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app

Control your application's event lifecycle.

Process: Main

The following example shows how to quit the application when the last window is closed:

const { app } = require('electron')

app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
  app.quit()
})

Events​

The app object emits the following events:

Event: 'will-finish-launching'​

Emitted when the application has finished basic startup. On Windows and Linux, the will-finish-launching event is the same as the ready event; on macOS, this event represents the applicationWillFinishLaunching notification of NSApplication.

In most cases, you should do everything in the ready event handler.

Event: 'ready'​

Returns:

Emitted once, when Electron has finished initializing. On macOS, launchInfo holds the userInfo of the NSUserNotification or information from UNNotificationResponse that was used to open the application, if it was launched from Notification Center. You can also call app.isReady() to check if this event has already fired and app.whenReady() to get a Promise that is fulfilled when Electron is initialized.

note

The ready event is only fired after the main process has finished running the first tick of the event loop. If an Electron API needs to be called before the ready event, ensure that it is called synchronously in the top-level context of the main process.

Event: 'window-all-closed'​

Emitted when all windows have been closed.

If you do not subscribe to this event and all windows are closed, the default behavior is to quit the app; however, if you subscribe, you control whether the app quits or not. If the user pressed Cmd + Q, or the developer called app.quit(), Electron will first try to close all the windows and then emit the will-quit event, and in this case the window-all-closed event would not be emitted.

Event: 'before-quit'​

Returns:

Emitted before the application starts closing its windows. Calling event.preventDefault() will prevent the default behavior, which is terminating the application.

note

If application quit was initiated by autoUpdater.quitAndInstall(), then before-quit is emitted after emitting close event on all windows and closing them.

note

On Windows, this event will not be emitted if the app is closed due to a shutdown/restart of the system or a user logout.

Event: 'will-quit'​

Returns:

Emitted when all windows have been closed and the application will quit. Calling event.preventDefault() will prevent the default behavior, which is terminating the application.

See the description of the window-all-closed event for the differences between the will-quit and window-all-closed events.

note

On Windows, this event will not be emitted if the app is closed due to a shutdown/restart of the system or a user logout.

Event: 'quit'​

Returns:

Emitted when the application is quitting.

note

On Windows, this event will not be emitted if the app is closed due to a shutdown/restart of the system or a user logout.

Event: 'open-file' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when the user wants to open a file with the application. The open-file event is usually emitted when the application is already open and the OS wants to reuse the application to open the file. open-file is also emitted when a file is dropped onto the dock and the application is not yet running. Make sure to listen for the open-file event very early in your application startup to handle this case (even before the ready event is emitted).

You should call event.preventDefault() if you want to handle this event.

On Windows, you have to parse process.argv (in the main process) to get the filepath.

Event: 'open-url' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when the user wants to open a URL with the application. Your application's Info.plist file must define the URL scheme within the CFBundleURLTypes key, and set NSPrincipalClass to AtomApplication.

As with the open-file event, be sure to register a listener for the open-url event early in your application startup to detect if the application is being opened to handle a URL. If you register the listener in response to a ready event, you'll miss URLs that trigger the launch of your application.

Event: 'activate' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when the application is activated. Various actions can trigger this event, such as launching the application for the first time, attempting to re-launch the application when it's already running, or clicking on the application's dock or taskbar icon.

Event: 'app-shim-connected' macOS Experimental​

Returns:

Emitted when an app shim connects to your app. Shims can only connect after app.startAppShimServer() has been called.

Any process running as the same user can connect. Verify the shim before creating windows in it, for example with shim.satisfiesCodeRequirement(), and call shim.quit() to reject a shim that you do not trust.

Event: 'app-shim-version-mismatch' macOS Experimental​

Returns:

Emitted when an app shim was launched but could not connect because your app's bundle has been replaced by a different version since your app started. A shim loads the version of Electron that is on disk, which cannot communicate with the version that is still running.

The shim quits without showing any UI, so use this event to tell the user what happened. Shims can connect again after your app restarts.

const { app, dialog } = require('electron')

app.on('app-shim-version-mismatch', async () => {
  const { response } = await dialog.showMessageBox({
    message: `Restart ${app.name} to finish updating`,
    buttons: ['Restart', 'Later']
  })
  if (response === 0) {
    app.relaunch()
    app.quit()
  }
})

Event: 'did-become-active' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when the application becomes active. This differs from the activate event in that did-become-active is emitted every time the app becomes active, not only when Dock icon is clicked or application is re-launched. It is also emitted when a user switches to the app via the macOS App Switcher.

Event: 'did-resign-active' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when the app is no longer active and doesn’t have focus. This can be triggered, for example, by clicking on another application or by using the macOS App Switcher to switch to another application.

Event: 'continue-activity' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted during Handoff when an activity from a different device wants to be resumed. You should call event.preventDefault() if you want to handle this event.

A user activity can be continued only in an app that has the same developer Team ID as the activity's source app and that supports the activity's type. Supported activity types are specified in the app's Info.plist under the NSUserActivityTypes key.

Event: 'will-continue-activity' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted during Handoff before an activity from a different device wants to be resumed. You should call event.preventDefault() if you want to handle this event.

Event: 'continue-activity-error' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted during Handoff when an activity from a different device fails to be resumed.

Event: 'activity-was-continued' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted during Handoff after an activity from this device was successfully resumed on another one.

Event: 'update-activity-state' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when Handoff is about to be resumed on another device. If you need to update the state to be transferred, you should call event.preventDefault() immediately, construct a new userInfo dictionary and call app.updateCurrentActivity() in a timely manner. Otherwise, the operation will fail and continue-activity-error will be called.

