Universal path to chrome.exe

Question

I am making an application and I want to make it installable on the user's desktops using chrome URL shortcut. Therefore, is there a universal path to the chrome.exe that can launch my app on all Windows versions ( XP, Seven and vista )

Answer 1

Chrome installs by default to the User's AppData Local folder:

XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome

Vista:

C:\Users\UserName\AppDataLocal\Google\Chrome

Windows 7:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Application

Win 7/8/10/11, (either):

- C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application
- C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application

Best bet is to use some OS detection code, then use an environment variable to detect the User's AppData folder (i.e. %LOCALAPPDATA%) or the ProgramFiles folder, and then append the difference in OS's to the end of the variable.

Answer 2

You can look in the Registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\chrome.exe

Answer 3

The registry option might be the best, but the one suggested in the other answer didn't exist in my computer (Windows 10 64-bit). I think the "Uninstall" key might be more robust. If it didn't exist, users would have a hard time uninstalling Chrome. The following keys give you the install location, you'll need to append "\chrome.exe" to get the full path to the executable:

Chrome:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Google Chrome\InstallLocation
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Google Chrome\InstallLocation

Chrome Canary:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Google Chrome SxS\InstallLocation

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Google Chrome SxS\InstallLocation

Answer 4

Win 7 32 bit:

c:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

Win 7 64 bit (or W10 64b):

c:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

(which is different from the preceding answers and comments).

Clay Nichols suggestion to look in the registry is of course recommended.

Please do not edit!

Someone "edited" this answer saying 32 bit paths are always (x86), showing a total misunderstanding of the question and the answer! The path c:\Program Files (x86)\ does not even exist on a 32 bit machine (unless you manually add it youself); both of the above are tested answers.

Answer 5

I had an .mht file that I would like to open in chrome, and found that just running:

chrome.exe "path-to-file.mht"

would work just fine! No need to find the path :)

Answer 6

For Windows users chrome.exe could have been be installed in several places based on the user's Window's edition (64 or 32-bit) and when the user installed Chrome it:

Current Locations

It'll most likely be in either:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application
  • For 32-bit Chrome
  • Or 64-bit edition if you *installed Chrome before 2020. See: Windows Chrome 64-bit prepared to install into Program Files
• C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application
  • for Chrome 64-bit edition *(the default install location since 2020)
• C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application
  • For 32 bit Chrome on Windows 32-bit (Program Files (x86) is used only on windows 64-bit to denote 32-bit applications)

*Much confusion is caused by the fact that Chrome has been 64 bit since 2014, but Google still used Program Files (x86) until 2020 as the install location. And if you installed Chrome before 2020 then it will continue to live in the Program Files (x86) directory:

Browsers installed under "C:\Program Files (x86)" remain in that
directory and will continue to be updated. They must be uninstalled
first to be reinstalled under "C:\Program Files".

Legacy Locations

Chrome used to install to the user folder for Vista and XP:

XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome

Vista:
C:\Users\UserName\AppDataLocal\Google\Chrome