With the Google Chrome recently adding a slick new Chrome OS-style workspace for Windows 8 users, many of you may be wondering how to access it.
To play with Google’s latest feature you need to set Chrome to open in Metro mode – aka ‘Windows 8 mode’ – by default. And why not: it offers a more familiar layout than Internet Explorer and looks good to boot.
In Windows 8 there are three possible browser experiences available. These are:
- Not set as default; opens as window on desktop
- Set as default; set to open as window on desktop
- Set as default; set to open in ‘Windows 8’ mode
In this post we’re going to look at enabling the latter of these.
How to Make Chrome Open in Metro Mode on Windows 8
Chrome cannot run in Windows 8 mode if it’s not the default browser. It’s an annoying limitation of Windows 8, but one that has to be adhered to.
So, first, you’ll need to make sure Chrome is the default.
- Open Chrome
- Open the Chrome Menu
- Select Settings
- Under the section marked “Default browser” press the Make Google Chrome my default browser button
With that taken care of we can set it to open up in Windows 8 mode:
- Open Chrome
- Open the Chrome menu
- Choose Relaunch Chrome in Windows 8 mode
That’s it! Chrome will now automatically open in Windows 8 mode by default. If you’re on the Beta channel this means you won’t see a full-screen Chrome window but the Chrome OS workspace:
Switch Back
To switch back to using Chrome in the more traditional ‘desktop’ mode simply follow the guide above but choose ‘Relaunch Chrome on the desktop’ in the last step.
To reset Internet Explorer as your default browser (and have it open in Metro mode) open the Default programs application from the Windows 8 Start Page and adjust the browser setting accordingly.
Don’t See It?
Refer to this article for more information on why you may not see this option listed in Chrome.