Event: 'new-window-for-tab' macOS​

Returns:

Emitted when the user clicks the native macOS new tab button. The new tab button is only visible if the current BrowserWindow has a tabbingIdentifier.

You must create a window in this handler in order for macOS tabbing to work as expected.

Event: 'browser-window-blur'​

Returns:

Emitted when a browserWindow gets blurred.

Event: 'browser-window-focus'​

Returns:

Emitted when a browserWindow gets focused.

Event: 'browser-window-created'​

Returns:

Emitted when a new browserWindow is created.

Event: 'web-contents-created'​

Returns:

Emitted when a new webContents is created.

Event: 'certificate-error'​

Returns:

Emitted when failed to verify the certificate for url, to trust the certificate you should prevent the default behavior with event.preventDefault() and call callback(true).

const { app } = require('electron')

app.on('certificate-error', (event, webContents, url, error, certificate, callback) => {
  if (url === 'https://github.com') {
    // Verification logic.
    event.preventDefault()
    callback(true)
  } else {
    callback(false)
  }
})

Event: 'select-client-certificate'​

Returns:

Emitted when a client certificate is requested.

The url corresponds to the navigation entry requesting the client certificate and callback can be called with an entry filtered from the list. Using event.preventDefault() prevents the application from using the first certificate from the store.

webContents is null when the request does not originate from a renderer process, for example when using net.request or net.fetch in the main process, or from a utility process created with respondToAuthRequestsFromMainProcess: true. For utility processes created without that flag, net requests proceed without a client certificate and this event is not emitted.

const { app } = require('electron')

app.on('select-client-certificate', (event, webContents, url, list, callback) => {
  event.preventDefault()
  callback(list[0])
})

Event: 'login'​

Returns:

Emitted when webContents or Utility process wants to do basic auth.

The default behavior is to cancel all authentications. To override this you should prevent the default behavior with event.preventDefault() and call callback(username, password) with the credentials.

const { app } = require('electron')

app.on('login', (event, webContents, details, authInfo, callback) => {
  event.preventDefault()
  callback('username', 'secret')
})

If callback is called without a username or password, the authentication request will be cancelled and the authentication error will be returned to the page.

Event: 'gpu-info-update'​

Emitted whenever there is a GPU info update.

Event: 'render-process-gone'​

Returns:

Emitted when the renderer process unexpectedly disappears. This is normally because it was crashed or killed.

Event: 'child-process-gone'​

Returns:

Emitted when the child process unexpectedly disappears. This is normally because it was crashed or killed, or because it failed to launch. It does not include renderer processes.

Event: 'accessibility-support-changed' macOS Windows​

Returns:

Emitted when Chromium's accessibility support changes. This event fires when assistive technologies, such as screen readers, are enabled or disabled. See https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/accessibility for more details.

Event: 'session-created'​

Returns:

Emitted when Electron has created a new session.

const { app } = require('electron')

app.on('session-created', (session) => {
  console.log(session)
})

Event: 'second-instance'​

Returns:

This event will be emitted inside the primary instance of your application when a second instance has been executed and calls app.requestSingleInstanceLock().

argv is an Array of the second instance's command line arguments, and workingDirectory is its current working directory. Usually applications respond to this by making their primary window focused and non-minimized.

note

argv will not be exactly the same list of arguments as those passed to the second instance. The order might change and additional arguments might be appended. If you need to maintain the exact same arguments, it's advised to use additionalData instead.

note

If the second instance is started by a different user than the first, the argv array will not include the arguments.

This event is guaranteed to be emitted after the ready event of app gets emitted.

note

Extra command line arguments might be added by Chromium, such as --original-process-start-time.

Methods​

The app object has the following methods:

note

Some methods are only available on specific operating systems and are labeled as such.

app.quit()​

Try to close all windows. The before-quit event will be emitted first. If all windows are successfully closed, the will-quit event will be emitted and by default the application will terminate.

This method guarantees that all beforeunload and unload event handlers are correctly executed. It is possible that a window cancels the quitting by returning false in the beforeunload event handler.

app.exit([exitCode])​

Exits immediately with exitCode. exitCode defaults to 0.

All windows will be closed immediately without asking the user, and the before-quit and will-quit events will not be emitted.

app.relaunch([options])​

Relaunches the app when the current instance exits.

By default, the new instance will use the same working directory and command line arguments as the current instance. When args is specified, the args will be passed as the command line arguments instead. When execPath is specified, the execPath will be executed for the relaunch instead of the current app.

Note that this method does not quit the app when executed. You have to call app.quit or app.exit after calling app.relaunch to make the app restart.

When app.relaunch is called multiple times, multiple instances will be started after the current instance exits.

An example of restarting the current instance immediately and adding a new command line argument to the new instance:

const { app } = require('electron')

app.relaunch({ args: process.argv.slice(1).concat(['--relaunch']) })
app.exit(0)

app.isReady()​

Returns boolean - true if Electron has finished initializing, false otherwise. See also app.whenReady().

app.whenReady()​

Returns Promise<void> - fulfilled when Electron is initialized. May be used as a convenient alternative to checking app.isReady() and subscribing to the ready event if the app is not ready yet.

app.focus([options])​

On macOS, makes the application the active app. On Windows, focuses on the application's first window. On Linux, either focuses on the first visible window (X11) or requests focus but may instead show a notification or flash the app icon (Wayland).

