Chrome OS devices can now be locked or placed in a disabled state when they get stolen or lost. The new feature is Google's latest update to the admin console which included some changes to policies and the device list.

The update covers those devices that are school or work-issued. Owners of these devices can simply ask their IT admin to have their devices locked remotely using a web-based control system. Once locked, those who would try to switch the device back on will see only a locked screen that shows the address and the phone number of a company or a school. Hopefully, this will make them decide to bring the device back to its rightful owner.

However, people who own the devices for personal use would have to wait until the feature becomes available. According to Francois Beaufort, a Google employee, personal devices have no capacity yet to be remotely disabled.

"Finally! Admins can now place lost or stolen Chrome OS devices in a disabled state right from their web-based management console and display a custom message on the disabled device screens," said Beaufort. "When a device is disabled, all the user can see when turning on the Chrome device is a screen telling them that it's been disabled."

Some of the notable features of the update include a search feature that accepts partial serial number matches and a new user policy to determine which users are allowed to enroll devices whether they are new or deprovisioned.

By having the Chrome device deprovisioned or disabled, the user will be able to retain his Chrome device management license. He can apply the license when he gets another device of the same model.

"To manage Chrome devices, you need to first enroll the devices in your domain," said Google in the support page. "Once enrolled, you can view your devices in the Google Admin console. They will be listed as Provisioned in the device list. If you no longer need a device or are returning it, you should first deprovision it. If you lose a device or if it's stolen, you should disable the device. If you have Forced re-enrollment enabled, you need to deprovision the device when you no longer want to manage it in your domain."

Users can also re-enable a disabled device when it has been found after it was lost or misplaced. Likewise, this feature of re-enabling the device would also apply to those Chrome devices that were accidentally marked as disabled. Users should have available licenses in order for them to re-enable a disabled device or re-enroll one that was deprovisioned.