Chrome 63 Isolation feature

How to enable Chrome’s Site Isolation security feature

Google releases a new version of Chrome with a new security feature that isolates every website on its own process — Here's how to enable it.

On a continuous effort to compete with Microsoft Edge, Google is rolling out Chrome version 63 with a new security feature called Site Isolation to add an extra layer of security to protect users from malware, ransomware, and other malicious code.

Site Isolation is a feature that allows to run each website inside of its own separate process, isolated from other websites, adding a stronger layer of security very similar to Windows Defender Application Guard available on Windows 10 version 1709.

Chrome’s Site Isolation is a feature aimed for enterprises, but unlike the equivalent feature found in Microsoft Edge, anyone can enable the new security layer in Google Chrome.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to enable Site Isolation in Chrome to improve your device security protection against malware, ransomware, and helps to mitigate the Meltdown and Spectre processor security vulnerabilities.

How to enable Chrome isolation using flags

The isolation feature is disabled by default on Chrome, but you can use the following steps to enable it.

  1. Open Chrome.

  2. Type chrome://flags in the address bar and press Enter.

  3. Scroll down and find Strict site isolation.

  4. Click the Enable button to turn on the feature.

    Chrome's Flags Strict Site Isolation option
    Chrome’s Flags Strict Site Isolation option
  5. Restart Chrome to apply the settings.

Once you have completed the steps, every page you open using Google Chrome will run in its own sandboxed container.

How to enable Chrome isolation using command line

  1. Right-click the Chrome icon, and select Properties.

  2. Click the Shortcut tab.

  3. In the “Target” field, append the following switch at the end of the line with one space, and outside of the quotation marks.

    --site-per-process

    Chrome Site Per Process command switch
    Chrome Site Per Process command switch
  4. Click Apply.

  5. Click OK.

After completing the steps, every time you launch Chrome, it’ll open in isolation mode.

The only caveat with this feature is that it causes the browser to use more memory, anywhere from 10 to 20 percent more, and we already know that Chrome uses more memory than it should.

It should be noted that while this guide focuses on enabling Chrome’s isolation feature on Windows 10, you can also use these instructions to turn on the feature on macOS or Linux.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.