You should seek to use the steal option as sparingly as possible.

app.isActive() macOS​

Returns boolean - true if the application is active (i.e. focused).

app.hide() macOS​

Hides all application windows without minimizing them.

app.isHidden() macOS​

Returns boolean - true if the application—including all of its windows—is hidden (e.g. with Command-H), false otherwise.

app.show() macOS​

Shows application windows after they were hidden. Does not automatically focus them.

app.setAppLogsPath([path])​

Sets or creates a directory your app's logs which can then be manipulated with app.getPath() or app.setPath(pathName, newPath).

Calling app.setAppLogsPath() without a path parameter will result in this directory being set to ~/Library/Logs/YourAppName on macOS, and inside the userData directory on Linux and Windows.

app.getAppPath()​

Returns string - The current application directory.

app.getPath(name)​

Returns string - A path to a special directory or file associated with name. On failure, an Error is thrown.

If app.getPath('logs') is called without calling app.setAppLogsPath() being called first, a default log directory will be created equivalent to calling app.setAppLogsPath() without a path parameter.

app.getFileIcon(path[, options])​

Returns Promise<NativeImage> - fulfilled with the app's icon, which is a NativeImage.

Fetches a path's associated icon.

On Windows, there are 2 kinds of icons:

On Linux and macOS, icons depend on the application associated with file mime type.

app.setPath(name, path)​

Overrides the path to a special directory or file associated with name. If the path specifies a directory that does not exist, an Error is thrown. In that case, the directory should be created with fs.mkdirSync or similar.

You can only override paths of a name defined in app.getPath.

By default, web pages' cookies and caches will be stored under the sessionData directory. If you want to change this location, you have to override the sessionData path before the ready event of the app module is emitted.

app.getVersion()​

Returns string - The version of the loaded application. If no version is found in the application's package.json file, the version of the current bundle or executable is returned.

app.getName()​

Returns string - The current application's name, which is the name in the application's package.json file.

Usually the name field of package.json is a short lowercase name, according to the npm modules spec. You should usually also specify a productName field, which is your application's full capitalized name, and which will be preferred over name by Electron.

Electron uses the application's name to construct the default userData directory. On Windows, neither productName nor name should contain the following special characters, which cannot be used in directory or file names: <, >, :, ", \, /, |, ?, *. Using these characters in the application's name can prevent Electron from creating the default userData directory and cause the application to crash on startup.

app.setName(name)​

Overrides the current application's name.

On Windows, avoid the reserved filename characters in name.

note

This function overrides the name used internally by Electron; it does not affect the name that the OS uses.

app.setDesktopName(name) Linux​

Sets the .desktop filename on Linux. This must match the base filename of the app's installed .desktop file. The .desktop suffix is optional.

The name (without the .desktop suffix) is the app's identity for Linux desktop integration. It should be a reverse-DNS style ID such as com.example.MyApp, following the desktop entry naming conventions. This value is used as:

Portals increasingly enforce this identity. If the name is not a valid reverse-DNS ID or does not match an installed .desktop file:

If this value is not set and desktopName is not present in package.json, Electron falls back to a lowercased, hyphenated slug of the app's name (e.g. My App → my-app.desktop), which is unlikely to be a valid portal identity — packaged apps should always set it explicitly.

This API must be called before the ready event. The value can also be set using desktopName in package.json.

app.getLocale()​

Returns string - The current application locale, fetched using Chromium's l10n_util library. Possible return values are documented here.

To set the locale, you'll want to use a command line switch at app startup, which may be found here.

note

When distributing your packaged app, you have to also ship the locales folder.

note

This API must be called after the ready event is emitted.

note

To see example return values of this API compared to other locale and language APIs, see app.getPreferredSystemLanguages().

app.getLocaleCountryCode()​

Returns string - User operating system's locale two-letter ISO 3166 country code. The value is taken from native OS APIs.

note

When unable to detect locale country code, it returns empty string.

app.getSystemLocale()​

Returns string - The current system locale. On Windows and Linux, it is fetched using Chromium's i18n library. On macOS, [NSLocale currentLocale] is used instead. To get the user's current system language, which is not always the same as the locale, it is better to use app.getPreferredSystemLanguages().

Different operating systems also use the regional data differently:

Therefore, this API can be used for purposes such as choosing a format for rendering dates and times in a calendar app, especially when the developer wants the format to be consistent with the OS.

note

This API must be called after the ready event is emitted.

note

To see example return values of this API compared to other locale and language APIs, see app.getPreferredSystemLanguages().

app.getPreferredSystemLanguages()​

Returns string[] - The user's preferred system languages from most preferred to least preferred, including the country codes if applicable. A user can modify and add to this list on Windows or macOS through the Language and Region settings.

The API uses GlobalizationPreferences (with a fallback to GetSystemPreferredUILanguages) on Windows, \[NSLocale preferredLanguages\] on macOS, and g_get_language_names on Linux.

This API can be used for purposes such as deciding what language to present the application in.

Here are some examples of return values of the various language and locale APIs with different configurations:

On Windows, given application locale is German, the regional format is Finnish (Finland), and the preferred system languages from most to least preferred are French (Canada), English (US), Simplified Chinese (China), Finnish, and Spanish (Latin America):

app.getLocale() // 'de'
app.getSystemLocale() // 'fi-FI'
app.getPreferredSystemLanguages() // ['fr-CA', 'en-US', 'zh-Hans-CN', 'fi', 'es-419']

On macOS, given the application locale is German, the region is Finland, and the preferred system languages from most to least preferred are French (Canada), English (US), Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Latin America):

app.getLocale() // 'de'
app.getSystemLocale() // 'fr-FI'
app.getPreferredSystemLanguages() // ['fr-CA', 'en-US', 'zh-Hans-FI', 'es-419']

Both the available languages and regions and the possible return values differ between the two operating systems.

