Google lets desktop users autorun Chat at startup, but not if you have a Chromebook

Welcome to the Workspace Sessions. Workspace Sessions brings you the latest from Google Workspace, the Google Admin Console, and all things related to Enterprise and Education from the world of Google.

For Windows, macOS, and Linux users, you will now have the ability to launch Google Chat automatically when you boot up your desktop or laptop. Previously, you’d have to manually search for it in your applications and click it, but with this latest update, it takes that process away in favor of automation. Obviously, this will be useful for anyone who is using Chat every day and throughout the day, and just plain annoying to anyone who isn’t a fan of the service.

Luckily, toggling this on so that it occurs when you launch everything in the morning is a manual process. Simply visit the chrome://apps page from your browser’s Omnibox and find the Chat app icon. Right click it and select ‘Start App when you sign in’. From there, there’s literally nothing left to do. You can restart your system to test this out if you’d like, but you’ll obviously see it the next time you fire everything up.

You probably noticed that I didn’t mention Chrome OS in this bit of news – that’s because it’s not something Chromebook owners can do following this process. Despite this, the ability to launch apps the moment you boot the system possible on Google’s OS via the Developer channel with a flag called Desktop PWAs run on OS login around this time last year. It’s not known whether or not the company has plans to roll this out to those using its laptops, but my guess would be that this is still in the works.

If you’re not seeing the Chat PWA on your apps list in the browser, you will need to manually add it by visiting Chat on the web and then following Google’s instructions. All Workspace customers, as well as those using G Suite Basic and G Suite for Business can now take advantage of the autorun option for Chat. I would wager this feature will be coming for Google Meet as well, but we’ll have to wait and see.

This installment of Workspace Sessions is sponsored in part by CTL. CTL is an industry leader in the deployment and management of Chrome and Chrome OS hardware. Headquartered in the USA, CTL designs and purpose builds Chrome devices specifically to meet the needs of its customers. Find out more about CTL here.