Breaking Changes

Breaking changes will be documented here, and deprecation warnings added to JS code where possible, at least one major version before the change is made.

Types of Breaking Changes

This document uses the following convention to categorize breaking changes:

API Changed: An API was changed in such a way that code that has not been updated is guaranteed to throw an exception.
Behavior Changed: The behavior of Electron has changed, but not in such a way that an exception will necessarily be thrown.
Default Changed: Code depending on the old default may break, not necessarily throwing an exception. The old behavior can be restored by explicitly specifying the value.
Deprecated: An API was marked as deprecated. The API will continue to function, but will emit a deprecation warning, and will be removed in a future release.
Removed: An API or feature was removed, and is no longer supported by Electron.

Planned Breaking API Changes (15.0)

Default Changed: `nativeWindowOpen` defaults to `true`

Prior to Electron 15, window.open was by default shimmed to use BrowserWindowProxy. This meant that window.open('about:blank') did not work to open synchronously scriptable child windows, among other incompatibilities. nativeWindowOpen is no longer experimental, and is now the default.

See the documentation for window.open in Electron for more details.

Planned Breaking API Changes (14.0)

Removed: `remote` module

The remote module was deprecated in Electron 12, and will be removed in Electron 14. It is replaced by the @electron/remote module.

// Deprecated in Electron 12:
const{BrowserWindow}=require('electron').remote

// Replace with:
const{BrowserWindow}=require('@electron/remote')

// In the main process:
require('@electron/remote/main').initialize()

Removed: `app.allowRendererProcessReuse`

The app.allowRendererProcessReuse property will be removed as part of our plan to more closely align with Chromium's process model for security, performance and maintainability.

For more detailed information see #18397.

Removed: Browser Window Affinity

The affinity option when constructing a new BrowserWindow will be removed as part of our plan to more closely align with Chromium's process model for security, performance and maintainability.

For more detailed information see #18397.

API Changed: `window.open()`

The optional parameter frameName will no longer set the title of the window. This now follows the specification described by the native documentation under the corresponding parameter windowName.

If you were using this parameter to set the title of a window, you can instead use win.setTitle(title).

Removed: `worldSafeExecuteJavaScript`

In Electron 14, worldSafeExecuteJavaScript will be removed. There is no alternative, please ensure your code works with this property enabled. It has been enabled by default since Electron 12.

You will be affected by this change if you use either webFrame.executeJavaScript or webFrame.executeJavaScriptInIsolatedWorld. You will need to ensure that values returned by either of those methods are supported by the Context Bridge API as these methods use the same value passing semantics.

Removed: BrowserWindowConstructorOptions inheriting from parent windows

Prior to Electron 14, windows opened with window.open would inherit BrowserWindow constructor options such as transparent and resizable from their parent window. Beginning with Electron 14, this behavior is removed, and windows will not inherit any BrowserWindow constructor options from their parents.

Instead, explicitly set options for the new window with setWindowOpenHandler:

webContents.setWindowOpenHandler((details)=>{
return{
    action:'allow',
    overrideBrowserWindowOptions:{
// ...
}
}
})

Removed: `additionalFeatures`

The deprecated additionalFeatures property in the new-window and did-create-window events of WebContents has been removed. Since new-window uses positional arguments, the argument is still present, but will always be the empty array []. (Though note, the new-window event itself is deprecated, and is replaced by setWindowOpenHandler.) Bare keys in window features will now present as keys with the value true in the options object.

// Removed in Electron 14
// Triggered by window.open('...', '', 'my-key')
webContents.on('did-create-window',(window, details)=>{
if(details.additionalFeatures.includes('my-key')){
// ...
}
})

// Replace with
webContents.on('did-create-window',(window, details)=>{
if(details.options['my-key']){
// ...
}
})

Planned Breaking API Changes (13.0)

API Changed: `session.setPermissionCheckHandler(handler)`

The handler methods first parameter was previously always a webContents, it can now sometimes be null. You should use the requestingOrigin, embeddingOrigin and securityOrigin properties to respond to the permission check correctly. As the webContents can be null it can no longer be relied on.

