Chrome to Turn HTTPS on by Default for Public Sites

To improve the security of users, Google next year will change Chrome’s default settings so that the browser will navigate only to websites that support HTTPS.

The ‘Always Use Secure Connections’ setting was introduced in Chrome in 2022, as an opt-in feature, and was turned on by default in Chrome 141 for a small percentage of users, for testing.

Starting October 2026, when Chrome 154 is projected to arrive, the ‘Always Use Secure Connections’ setting will be on by default for all users, for all public sites.

When encountering a site that does not use a secure connection, Chrome will display a warning and ask for the user’s explicit permission to navigate to it.

The use of HTTPS connections, Google explains, makes the browsing experience more secure for Chrome’s users, as it prevents attackers from hijacking the navigation.

“When links don’t use HTTPS, an attacker can ...