You can now use the new Lacros Chrome browser on Chromebooks again

It feels like a long time has passed since the simple ability to enable Lacros (Google’s new, decoupled Chrome browser for Chromebooks) via a feature flag left us. Looking back, it was only a little over a month ago in ChromeOS 120 that this change happened, however. For the swarms of users who had been applying the necessary flag and settling in to life with this new, improved Chrome browser at their disposal, the removal has been tough.

While I never really invested much time getting used to life on the other side with Lacros, I know I’ve had more emails and messages about this in the past few weeks than I normally do when a feature is removed or changed. Clearly, Lacros and its ability to bring helpful features like account switching in Chrome is a big hit, and people are ready for it to arrive.

While we still don’t know for certain why it was removed, it is now back and available in ChromeOS 121 for nearly all Chromebooks. I’ve tested on quite a few devices, and it looks like the flag to enable Lacros is back where it belongs, ready to use, and works just as it did before its strange disappearance for most.

The only two devices I oddly don’t see the flag available on are the HP 15.6-inch Chromebook Plus and the Acer Chromebook Plus 514. Other devices that share the baseboards for each of those devices have the Lacros flag, so I’m really not sure what’s going on there. Just know that the chances are high that your device should have Lacros back as an option, but there’s a chance it doesn’t at the moment.

How to try out Lacros for yourself

So, now that you know it is back and in play (for most of you), maybe it’s time to give it a go yourself to see what all the excitement is about. Thankfully, it’s a very simple process and only requires a single flag at this point. Just head to chrome://flags/#lacros-only to turn on the flag, hit that blue restart button at the bottom, and give your device a few minutes to readjust: this is a pretty big change.

You’ll know you have the new and improved Chrome browser on your device as you’ll now have an account switcher up in the right-hand corner. This will allow you to add a few different accounts, each with their own passwords, bookmarks, and browser histories. For those looking to leverage a Chromebook for work and personal things, this account switching ability is far simpler than utilizing full-blown Chromebook accounts for the same siloed tasks.

Does this mean we’re close to launch?

I get the feeling that the re-introduction of the Lacros flag means we might be getting closer to a full launch of this new browser. It’s been in the works for a very, very long time and though we’ve talked at length about how difficult this process has likely been (since the Chrome browser and ChromeOS are so deeply interconnected), it really does feel like it is time for the full arrival of Lacros.

Granted, when it arrives, it won’t be referred to as such. Instead, I’d say we’ll see Google simply talk about how the Chrome browser on Chromebooks finally has account switching and full feature parity with all the other versions of Chrome out there. And that – for me at least – is the big win, here. When Lacros lands, it means we’ll get the same security updates and features as Chrome on Windows, Mac and Linux, giving the Chrome team a fully-unified front to deliver the best browser possible with each update.

And while I’m very ready for that reality, I understand it could still take a bit of time. Google has to nail this on the first try. There’s simply no room for big errors in this, so I’ll say once again that I’m happy they are taking their time. I’m also glad that they’ve given those of us who want to test drive it the ability to do so once again.