How to start Chrome in Desktop or Windows 8 mode based on where I start it from?

Question

Is there a way to choose to start Chrome web browser either in classic desktop or metro mode in Windows 8.1? I know how to change it while the app is running, also if I exit the app in metro and start it again it stays in metro, that's not a problem. I'm simply looking for a way to start in desktop mode when I open desktop icon and in metro mode when I open metro icon (tile), that is imho reasonable request.

Solution

Yes, this is possible with custom Windows shortcuts.

Create two shortcuts for Chrome named Chrome Desktop and Chrome Metro.

Enter the following flags for the shortcuts.

--force-desktop for Chrome Desktop and --force-immersive for Chrome Metro

In case you don't know how to add flags in shortcuts, refer to this image where the --incognito flag is added:

Now just keep the Chrome Desktop shortcut on your desktop and Chrome Metro shortcut in the folder: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\. The shortcut should appear in your Start Menu after a few seconds.

Keep in mind that you cannot have both modes open simultaneously at the same time.

Edit: I double checked this on my friend's system. It seems that after you close Chrome from metro mode, it doesn't exit. Instead, it stays in the background (application is suspended - it is by design of Windows 8.x). Refer to this article to find out how to close applications permanently.

Comments

[Chirag Bhatia - chirag64]

Did you close Chrome in Metro mode? You cannot have both instances running at the same time.

[SysGen]

Yes I closed chrome in metro and relaunched using desktop icon but it launched in metro again. But the weird thing is that it allows me to have both instances, that means if I'm in desktop mode and click the metro icon it opens up in metro also and I can switch between them and use both of them.

[Chirag Bhatia - chirag64]

That's weird. The desktop shortcut does work at my end. What version / build are you using?

[SysGen]

I'm running newest version of Chrome, that is 34.0.1847.116, on Windows 8.1 64-bit.

[SysGen]

I'll accept this solution although the problem still remains unresolved for me. This approach should work for most people and the error is probably local on my machine. If anyone finds a solution that might work for me please let me know.

[Chirag Bhatia - chirag64]

I double checked this on my friend's system. It seems that after you close Chrome from metro mode (or even in desktop mode), it doesn't exit immediately, sometimes it stays in the background (maybe garbage collection or running some extension in the background). What you need to do is, after exiting from one mode, check the task manager to see if any chrome.exe processes are still running. If they're still running, the shortcuts will open chrome again in their existing mode. Try the shortcuts AFTER all the processes end in the task manager.

[SysGen]

This is some keen observation, thank you for that. I've tested it for myself and indeed there is a running process that when closed Chrome can be started in desktop mode. I've looked into it some more and discovered that only metro app behaves like that (together with all metro apps - it's called suspension). Hence it works when I permanently close Chrome, that can be achieved not only by a kill in the task manager, but also by Alt+F4 or a swipe gesture from top to bottom with holding 2s at the bottom. You might want to update your answer to let people know that.

[Chiramisu]

Sadly, doesn't seem to work from the command line. I want to make it a Startup app, but only if I can make it start directly into Windows 8 mode.