As can be seen with the example above, on Windows, it is possible that a preferred system language has no country code, and that one of the preferred system languages corresponds with the language used for the regional format. On macOS, the region serves more as a default country code: the user doesn't need to have Finnish as a preferred language to use Finland as the region, and the country code FI is used as the country code for preferred system languages that do not have associated countries in the language name.

app.addRecentDocument(path) macOS Windows​

Adds path to the recent documents list.

This list is managed by the OS. On Windows, you can visit the list from the task bar, and on macOS, you can visit it from dock menu.

app.clearRecentDocuments() macOS Windows​

Clears the recent documents list.

app.getRecentDocuments() macOS Windows​

Returns string[] - An array containing documents in the most recent documents list.

const { app } = require('electron')

const path = require('node:path')

const file = path.join(app.getPath('desktop'), 'foo.txt')
app.addRecentDocument(file)

const recents = app.getRecentDocuments()
console.log(recents) // ['/path/to/desktop/foo.txt'}

app.setAsDefaultProtocolClient(protocol[, path, args])​

Returns boolean - Whether the call succeeded.

Sets the current executable as the default handler for a protocol (aka URI scheme). It allows you to integrate your app deeper into the operating system. Once registered, all links with your-protocol:// will be opened with the current executable. The whole link, including protocol, will be passed to your application as a parameter.

note

On macOS, you can only register protocols that have been added to your app's info.plist, which cannot be modified at runtime. However, you can change the file during build time via Electron Forge, Electron Packager, or by editing info.plist with a text editor. Please refer to Apple's documentation for details.

note

In a Windows Store environment (when packaged as an appx) this API will return true for all calls but the registry key it sets won't be accessible by other applications. In order to register your Windows Store application as a default protocol handler you must declare the protocol in your manifest.

The API uses the Windows Registry and LSSetDefaultHandlerForURLScheme internally.

app.removeAsDefaultProtocolClient(protocol[, path, args]) macOS Windows​

Returns boolean - Whether the call succeeded.

This method checks if the current executable as the default handler for a protocol (aka URI scheme). If so, it will remove the app as the default handler.

app.isDefaultProtocolClient(protocol[, path, args])​

Returns boolean - Whether the current executable is the default handler for a protocol (aka URI scheme).

note

On macOS, you can use this method to check if the app has been registered as the default protocol handler for a protocol. You can also verify this by checking ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist on the macOS machine. Please refer to Apple's documentation for details.

The API uses the Windows Registry and LSCopyDefaultHandlerForURLScheme internally.

app.getApplicationNameForProtocol(url)​

Returns string - Name of the application handling the protocol, or an empty string if there is no handler. For instance, if Electron is the default handler of the URL, this could be Electron on Windows and Mac. However, don't rely on the precise format which is not guaranteed to remain unchanged. Expect a different format on Linux, possibly with a .desktop suffix.

This method returns the application name of the default handler for the protocol (aka URI scheme) of a URL.

app.getApplicationInfoForProtocol(url)​

Returns Promise<Object> - Resolve with an object containing the following:

This method returns a promise that contains the application name, icon and path of the default handler for the protocol (aka URI scheme) of a URL.

app.setUserTasks(tasks) Windows​

Adds tasks to the Tasks category of the Jump List on Windows.

tasks is an array of Task objects.

Returns boolean - Whether the call succeeded.

note

If you'd like to customize the Jump List even more use app.setJumpList(categories) instead.

app.getJumpListSettings() Windows​

Returns Object:

app.setJumpList(categories) Windows​

Returns string

Sets or removes a custom Jump List for the application, and returns one of the following strings:

If categories is null the previously set custom Jump List (if any) will be replaced by the standard Jump List for the app (managed by Windows).

note

If a JumpListCategory object has neither the type nor the name property set then its type is assumed to be tasks. If the name property is set but the type property is omitted then the type is assumed to be custom.

note

Users can remove items from custom categories, and Windows will not allow a removed item to be added back into a custom category until after the next successful call to app.setJumpList(categories). Any attempt to re-add a removed item to a custom category earlier than that will result in the entire custom category being omitted from the Jump List. The list of removed items can be obtained using app.getJumpListSettings().

note

The maximum length of a Jump List item's description property is 260 characters. Beyond this limit, the item will not be added to the Jump List, nor will it be displayed.

Here's a very simple example of creating a custom Jump List:

const { app } = require('electron')

app.setJumpList([
  {
    type: 'custom',
    name: 'Recent Projects',
    items: [
      { type: 'file', path: 'C:\\Projects\\project1.proj' },
      { type: 'file', path: 'C:\\Projects\\project2.proj' }
    ]
  },
  {
    // has a name so `type` is assumed to be "custom"
    name: 'Tools',
    items: [
      {
        type: 'task',
        title: 'Tool A',
        program: process.execPath,
        args: '--run-tool-a',
        iconPath: process.execPath,
        iconIndex: 0,
        description: 'Runs Tool A'
      },
      {
        type: 'task',
        title: 'Tool B',
        program: process.execPath,
        args: '--run-tool-b',
        iconPath: process.execPath,
        iconIndex: 0,
        description: 'Runs Tool B'
      }
    ]
  },
  { type: 'frequent' },
  {
    // has no name and no type so `type` is assumed to be "tasks"
    items: [
      {
        type: 'task',
        title: 'New Project',
        program: process.execPath,
        args: '--new-project',
        description: 'Create a new project.'
      },
      { type: 'separator' },
      {
        type: 'task',
        title: 'Recover Project',
        program: process.execPath,
        args: '--recover-project',
        description: 'Recover Project'
      }
    ]
  }
])

app.requestSingleInstanceLock([additionalData])​

Returns boolean

The return value of this method indicates whether or not this instance of your application successfully obtained the lock. If it failed to obtain the lock, you can assume that another instance of your application is already running with the lock and exit immediately.