// Old code
session.setPermissionCheckHandler((webContents, permission)=>{
if(webContents.getURL().startsWith('https://google.com/')&& permission ==='notification'){
returntrue
}
returnfalse
})

// Replace with
session.setPermissionCheckHandler((webContents, permission, requestingOrigin)=>{
if(newURL(requestingOrigin).hostname==='google.com'&& permission ==='notification'){
returntrue
}
returnfalse
})

Removed: `shell.moveItemToTrash()`

The deprecated synchronous shell.moveItemToTrash() API has been removed. Use the asynchronous shell.trashItem() instead.

// Removed in Electron 13
shell.moveItemToTrash(path)
// Replace with
shell.trashItem(path).then(/* ... */)

Removed: `BrowserWindow` extension APIs

The deprecated extension APIs have been removed:

BrowserWindow.addExtension(path)
BrowserWindow.addDevToolsExtension(path)
BrowserWindow.removeExtension(name)
BrowserWindow.removeDevToolsExtension(name)
BrowserWindow.getExtensions()
BrowserWindow.getDevToolsExtensions()

Use the session APIs instead:

ses.loadExtension(path)
ses.removeExtension(extension_id)
ses.getAllExtensions()

// Removed in Electron 13
BrowserWindow.addExtension(path)
BrowserWindow.addDevToolsExtension(path)
// Replace with
session.defaultSession.loadExtension(path)

// Removed in Electron 13
BrowserWindow.removeExtension(name)
BrowserWindow.removeDevToolsExtension(name)
// Replace with
session.defaultSession.removeExtension(extension_id)

// Removed in Electron 13
BrowserWindow.getExtensions()
BrowserWindow.getDevToolsExtensions()
// Replace with
session.defaultSession.getAllExtensions()

Removed: methods in `systemPreferences`

The following systemPreferences methods have been deprecated:

systemPreferences.isDarkMode()
systemPreferences.isInvertedColorScheme()
systemPreferences.isHighContrastColorScheme()

Use the following nativeTheme properties instead:

nativeTheme.shouldUseDarkColors
nativeTheme.shouldUseInvertedColorScheme
nativeTheme.shouldUseHighContrastColors

// Removed in Electron 13
systemPreferences.isDarkMode()
// Replace with
nativeTheme.shouldUseDarkColors

// Removed in Electron 13
systemPreferences.isInvertedColorScheme()
// Replace with
nativeTheme.shouldUseInvertedColorScheme

// Removed in Electron 13
systemPreferences.isHighContrastColorScheme()
// Replace with
nativeTheme.shouldUseHighContrastColors

Deprecated: WebContents `new-window` event

The new-window event of WebContents has been deprecated. It is replaced by webContents.setWindowOpenHandler().

// Deprecated in Electron 13
webContents.on('new-window',(event)=>{
  event.preventDefault()
})

// Replace with
webContents.setWindowOpenHandler((details)=>{
return{ action:'deny'}
})

Planned Breaking API Changes (12.0)

Removed: Pepper Flash support

Chromium has removed support for Flash, and so we must follow suit. See Chromium's Flash Roadmap for more details.

Default Changed: `worldSafeExecuteJavaScript` defaults to `true`

In Electron 12, worldSafeExecuteJavaScript will be enabled by default. To restore the previous behavior, worldSafeExecuteJavaScript: false must be specified in WebPreferences. Please note that setting this option to false is insecure.

This option will be removed in Electron 14 so please migrate your code to support the default value.

Default Changed: `contextIsolation` defaults to `true`

In Electron 12, contextIsolation will be enabled by default. To restore the previous behavior, contextIsolation: false must be specified in WebPreferences.

We recommend having contextIsolation enabled for the security of your application.

Another implication is that require() cannot be used in the renderer process unless nodeIntegration is true and contextIsolation is false.

For more details see: https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/23506

Removed: `crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()`

The crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory method has been removed. Usage should be replaced by app.getPath('crashDumps').

