Forum Discussion
GPO Force InPrivate browsing setting breaks webview2 client.
My organization is currently using a webview2 client as an option for a locked down browser in our retail space. Recently we began attempting to replace webview2 with Edge KIOSK mode and also locking down other settings. One of the GPO settings we chose was to force InPrivate browsing since this was one of the easiest ways to prevent users from modifying settings. After making that change all webview2 clients threw an error upon launch.
webview2 error after enabling force InPrivate GPO
Is this expected behavior? If not is there anyway to correct this problem?
artroy ,
A few questions/suggestions:
- You mentioned "multi app use": Is this referring to the multi-app kiosk mode in Windows? If not, have you tried evaluating this mode for your needs? Set up a multi-app kiosk on Windows 10 - Configure Windows | Microsoft Docs
- This mode locks Windows down to only the allowed apps and prevents the regular taskbar and "normal" start menu from showing up.
- Here's an example solution post that maybe of relevance to your needs: Setup an Edge Chromium based Kiosk device with Microsoft Intune | (inthecloud247.com)
- You mentioned trying out Edge kiosk as an attempt to migrate from WebView2, though, "After making that change all webview2 clients threw an error upon launch" indicates the apps are still using WebView2. Is this still a requirement?
- Instead of forcing InPrivate mode, have you tried other policies to prevent users from modifying settings? Here are some suggestions:
- AddressBarEditingEnabled - though this would mean users CANNOT modify the address bar contents at all
- URLBlocklist and/or URLAllowlist
Let us know how this goes 🙂
- You mentioned "multi app use": Is this referring to the multi-app kiosk mode in Windows? If not, have you tried evaluating this mode for your needs? Set up a multi-app kiosk on Windows 10 - Configure Windows | Microsoft Docs
- Kelly_Y
Microsoft
artroy Hello! It is my understanding that the error is the expected behavior.
Here are a few links from the WebView2Feedback GitHub discussing. You should be able to reach out to the team there for further assistance.
- How to launch Webview2 InPrivate or incognito mode · Issue #1520 · MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Feedback (github.com)
- incognito mode support · Issue #779 · MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Feedback (github.com)
Just to note, if you move to kiosk mode it will run Microsoft Edge InPrivate sessions. Configure Microsoft Edge kiosk mode | Microsoft Docs
-Kelly
Kelly_Y thanks for the response and good info. KIOSK mode works well for us in most situations. The main issue we have is that a user can click the start key and get to the taskbar, once at the taskbar they can right click Edge and click open new window and that new window will not be in KIOSK. Is there a way to prevent this behavior?