I.e. This method returns true if your process is the primary instance of your application and your app should continue loading. It returns false if your process should immediately quit as it has sent its parameters to another instance that has already acquired the lock.

On macOS, the system enforces single instance automatically when users try to open a second instance of your app in Finder, and the open-file and open-url events will be emitted for that. However when users start your app in command line, the system's single instance mechanism will be bypassed, and you have to use this method to ensure single instance.

note

On macOS and Linux, the second instance's command line arguments and additionalData are sent to the primary instance in a single message that is limited to 32 MB. Larger messages are dropped: this method still returns false, but the primary instance does not emit second-instance.

An example of activating the window of primary instance when a second instance starts:

const { app, BrowserWindow } = require('electron')

let myWindow = null

const additionalData = { myKey: 'myValue' }
const gotTheLock = app.requestSingleInstanceLock(additionalData)

if (!gotTheLock) {
  app.quit()
} else {
  app.on('second-instance', (event, commandLine, workingDirectory, additionalData) => {
    // Print out data received from the second instance.
    console.log(additionalData)

    // Someone tried to run a second instance, we should focus our window.
    if (myWindow) {
      if (myWindow.isMinimized()) myWindow.restore()
      myWindow.focus()
    }
  })

  app.whenReady().then(() => {
    myWindow = new BrowserWindow({})
    myWindow.loadURL('https://electronjs.org')
  })
}

app.hasSingleInstanceLock()​

Returns boolean

This method returns whether or not this instance of your app is currently holding the single instance lock. You can request the lock with app.requestSingleInstanceLock() and release with app.releaseSingleInstanceLock()

app.releaseSingleInstanceLock()​

Releases all locks that were created by requestSingleInstanceLock. This will allow multiple instances of the application to once again run side by side.

app.setUserActivity(type, userInfo[, webpageURL]) macOS​

Creates an NSUserActivity and sets it as the current activity. The activity is eligible for Handoff to another device afterward.

app.getCurrentActivityType() macOS​

Returns string - The type of the currently running activity.

app.invalidateCurrentActivity() macOS​

Invalidates the current Handoff user activity.

app.resignCurrentActivity() macOS​

Marks the current Handoff user activity as inactive without invalidating it.

app.updateCurrentActivity(type, userInfo) macOS​

Updates the current activity if its type matches type, merging the entries from userInfo into its current userInfo dictionary.

app.setAppUserModelId(id) Windows​

Changes the Application User Model ID to id.

app.setToastActivatorCLSID(id) Windows​

Changes the Toast Activator CLSID to id. If one is not set via this method, it will be randomly generated for the app.

This method should be called early (before showing notifications) so the value is baked into the registration/shortcut. Supplying an empty string or an unparsable value throws and leaves the existing (or generated) CLSID unchanged. If this method is never called, a random CLSID is generated once per run and exposed via app.toastActivatorCLSID.

app.setActivationPolicy(policy) macOS​

Sets the activation policy for a given app.

Activation policy types:

app.startAppShimServer([options]) macOS Experimental​

Starts accepting connections from app shims. An app-shim-connected event is emitted for each shim that connects.

Throws if the server cannot be started, for example because another copy of your app has already started a server with the same name.

This method can only be called after the app is ready. It is not available in Mac App Store builds.

app.stopAppShimServer() macOS Experimental​

Stops accepting connections from app shims. Shims that have already connected stay connected.

app.importCertificate(options, callback) Linux​

Imports the certificate in pkcs12 format into the platform certificate store. callback is called with the result of import operation, a value of 0 indicates success while any other value indicates failure according to Chromium net_error_list.

app.configureHostResolver(options)​

Configures host resolution (DNS and DNS-over-HTTPS). By default, the following resolvers will be used, in order:

  1. DNS-over-HTTPS, if the DNS provider supports it, then
  2. the built-in resolver (enabled on macOS only by default), then
  3. the system's resolver (e.g. getaddrinfo).

This can be configured to either restrict usage of non-encrypted DNS (secureDnsMode: "secure"), or disable DNS-over-HTTPS (secureDnsMode: "off"). It is also possible to enable or disable the built-in resolver.

To disable insecure DNS, you can specify a secureDnsMode of "secure". If you do so, you should make sure to provide a list of DNS-over-HTTPS servers to use, in case the user's DNS configuration does not include a provider that supports DoH.

const { app } = require('electron')

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  app.configureHostResolver({
    secureDnsMode: 'secure',
    secureDnsServers: ['https://cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query']
  })
})

This API must be called after the ready event is emitted.

app.configureWebAuthn(options) macOS​

History
Version(s)Changes
>=45.0.0
API ADDED

Configures platform authenticators for the Web Authentication API (navigator.credentials.create() / navigator.credentials.get()). Until this is called, PublicKeyCredential.isUserVerifyingPlatformAuthenticatorAvailable() resolves to false and platform-authenticator requests are not serviced.