// Removed in Electron 12
crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()
// Replace with
app.getPath('crashDumps')

Removed: `crashReporter` methods in the renderer process

The following crashReporter methods are no longer available in the renderer process:

crashReporter.start
crashReporter.getLastCrashReport
crashReporter.getUploadedReports
crashReporter.getUploadToServer
crashReporter.setUploadToServer
crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory

They should be called only from the main process.

See #23265 for more details.

Default Changed: `crashReporter.start({ compress: true })`

The default value of the compress option to crashReporter.start has changed from false to true. This means that crash dumps will be uploaded to the crash ingestion server with the Content-Encoding: gzip header, and the body will be compressed.

If your crash ingestion server does not support compressed payloads, you can turn off compression by specifying { compress: false } in the crash reporter options.

Deprecated: `remote` module

The remote module is deprecated in Electron 12, and will be removed in Electron 14. It is replaced by the @electron/remote module.

// Deprecated in Electron 12:
const{BrowserWindow}=require('electron').remote

// Replace with:
const{BrowserWindow}=require('@electron/remote')

// In the main process:
require('@electron/remote/main').initialize()

Deprecated: `shell.moveItemToTrash()`

The synchronous shell.moveItemToTrash() has been replaced by the new, asynchronous shell.trashItem().

// Deprecated in Electron 12
shell.moveItemToTrash(path)
// Replace with
shell.trashItem(path).then(/* ... */)

Planned Breaking API Changes (11.0)

Removed: `BrowserView.{destroy, fromId, fromWebContents, getAllViews}` and `id` property of `BrowserView`

The experimental APIs BrowserView.{destroy, fromId, fromWebContents, getAllViews} have now been removed. Additionally, the id property of BrowserView has also been removed.

For more detailed information, see #23578.

Planned Breaking API Changes (10.0)

Deprecated: `companyName` argument to `crashReporter.start()`

The companyName argument to crashReporter.start(), which was previously required, is now optional, and further, is deprecated. To get the same behavior in a non-deprecated way, you can pass a companyName value in globalExtra.

// Deprecated in Electron 10
crashReporter.start({ companyName:'Umbrella Corporation'})
// Replace with
crashReporter.start({ globalExtra:{ _companyName:'Umbrella Corporation'}})

Deprecated: `crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()`

The crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory method has been deprecated. Usage should be replaced by app.getPath('crashDumps').

// Deprecated in Electron 10
crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()
// Replace with
app.getPath('crashDumps')

Deprecated: `crashReporter` methods in the renderer process

Calling the following crashReporter methods from the renderer process is deprecated:

crashReporter.start
crashReporter.getLastCrashReport
crashReporter.getUploadedReports
crashReporter.getUploadToServer
crashReporter.setUploadToServer
crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory

The only non-deprecated methods remaining in the crashReporter module in the renderer are addExtraParameter, removeExtraParameter and getParameters.

All above methods remain non-deprecated when called from the main process.

See #23265 for more details.

Deprecated: `crashReporter.start({ compress: false })`

Setting { compress: false } in crashReporter.start is deprecated. Nearly all crash ingestion servers support gzip compression. This option will be removed in a future version of Electron.

Default Changed: `enableRemoteModule` defaults to `false`

In Electron 9, using the remote module without explicitly enabling it via the enableRemoteModule WebPreferences option began emitting a warning. In Electron 10, the remote module is now disabled by default. To use the remote module, enableRemoteModule: true must be specified in WebPreferences:

const w =newBrowserWindow({
  webPreferences:{
    enableRemoteModule:true
}
})

We recommend moving away from the remote module.

`protocol.unregisterProtocol`

`protocol.uninterceptProtocol`

The APIs are now synchronous and the optional callback is no longer needed.

// Deprecated
protocol.unregisterProtocol(scheme,()=>{/* ... */})
// Replace with
protocol.unregisterProtocol(scheme)

`protocol.registerFileProtocol`

`protocol.registerBufferProtocol`

`protocol.registerStringProtocol`

`protocol.registerHttpProtocol`

`protocol.registerStreamProtocol`

`protocol.interceptFileProtocol`

`protocol.interceptStringProtocol`

`protocol.interceptBufferProtocol`

`protocol.interceptHttpProtocol`

`protocol.interceptStreamProtocol`

The APIs are now synchronous and the optional callback is no longer needed.

