Start Google Chrome on Mac with command line switches

Question

I've read you can start Google Chrome in kiosk mode in Windows by using the argument --kiosk.

I know how to do this on Windows, but how can I do this on Mac OS X?

And how can I run Google Chrome with the --kiosk argument on startup?

@YumYumYum ugh! It's 2017 and none of the answers work (anymore?)! — Michael, Jan 19 '18 at 23:53

score 122 · Accepted Answer · edited May 06 '19 at 22:35

122

This works with macOS:

/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --kiosk

edited May 06 '19 at 22:35

Giacomo1968

55,001

answered Jun 27 '10 at 23:51

Andrew

1,336

You mean the argument doesn't work? The actual process of full screening Chrome is in the Mac version. Any hack to send a Cmd+Shift+F to get it to full screen? Thanks for your answer. – alex Jun 27 '10 at 23:52
Ok. Can you try "ls /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS" (or something like that) and post that? – Andrew Jun 27 '10 at 23:58
@Andrew I ran ls /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS and it printed 'Google Chrome' only. :S – alex Jun 28 '10 at 00:18
Finished and edited answer. Try now. – Andrew Jun 28 '10 at 22:27
1

@Andrew Thanks for that, and how would I run this on startup? Cheers. – alex Jul 01 '10 at 13:23
It does work for macOS Mojave 10.14. – Jarno Lamberg Feb 16 '21 at 10:07

score 36 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 03 '13 at 14:19

36

It is probably even better to use the open command (in case the application is not located in the Application folder). E.g.: open -a "Google Chrome" --args --kiosk http://www.example.com

answered Apr 03 '13 at 14:19

wuxscho

461

It does work for macOS Mojave 10.14. – Jarno Lamberg Feb 16 '21 at 10:06
Second param is ignored :shrug: – AlikElzin-kilaka Jan 24 '24 at 13:26

score 11 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 20 '12 at 16:41

11

In AppleScript, paste the following text:

do shell script "/Applications/Google\\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\\ Chrome --kiosk"

Save it as an application and add it to your startup items.

edited Apr 20 '12 at 16:41

Arjan

31,163

answered Apr 20 '12 at 16:19

vynsynt

111

2

It did back in 2012. Now, use the code that newer comments have mentioned, /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --kiosk --app=http://domain.com put that in a plain txt document, but add the following snippet above the call to Chrome to make it executable,#!/bin/bash and add it to your startup items, or doublbe click to launch. – vynsynt Mar 07 '16 at 21:17
@vynsynt, Is the binbash line really needed? – Pacerier Dec 14 '17 at 04:16

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 21 '18 at 15:40

6

You can create an alias to open websites or files via command line. To do this, you can include at the end of your ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile or ~/.aliases the following lines:

# Google Chrome Alias
google-chrome() {
    open -a "Google Chrome" "$1"
}

answered Oct 21 '18 at 15:40

garciparedes

169
1
3

This is not how you deal with spaces in filenames. Learn to quote or escape special chars properly. Also, "$1" is not going to work right when you have more than one param to pass, especially if those params themselves have unquoted values. – Marcin Jul 02 '19 at 13:54
9

Hi @Marcin! If you know how, could you improve my response? – garciparedes Jul 02 '19 at 18:34
Good answer. Won't let me edit unless I put in at least 6 characters (to change "$1" to "$@" since you're using bash specifically here). Also probably best it's not in ~/.aliases really. An alias would be something like alias google-chrome='open -a "Google Chrome"' – Angelo Mar 24 '22 at 05:57

Start Google Chrome on Mac with command line switches

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