When touchID is provided, WebAuthn credentials are stored in the macOS keychain and bound to this device's Secure Enclave. Electron automatically generates and persists a per-session metadata secret so that credentials created in one partition are not visible to another.

When platformPasskeys is true, passkey operations use Apple's ASAuthorizationController which delegates to the system's configured Credential Provider Extensions. This enables the same passkey experience as Safari — credentials are available across all devices signed into the same account. Unlike Touch ID credentials, platform passkeys are stored by the credential provider and scoped to the relying party, not to Electron: they are shared across all session partitions and with any other app or browser associated with the same domain. Platform passkeys cannot serve cross-origin (iframe) requests; those requests are left to the other available authenticators (Touch ID supports iframes) and a warning is logged to the DevTools console. The prf and largeBlob WebAuthn extensions are not currently supported by this authenticator — prf inputs are ignored, and a create() call with largeBlob: { support: 'required' } fails.

const { app } = require('electron')

app.configureWebAuthn({
  touchID: {
    keychainAccessGroup: 'A1B2C3D4E5.com.example.app.webauthn',
    promptReason: 'sign in to $1'
  },
  platformPasskeys: true
})

With the matching entitlements in your app's entitlements.plist:

<key>keychain-access-groups</key>
<array>
  <string>A1B2C3D4E5.com.example.app.webauthn</string>
</array>

For platform passkeys, your app needs the Associated Domains entitlement plus an application identifier, both in the same entitlements.plist:

<key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key>
<array>
  <string>webcredentials:example.com</string>
</array>
<!-- Must match the App ID in your provisioning profile: <TEAM_ID>.<BUNDLE_ID>. -->
<key>com.apple.application-identifier</key>
<string>A1B2C3D4E5.com.example.app</string>

Listing these entitlements is not sufficient on its own — unlike most entitlements, com.apple.developer.associated-domains is provisioning-profile backed. For platform passkeys to work, all of the following must hold:

If these aren't satisfied, ASAuthorizationController fails before it can present the passkey sheet. The request surfaces to the page as a bare NotAllowedError with no further detail (Electron logs an explanatory message to the DevTools console on this path). Because the association is domain-based, platform passkeys always require a real associated domain and its AASA file — there is no localhost rpId escape hatch as there is in browsers.

To test against your domain with a development-signed build (before shipping a distribution profile), append ?mode=developer to the entitlement value and enable developer mode on the machine with swcutil developer-mode -e true. This makes macOS fetch the AASA directly from the domain — bypassing Apple's CDN cache — and honor the association for a development-signed app. You still need the embedded development provisioning profile described above:

<key>com.apple.developer.associated-domains</key>
<array>
  <string>webcredentials:example.com?mode=developer</string>
</array>
note

Because the request is fulfilled by the system credential provider (not a browser), the clientDataJSON returned to the page reports origin: "https://<rpId>" — the associated domain — rather than the page's own origin. Relying-party servers that enforce a strict expectedOrigin allowlist must include https://<rpId> for verification to succeed. This also means the relying party cannot distinguish which subdomain of the associated domain initiated the ceremony.

note

Touch ID WebAuthn credentials are device-bound and are not synced via iCloud Keychain. They are only available on Macs with a Secure Enclave (Apple silicon, or Intel Macs with a T2 chip).

app.disableHardwareAcceleration()​

Disables hardware acceleration for current app.

This method can only be called before app is ready.

app.isHardwareAccelerationEnabled()​

Returns boolean - whether hardware acceleration is currently enabled.

note

This information is only usable after the gpu-info-update event is emitted.

app.disableDomainBlockingFor3DAPIs()​

By default, Chromium disables 3D APIs (e.g. WebGL) until restart on a per domain basis if the GPU process crashes too frequently. This function disables that behavior.

This method can only be called before app is ready.

app.getAppMetrics()​

Returns ProcessMetric[]: Array of ProcessMetric objects that correspond to memory and CPU usage statistics of all the processes associated with the app.

note

cpu.percentCPUUsage and cpu.idleWakeupsPerSecond are averages over the time since the last call to app.getAppMetrics(), and each call starts a new measurement interval for every process at once. Other code in the main process, including dependencies, shares those intervals. See CPUUsage for more details.

app.getGPUFeatureStatus()​

Returns GPUFeatureStatus - The Graphics Feature Status from chrome://gpu/.

note

This information is only usable after the gpu-info-update event is emitted.

app.getGPUInfo(infoType)​

Returns Promise<unknown>

For infoType equal to complete: Promise is fulfilled with Object containing all the GPU Information as in chromium's GPUInfo object. This includes the version and driver information that's shown on chrome://gpu page.

For infoType equal to basic: Promise is fulfilled with Object containing fewer attributes than when requested with complete. Here's an example of basic response:

{
  auxAttributes: {
    amdSwitchable: true,
    canSupportThreadedTextureMailbox: false,
    directComposition: false,
    directRendering: true,
    glResetNotificationStrategy: 0,
    inProcessGpu: true,
    initializationTime: 0,
    jpegDecodeAcceleratorSupported: false,
    optimus: false,
    passthroughCmdDecoder: false,
    sandboxed: false,
    softwareRendering: false,
    supportsOverlays: false,
    videoDecodeAcceleratorFlags: 0
  },
  gpuDevice: [
    { active: true, deviceId: 26657, vendorId: 4098 },
    { active: false, deviceId: 3366, vendorId: 32902 }
  ],
  machineModelName: 'MacBookPro',
  machineModelVersion: '11.5'
}

Using basic should be preferred if only basic information like vendorId or deviceId is needed.