// Deprecated
protocol.registerFileProtocol(scheme, handler,()=>{/* ... */})
// Replace with
protocol.registerFileProtocol(scheme, handler)

The registered or intercepted protocol does not have effect on current page until navigation happens.

`protocol.isProtocolHandled`

This API is deprecated and users should use protocol.isProtocolRegistered and protocol.isProtocolIntercepted instead.

// Deprecated
protocol.isProtocolHandled(scheme).then(()=>{/* ... */})
// Replace with
const isRegistered = protocol.isProtocolRegistered(scheme)
const isIntercepted = protocol.isProtocolIntercepted(scheme)

Planned Breaking API Changes (9.0)

Default Changed: Loading non-context-aware native modules in the renderer process is disabled by default

As of Electron 9 we do not allow loading of non-context-aware native modules in the renderer process. This is to improve security, performance and maintainability of Electron as a project.

If this impacts you, you can temporarily set app.allowRendererProcessReuse to false to revert to the old behavior. This flag will only be an option until Electron 11 so you should plan to update your native modules to be context aware.

For more detailed information see #18397.

Deprecated: `BrowserWindow` extension APIs

The following extension APIs have been deprecated:

BrowserWindow.addExtension(path)
BrowserWindow.addDevToolsExtension(path)
BrowserWindow.removeExtension(name)
BrowserWindow.removeDevToolsExtension(name)
BrowserWindow.getExtensions()
BrowserWindow.getDevToolsExtensions()

Use the session APIs instead:

ses.loadExtension(path)
ses.removeExtension(extension_id)
ses.getAllExtensions()

// Deprecated in Electron 9
BrowserWindow.addExtension(path)
BrowserWindow.addDevToolsExtension(path)
// Replace with
session.defaultSession.loadExtension(path)

// Deprecated in Electron 9
BrowserWindow.removeExtension(name)
BrowserWindow.removeDevToolsExtension(name)
// Replace with
session.defaultSession.removeExtension(extension_id)

// Deprecated in Electron 9
BrowserWindow.getExtensions()
BrowserWindow.getDevToolsExtensions()
// Replace with
session.defaultSession.getAllExtensions()

Removed: `<webview>.getWebContents()`

This API, which was deprecated in Electron 8.0, is now removed.

// Removed in Electron 9.0
webview.getWebContents()
// Replace with
const{ remote }=require('electron')
remote.webContents.fromId(webview.getWebContentsId())

Removed: `webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits()`

Chromium has removed support for changing the layout zoom level limits, and it is beyond Electron's capacity to maintain it. The function was deprecated in Electron 8.x, and has been removed in Electron 9.x. The layout zoom level limits are now fixed at a minimum of 0.25 and a maximum of 5.0, as defined here.

Behavior Changed: Sending non-JS objects over IPC now throws an exception

In Electron 8.0, IPC was changed to use the Structured Clone Algorithm, bringing significant performance improvements. To help ease the transition, the old IPC serialization algorithm was kept and used for some objects that aren't serializable with Structured Clone. In particular, DOM objects (e.g. Element, Location and DOMMatrix), Node.js objects backed by C++ classes (e.g. process.env, some members of Stream), and Electron objects backed by C++ classes (e.g. WebContents, BrowserWindow and WebFrame) are not serializable with Structured Clone. Whenever the old algorithm was invoked, a deprecation warning was printed.

In Electron 9.0, the old serialization algorithm has been removed, and sending such non-serializable objects will now throw an "object could not be cloned" error.

API Changed: `shell.openItem` is now `shell.openPath`

The shell.openItem API has been replaced with an asynchronous shell.openPath API. You can see the original API proposal and reasoning here.

