Chrome is testing a huge startup prompt asking users to make it the default browser

Chrome Beta is experimenting with a new default-browser prompt that asks Windows users to open Settings and make Chrome their default browser.

Google Chrome has never been shy about asking users to make it their default browser, but its latest approach makes that request particularly hard to miss. We at Windows Report spotted a new startup prompt in Chrome Beta that covers a large part of the New Tab page and asks users to set Chrome as the default browser.

Chrome uses a large visual guide inside the dialog to show users exactly where they need to go. The dialog also has a minimize button in the top-right corner, which gives it the appearance of a separate window rather than a typical browser prompt.

The message also uses Chrome’s sync features as part of its pitch. It tells users:

“Keep your passwords, bookmarks, and history perfectly synced across devices.”

It then adds:

“Easily access the features you know and love by updating your default browser to Chrome.”

The wording ties the request to Chrome’s passwords, bookmarks, history and other features instead of presenting it simply as a Windows default-app setting.

The dialog has two options: Set later and Open settings. The latter only opens Windows Settings. Chrome still requires the user to make the change manually.

We first selected Open settings when the prompt appeared and checked the Windows page without making Chrome the default browser. The same Chrome prompt appeared again on a later launch. It is too early to say whether Chrome will repeatedly show it after users select Set later, since we had not used that option at the time.

This is particularly noticeable because the prompt appears as soon as Chrome starts. Users who simply want to open the browser are greeted with a large request to change a Windows setting before they can get on with browsing.

Chrome has several existing ways to ask users to make it their default browser, but this test puts that request front and center at startup. For a browser that people open to browse the web, the size and placement of this dialog make it feel more intrusive than a regular default-browser reminder.

This could be another Google experiment that has reached only a small group of Chrome users. We spotted it in Chrome Beta, and it is unclear how widely Google is showing the new prompt. For Chrome Beta users, this is one experiment that feels unnecessary at startup.