Promise is rejected if the GPU is completely disabled, i.e. no hardware and software implementations are available.

app.setBadgeCount([count]) Linux macOS​

Returns boolean - Whether the call succeeded.

Sets the counter badge for current app. Setting the count to 0 will hide the badge.

On macOS, it shows on the Dock icon. On Linux, it shows on docks and taskbars that support the LauncherEntry D-Bus API,

note

On Linux, the badge is associated with the app's .desktop file, so app.setDesktopName (or the desktopName field in package.json) must match the name of the app's actual .desktop file.

note

On macOS, you need to ensure that your application has the permission to display notifications for this method to work.

app.getBadgeCount() macOS​

Returns Integer - The current value displayed in the counter badge.

app.getLoginItemSettings([options]) macOS Windows​

History
Version(s)Changes
>=45.0.0

Removed openAsHidden, wasOpenedAsHidden and restoreState fields from return value.

If you provided path and args options to app.setLoginItemSettings, then you need to pass the same arguments here for openAtLogin to be set correctly.

Returns Object:

app.setLoginItemSettings(settings) macOS Windows​

History
Version(s)Changes
>=45.0.0

Removed openAsHidden option.

info

On macOS, your app should be code signed and notarized for login item settings to work reliably. When an app isn't packaged, code signed, and notarized, openAtLogin may silently fail to take effect.

Set the app's login item settings.

To work with Electron's autoUpdater on Windows, which uses Squirrel, you'll want to set the launch path to your executable's name but a directory up, which is a stub application automatically generated by Squirrel which will automatically launch the latest version.

const { app } = require('electron')

const path = require('node:path')

const appFolder = path.dirname(process.execPath)
const ourExeName = path.basename(process.execPath)
const stubLauncher = path.resolve(appFolder, '..', ourExeName)

app.setLoginItemSettings({
  openAtLogin: true,
  path: stubLauncher,
  args: [
    // You might want to pass a parameter here indicating that this
    // app was launched via login, but you don't have to
  ]
})

For more information about setting different services as login items on macOS, see SMAppService.

app.isAccessibilitySupportEnabled() macOS Windows​

Returns boolean - true if Chromium's accessibility support is enabled, false otherwise. This API will return true if the use of assistive technologies, such as screen readers, has been detected. See https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/accessibility for more details.

app.setAccessibilitySupportEnabled(enabled) macOS Windows​

Manually enables Chromium's accessibility support, allowing to expose accessibility switch to users in application settings. See Chromium's accessibility docs for more details. Disabled by default.

This API must be called after the ready event is emitted.

note

Rendering accessibility tree can significantly affect the performance of your app. It should not be enabled by default. Calling this method will enable the following accessibility support features: nativeAPIs, webContents, inlineTextBoxes, and extendedProperties.

app.getAccessibilitySupportFeatures() macOS Windows​

Returns string[] - Array of strings naming currently enabled accessibility support components. Possible values:

Notes:

Example:

const { app } = require('electron')

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  if (app.getAccessibilitySupportFeatures().includes('screenReader')) {
    // Change some app UI to better work with Screen Readers.
  }
})

app.setAccessibilitySupportFeatures(features) macOS Windows​

Possible values are:

To disable all supported features, pass an empty array [].

Example:

const { app } = require('electron')

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  // Enable a subset of features:
  app.setAccessibilitySupportFeatures(['screenReader', 'pdfPrinting', 'webContents'])

  // Other logic

  // Some time later, disable all features:
  app.setAccessibilitySupportFeatures([])
})

app.showAboutPanel()​

Show the app's about panel options. These options can be overridden with app.setAboutPanelOptions(options). This function runs asynchronously.

app.setAboutPanelOptions(options)​

Set the about panel options. This will override the values defined in the app's .plist file on macOS. See the Apple docs for more details. On Linux, values must be set in order to be shown; there are no defaults.

If you do not set credits but still wish to surface them in your app, AppKit will look for a file named "Credits.html", "Credits.rtf", and "Credits.rtfd", in that order, in the bundle returned by the NSBundle class method main. The first file found is used, and if none is found, the info area is left blank. See Apple documentation for more information.

app.isEmojiPanelSupported()​

Returns boolean - whether or not the current OS version allows for native emoji pickers.

app.showEmojiPanel() macOS Windows​

Show the platform's native emoji picker.

app.startAccessingSecurityScopedResource(bookmarkData) MAS​

Returns Function - This function must be called once you have finished accessing the security scoped file. If you do not remember to stop accessing the bookmark, kernel resources will be leaked and your app will lose its ability to reach outside the sandbox completely, until your app is restarted.

const { app, dialog } = require('electron')

const fs = require('node:fs')

let filepath
let bookmark

dialog.showOpenDialog(null, { securityScopedBookmarks: true }).then(({ filePaths, bookmarks }) => {
  filepath = filePaths[0]
  bookmark = bookmarks[0]
  fs.readFileSync(filepath)
})

// ... restart app ...

const stopAccessingSecurityScopedResource = app.startAccessingSecurityScopedResource(bookmark)
fs.readFileSync(filepath)
stopAccessingSecurityScopedResource()

Start accessing a security scoped resource. With this method, Electron applications that are packaged for the Mac App Store may reach outside their sandbox to access files chosen by the user. See Apple's documentation for a description of how this system works.

app.enableSandbox()​

Enables full sandbox mode on the app. This means that all renderers will be launched sandboxed, regardless of the value of the sandbox flag in WebPreferences.

