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I have configured RDS to serve Chrome as a RemoteApp.

I would like to use this RemoteApp version of Chrome as the default browser for some clients.

How would I go about setting the default browser to Chrome served as a RemoteApp via a PowerShell script?

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Sorry, it is not possible to use a remote application as local application. RDP is there to make it "look" like local, but nothing more.

A remote application is just a remote application - calc is exactly the same as word or chrome. Remote apps do not expose local APIs, they don't have "open width", do not get local command line arguments or can use some direct data exchange. A local browser does have (and use) a lot of those.

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  • I appreciate your response but it is most definitely possible to set RemoteApps as the default application for certain file types. I am currently using a computer that uses RemoteApps for the default pdf reader, word documents, spreadsheets, etc. They can be configured to accept command line parameters as well
    – user319862
    Commented May 28, 2021 at 14:19
  • That totally depends on your network design, which you did not mention. I will add another answer - this answer is valid for pure RemoteApps without any trust.
    – bjoster
    Commented May 28, 2021 at 14:33
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If you want to use RemoteApps to directly open the correctly associated applications, like .docx for Word files, this can be done in Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 by entering the complete RemoteApp Connection Default URL through the GPO found at the following location:

User Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > RemoteApp and Desktop Connections > Specify default connection URL

This only works if your clients are in the same domain as the RDS collection, or when running RemoteApps from within RDS itself. When running in a different domain ("untrusted") the File Associations are not applied because the user credentials do not match the credentials on the server-side. Also Windows does not support deploying the default RemoteApp connections within a RDS Farm.

When you try this, event log will show you this error:

The installation of the default connection has been cancelled.
A default connection cannot be used on a system that is part of a Remote Desktop Services deployment.

So you will have to add the DC with your logon script or by manually configuring the URL in the Control panel.

The downside of this is that the File Associations are not added to the users register. To resolve this You will have to creates reg keys for each user. Windows 10 does a lot under the hood to protect the "default browser" Option, so you will most likely do that manually.

But for files, there is a nice PowerShell function here that can do that for you - after which you just have to add the RemoteApp with it's file extensions.

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  • Appreciated, but this is already in place. I am trying to figure out how to associate the default browser - that is different than the default program to open a file type. I assume it would be similar to the powershell in your link but use different registry keys. You get a different popup that is "choose so and so as your default browser" vs the popup for "select the app to open this file type"
    – user319862
    Commented May 28, 2021 at 20:27

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