# win-detect-browsers > Fast and native browser detection on Windows Latest version **8.0.3** (published 2025-11-22) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install win-detect-browsers pnpm add win-detect-browsers yarn add win-detect-browsers bun add win-detect-browsers ``` Provides the command `win-detect-browsers`. ## Health **Score 55/100 (C)** — status: stable. Positive: esm support; no vulnerabilities; has provenance. Warnings: low downloads; no types. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 8.0.3 | | Published | 2025-11-22 | | First published | 2014-07-18 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | none | | Module format | ESM + CommonJS | | Node | >=20 | | Dependencies | 9 | | Unpacked size | 46.5 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | Provenance | attested (GitHub Actions) | | Author | Vincent Weevers | | Maintainers | vweevers | | Keywords | browser, browsers, detect, windows, chrome, chromium, canary, firefox, ie, internet-explorer, safari, opera, maxthon, yandex | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/win-detect-browsers - Repository: https://github.com/vweevers/win-detect-browsers - Issues: https://github.com/vweevers/win-detect-browsers/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/win-detect-browsers ## Dependencies (9) - [after](https://npm.io/package/after.md) ^0.8.2 - [debug](https://npm.io/package/debug.md) ^4.1.0 - [which](https://npm.io/package/which.md) ^5.0.0 - [yargs](https://npm.io/package/yargs.md) ^18.0.0 - [existent](https://npm.io/package/existent.md) ^1.0.1 - [registry-js](https://npm.io/package/registry-js.md) ^1.9.0 - [windows-env](https://npm.io/package/windows-env.md) ^1.0.1 - [pe-machine-type](https://npm.io/package/pe-machine-type.md) ^1.0.0 - [win-version-info](https://npm.io/package/win-version-info.md) ^6.0.1 ## Alternatives - [launchdarkly-js-client-sdk](https://npm.io/package/launchdarkly-js-client-sdk.md) — 2.5M weekly downloads - [@elastic/elasticsearch](https://npm.io/package/@elastic/elasticsearch.md) — 2.1M weekly downloads - [@c8y/client](https://npm.io/package/@c8y/client.md) — 15.3K weekly downloads - [@signaldb/maverickjs](https://npm.io/package/@signaldb/maverickjs.md) — 1.7K weekly downloads - [@bbc/http-transport-cache](https://npm.io/package/@bbc/http-transport-cache.md) — 1.2K weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 8.0.3 (latest) — 2025-11-22 - 3.0.0-rc1 (next) — 2018-05-20 - 8.0.2 — 2025-11-14 - 8.0.0 — 2025-10-08 - 7.0.0 — 2021-11-12 - 6.0.0 — 2020-03-04 - 5.0.0 — 2019-11-22 - 4.0.1 — 2019-08-17 - 4.0.0 — 2019-06-01 - 3.1.0 — 2018-11-24 - 3.0.0 — 2018-11-24 - 2.1.0 — 2015-05-05 - 2.0.0 — 2015-05-03 - 1.0.2 — 2015-05-03 - 1.0.1 — 2014-12-06 - … 4 more at https://npm.io/package/win-detect-browsers/versions ## README # win-detect-browsers **Fast and native browser detection on Windows. Detects installed versions of [Beaker](https://beakerbrowser.com/), [Brave](https://brave.com/), [Chrome](https://www.google.com/chrome/), [Chromium](https://www.chromium.org/), [Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/), [Internet Explorer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer), [Maxthon](http://www.maxthon.com/), [Opera](https://www.opera.com/), [Safari](https://www.apple.com/safari/) and [Yandex](https://browser.yandex.com/).** [![npm](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/win-detect-browsers.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/win-detect-browsers) [![Node version](https://img.shields.io/node/v/win-detect-browsers.svg)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/win-detect-browsers) [![Test](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/vweevers/win-detect-browsers/test.yml?branch=master\&label=test)](https://github.com/vweevers/win-detect-browsers/actions/workflows/test.yml) [![Standard](https://img.shields.io/badge/standard-informational?logo=javascript&logoColor=fff)](https://standardjs.com) [![Common Changelog](https://common-changelog.org/badge.svg)](https://common-changelog.org) ## Usage _If you are upgrading: please see the [changelog](CHANGELOG.md)._ ```js import detect from 'win-detect-browsers' // All browsers const browsers = await detect() // Search only for Chrome and Firefox const browsers = await detect(['chrome', 'firefox']) for (const b of browsers) { console.log(b.version) // E.g. '57.0.2931.0' console.log(b.channel) // E.g. 'canary' } ``` ## API ### `detect([names])` `names` is an array of browser names you want to find. If omitted or empty, it will detect _[everything](http://youtu.be/k1yvvNvlXtg)_. Returns a promise for an array of results. A result is excluded if its path has no `.exe` extension or if its version could not be read. Each result is an object with the following properties: - `name` (string): `chrome`, `chromium`, `firefox`, `beaker`, `brave`, `ie`, `msedge`, `maxthon`, `opera`, `safari`, `yandex` - `path` (string): absolute path to executable - `version` (string) - `arch` (string): CPU type the executable was built for: `amd64`, `i386` or [other](https://github.com/vweevers/pe-machine-type#types); - `info` (object): executable metadata (see [sample](#sample) below). Additional properties are usually available but not guaranteed: - `channel` (string): - Chrome: `stable`, `canary`, `beta` or `dev` - Firefox: `release`, `developer`, `nightly` or [`esr`](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/faq/) - Older versions of Firefox: `aurora`, `beta` or `rc`; - Opera: `stable`, `beta` or `developer`. - Edge: `stable`, `beta` or `dev` ## CLI ``` win-detect-browsers [options] [name, name..] ``` Write browsers to stdout as a JSON array. Includes all browsers unless one or more names are given (see list above). Options: - `--help` `-h`: Show help - `--version` `-v`: Show CLI version number - `--summary` `-s`: Less properties; - `--debug` `-d`: Enable debug output. ### Sample On Windows 10:
Click to expand ```json [ { "name": "ie", "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe", "version": "11.0.17134.1", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "11.0.17134.1", "CompanyName": "Microsoft Corporation", "FileDescription": "Internet Explorer", "InternalName": "iexplore", "LegalCopyright": "© Microsoft Corporation. Alle rechten voorbehouden.", "OriginalFilename": "IEXPLORE.EXE.MUI", "ProductName": "Internet Explorer", "ProductVersion": "11.00.17134.1" } }, { "name": "ie", "path": "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe", "version": "11.0.17134.1", "arch": "i386", "info": { "FileVersion": "11.0.17134.1", "CompanyName": "Microsoft Corporation", "FileDescription": "Internet Explorer", "InternalName": "iexplore", "LegalCopyright": "© Microsoft Corporation. Alle rechten voorbehouden.", "OriginalFilename": "IEXPLORE.EXE.MUI", "ProductName": "Internet Explorer", "ProductVersion": "11.00.17134.1" } }, { "name": "firefox", "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe", "version": "61.0.0.6711", "channel": "release", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "61.0.0.6711", "LegalCopyright": "©Firefox and Mozilla Developers; available under the MPL 2 license.", "CompanyName": "Mozilla Corporation", "FileDescription": "Firefox", "ProductVersion": "61.0", "InternalName": "Firefox", "LegalTrademarks": "Firefox is a Trademark of The Mozilla Foundation.", "OriginalFilename": "../../dist/bin/firefox.exe", "ProductName": "Firefox", "BuildID": "20180517141400" } }, { "name": "firefox", "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Firefox Developer Edition\\firefox.exe", "version": "61.0.0.6711", "channel": "developer", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "61.0.0.6711", "LegalCopyright": "©Firefox and Mozilla Developers; available under the MPL 2 license.", "CompanyName": "Mozilla Corporation", "FileDescription": "Firefox Developer Edition", "ProductVersion": "61.0", "InternalName": "Firefox Developer Edition", "LegalTrademarks": "Firefox is a Trademark of The Mozilla Foundation.", "OriginalFilename": "../../dist/bin/firefox.exe", "ProductName": "Firefox Developer Edition", "BuildID": "20180517141400" } }, { "name": "firefox", "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Firefox Nightly\\firefox.exe", "version": "62.0.0.6712", "channel": "nightly", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "62.0.0.6712", "LegalCopyright": "©Firefox and Mozilla Developers; available under the MPL 2 license.", "CompanyName": "Mozilla Corporation", "FileDescription": "Firefox Nightly", "ProductVersion": "62.0a1", "InternalName": "Firefox Nightly", "LegalTrademarks": "Firefox is a Trademark of The Mozilla Foundation.", "OriginalFilename": "firefox.exe", "ProductName": "Firefox Nightly", "BuildID": "20180518222751" } }, { "name": "chrome", "path": "C:\\Users\\vweevers\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome SxS\\Application\\chrome.exe", "version": "68.0.3436.0", "channel": "canary", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "68.0.3436.0", "CompanyName": "Google Inc.", "FileDescription": "Google Chrome", "InternalName": "chrome_exe", "LegalCopyright": "Copyright 2017 Google Inc. All rights reserved.", "OriginalFilename": "chrome.exe", "ProductName": "Google Chrome", "ProductVersion": "68.0.3436.0", "CompanyShortName": "Google", "ProductShortName": "Chrome", "LastChange": "e0f81fe637f233bf12e821915b72bc8d2194c3f2-refs/branch-heads/3436@{#1}", "Official Build": "1" } }, { "name": "chrome", "path": "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe", "version": "66.0.3359.181", "channel": "stable", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "66.0.3359.181", "CompanyName": "Google Inc.", "FileDescription": "Google Chrome", "InternalName": "chrome_exe", "LegalCopyright": "Copyright 2017 Google Inc. All rights reserved.", "OriginalFilename": "chrome.exe", "ProductName": "Google Chrome", "ProductVersion": "66.0.3359.181", "CompanyShortName": "Google", "ProductShortName": "Chrome", "LastChange": "a10b9cedb40738cb152f8148ddab4891df876959-refs/branch-heads/3359@{#828}", "Official Build": "1" } }, { "name": "opera", "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Opera beta\\Launcher.exe", "version": "53.0.2907.31", "channel": "beta", "arch": "amd64", "info": { "FileVersion": "53.0.2907.31", "LegalCopyright": "Copyright Opera Software 2018", "InternalName": "Opera", "CompanyName": "Opera Software", "ProductName": "Opera beta Internet Browser", "ProductVersion": "53.0.2907.31", "FileDescription": "Opera beta Internet Browser" } } ] ```
## Install With [npm](https://npmjs.org) do: ```bash npm install win-detect-browsers # For API npm install win-detect-browsers -g # For CLI ``` ## Background Browser detection on Windows can't be done right. This is the _try-everything-and-fail-silently_ approach. It accounts for architecture differences, normalizes environment variables, tries default locations, searches the registry (in the HKLM and HKCU hives as well as WoW counterparts) (including [Start Menu Internet Applications](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd203067(v=vs.85).aspx), Google Updater and more), and looks in `PATH`. Version numbers are then read from the executable metadata. `browser-launcher` by substack has [poor Windows support](https://github.com/substack/browser-launcher/issues/7), and it prompted me to create this module. It is now used in [browser-launcher2](https://github.com/benderjs/browser-launcher2), ~~an active~~ a once active fork of `browser-launcher`. ## License [MIT](./LICENSE) --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/win-detect-browsers · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._