This method can only be called before app is ready.

app.isInApplicationsFolder() macOS​

Returns boolean - Whether the application is currently running from the systems Application folder. Use in combination with app.moveToApplicationsFolder()

app.moveToApplicationsFolder([options]) macOS​

Returns boolean - Whether the move was successful. Please note that if the move is successful, your application will quit and relaunch.

No confirmation dialog will be presented by default. If you wish to allow the user to confirm the operation, you may do so using the dialog API.

NOTE: This method throws errors if anything other than the user causes the move to fail. For instance if the user cancels the authorization dialog, this method returns false. If we fail to perform the copy, then this method will throw an error. The message in the error should be informative and tell you exactly what went wrong.

By default, if an app of the same name as the one being moved exists in the Applications directory and is not running, the existing app will be trashed and the active app moved into its place. If it is running, the preexisting running app will assume focus and the previously active app will quit itself. This behavior can be changed by providing the optional conflict handler, where the boolean returned by the handler determines whether or not the move conflict is resolved with default behavior. i.e. returning false will ensure no further action is taken, returning true will result in the default behavior and the method continuing.

For example:

const { app, dialog } = require('electron')

app.moveToApplicationsFolder({
  conflictHandler: (conflictType) => {
    if (conflictType === 'exists') {
      return (
        dialog.showMessageBoxSync({
          type: 'question',
          buttons: ['Halt Move', 'Continue Move'],
          defaultId: 0,
          message: 'An app of this name already exists'
        }) === 1
      )
    }
  }
})

Would mean that if an app already exists in the user directory, if the user chooses to 'Continue Move' then the function would continue with its default behavior and the existing app will be trashed and the active app moved into its place.

app.isSecureKeyboardEntryEnabled() macOS​

Returns boolean - whether Secure Keyboard Entry is enabled.

By default this API will return false.

app.setSecureKeyboardEntryEnabled(enabled) macOS​

Set the Secure Keyboard Entry is enabled in your application.

By using this API, important information such as password and other sensitive information can be prevented from being intercepted by other processes.

See Apple's documentation for more details.

note

Enable Secure Keyboard Entry only when it is needed and disable it when it is no longer needed.

app.setProxy(config)​

Returns Promise<void> - Resolves when the proxy setting process is complete.

Sets the proxy settings for networks requests made without an associated Session. Currently this will affect requests made with Net in the utility process and internal requests made by the runtime (ex: geolocation queries).

This method can only be called after app is ready.

app.resolveProxy(url)​

Returns Promise<string> - Resolves with the proxy information for url that will be used when attempting to make requests using Net in the utility process.

app.setClientCertRequestPasswordHandler(handler) Linux​

The handler is called when a password is needed to unlock a client certificate for hostname.

const { app } = require('electron')

async function passwordPromptUI(text) {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    // display UI to prompt user for password
    // ...
    // ...
    resolve('the password')
  })
}

app.setClientCertRequestPasswordHandler(async ({ hostname, tokenName, isRetry }) => {
  const text = `Please sign in to ${tokenName} to authenticate to ${hostname} with your certificate`
  const password = await passwordPromptUI(text)
  return password
})

Properties​

app.accessibilitySupportEnabled macOS Windows​

A boolean property that's true if Chromium's accessibility support is enabled, false otherwise. This property will be true if the use of assistive technologies, such as screen readers, has been detected. Setting this property to true manually enables Chromium's accessibility support, allowing developers to expose accessibility switch to users in application settings.

See Chromium's accessibility docs for more details. Disabled by default.

This API must be called after the ready event is emitted.

note

Rendering accessibility tree can significantly affect the performance of your app. It should not be enabled by default.

app.applicationMenu​

A Menu | null property that returns Menu if one has been set and null otherwise. Users can pass a Menu to set this property.

app.badgeCount Linux macOS​

An Integer property that returns the badge count for current app. Setting the count to 0 will hide the badge. Setting this with any nonzero integer shows the count on the Dock icon on macOS, or on the launcher on Linux.

note

On macOS, you need to ensure that your application has the permission to display notifications for this property to take effect.

app.commandLine Readonly​

A CommandLine object that allows you to read and manipulate the command line arguments that Chromium uses.

app.dock macOS Readonly​

A Dock | undefined property (Dock on macOS, undefined on all other platforms) that allows you to perform actions on your app icon in the user's dock.

app.isPackaged Readonly​

A boolean property that returns true if the app is packaged, false otherwise. For many apps, this property can be used to distinguish development and production environments.

app.toastActivatorCLSID Windows Readonly​

A string property that returns the app's Toast Activator CLSID.

app.name​

A string property that indicates the current application's name, which is the name in the application's package.json file.

Usually the name field of package.json is a short lowercase name, according to the npm modules spec. You should usually also specify a productName field, which is your application's full capitalized name, and which will be preferred over name by Electron.

On Windows, the application's name must not contain reserved filename characters, because it is used to construct the default userData directory.

app.userAgentFallback​

A string which is the user agent string Electron will use as a global fallback.

This is the user agent that will be used when no user agent is set at the webContents or session level. It is useful for ensuring that your entire app has the same user agent. Set to a custom value as early as possible in your app's initialization to ensure that your overridden value is used.

app.runningUnderARM64Translation Readonly macOS Windows​

A boolean which when true indicates that the app is currently running under an ARM64 translator (like the macOS Rosetta Translator Environment or Windows WOW).

You can use this property to prompt users to download the arm64 version of your application when they are mistakenly running the x64 version under Rosetta or WOW.