.
Click OK to close the Show Contents window, then click OK again to apply the policy.

Some policies are configured differently. One example is Extension management settings, which accepts a single JSON object instead of individual rows.

To configure Extension management settings:

Double-click Extension management settings and set it to Enabled.
Under Options, locate the policy text field.
Copy the complete JSON value from your Voicegain Configuration Sheet and paste it into the field.
The JSON must be entered as a single compact line. Do not add comments or split the JSON across multiple lines.
Click OK to apply the policy.

Your Voicegain Configuration Sheet will indicate when a policy requires this approach.

Important: The Extension management settings policy can override separately configured extension allowlist, blocklist, force-install, and install-source policies. Apply only the policies and values listed in your Voicegain Configuration Sheet to avoid conflicting settings.

Step 3 — Test your policies

On a target client device, open Google Chrome and navigate to:
```
chrome://policy
```
Click Reload policies to request the latest policy values.
Confirm that all Voicegain-related policies are displayed and do not show an error.
Check the Source, Scope, Level, and Status fields to verify that each policy was loaded from the intended configuration source.
Policies applied through Local Group Policy should normally appear after Group Policy refresh. If Chrome was open during configuration, completely close and reopen it before checking again.

For Active Directory deployments, policies are distributed to domain computers according to the refresh interval configured by your domain administrator.

To force an immediate Group Policy refresh on a target Windows device, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run:

gpupdate /force

After the command completes, fully close Google Chrome, reopen it, navigate to chrome://policy, and click Reload policies.

Machine-level policy settings can also be inspected directly in the Windows Registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome

User-level policies can be inspected at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome

Registry inspection should normally be used only for troubleshooting. Configure and maintain the policies through Group Policy whenever possible.

Step 4 — End user extension installation

Once the policies have been confirmed as active, direct end users to install the Voicegain Copilot extension by navigating to the Extension Download URL provided in the Voicegain Configuration Sheet.

The installation page and extension package must be hosted on locations permitted by the policies configured in Step 2.

After installation, the user can confirm that the extension is present by opening:

chrome://extensions

If the extension does not install:

Confirm that the correct Extension ID is present in the allowlist or extension-management policy.
Confirm that all required install-source URL patterns were entered exactly as provided.
Check chrome://policy for policy errors or conflicting policy values.
Run gpupdate /force, restart Chrome, and try the installation again.
Contact your Voicegain account representative if the issue continues.

For questions or support, contact your Voicegain account representative.