Planned Breaking API Changes (8.0)

Behavior Changed: Values sent over IPC are now serialized with Structured Clone Algorithm

The algorithm used to serialize objects sent over IPC (through ipcRenderer.send, ipcRenderer.sendSync, WebContents.send and related methods) has been switched from a custom algorithm to V8's built-in Structured Clone Algorithm, the same algorithm used to serialize messages for postMessage. This brings about a 2x performance improvement for large messages, but also brings some breaking changes in behavior.

Sending Functions, Promises, WeakMaps, WeakSets, or objects containing any such values, over IPC will now throw an exception, instead of silently converting the functions to undefined.

// Previously:
ipcRenderer.send('channel',{ value:3,someFunction:()=>{}})
// => results in { value: 3 } arriving in the main process

// From Electron 8:
ipcRenderer.send('channel',{ value:3,someFunction:()=>{}})
// => throws Error("() => {} could not be cloned.")

NaN, Infinity and -Infinity will now be correctly serialized, instead of being converted to null.
Objects containing cyclic references will now be correctly serialized, instead of being converted to null.
Set, Map, Error and RegExp values will be correctly serialized, instead of being converted to {}.
BigInt values will be correctly serialized, instead of being converted to null.
Sparse arrays will be serialized as such, instead of being converted to dense arrays with nulls.
Date objects will be transferred as Date objects, instead of being converted to their ISO string representation.
Typed Arrays (such as Uint8Array, Uint16Array, Uint32Array and so on) will be transferred as such, instead of being converted to Node.js Buffer.
Node.js Buffer objects will be transferred as Uint8Arrays. You can convert a Uint8Array back to a Node.js Buffer by wrapping the underlying ArrayBuffer:

Buffer.from(value.buffer, value.byteOffset, value.byteLength)

Sending any objects that aren't native JS types, such as DOM objects (e.g. Element, Location, DOMMatrix), Node.js objects (e.g. process.env, Stream), or Electron objects (e.g. WebContents, BrowserWindow, WebFrame) is deprecated. In Electron 8, these objects will be serialized as before with a DeprecationWarning message, but starting in Electron 9, sending these kinds of objects will throw a 'could not be cloned' error.

Deprecated: `<webview>.getWebContents()`

This API is implemented using the remote module, which has both performance and security implications. Therefore its usage should be explicit.

// Deprecated
webview.getWebContents()
// Replace with
const{ remote }=require('electron')
remote.webContents.fromId(webview.getWebContentsId())

However, it is recommended to avoid using the remote module altogether.

// main
const{ ipcMain, webContents }=require('electron')

constgetGuestForWebContents=(webContentsId, contents)=>{
const guest = webContents.fromId(webContentsId)
if(!guest){
thrownewError(`Invalid webContentsId: ${webContentsId}`)
}
if(guest.hostWebContents!== contents){
thrownewError('Access denied to webContents')
}
return guest
}

ipcMain.handle('openDevTools',(event, webContentsId)=>{
const guest =getGuestForWebContents(webContentsId, event.sender)
  guest.openDevTools()
})

// renderer
const{ ipcRenderer }=require('electron')

ipcRenderer.invoke('openDevTools', webview.getWebContentsId())

Deprecated: `webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits()`

Chromium has removed support for changing the layout zoom level limits, and it is beyond Electron's capacity to maintain it. The function will emit a warning in Electron 8.x, and cease to exist in Electron 9.x. The layout zoom level limits are now fixed at a minimum of 0.25 and a maximum of 5.0, as defined here.

Deprecated events in `systemPreferences`

The following systemPreferences events have been deprecated:

inverted-color-scheme-changed
high-contrast-color-scheme-changed

Use the new updated event on the nativeTheme module instead.

// Deprecated
systemPreferences.on('inverted-color-scheme-changed',()=>{/* ... */})
systemPreferences.on('high-contrast-color-scheme-changed',()=>{/* ... */})

// Replace with
nativeTheme.on('updated',()=>{/* ... */})

Deprecated: methods in `systemPreferences`

The following systemPreferences methods have been deprecated:

systemPreferences.isDarkMode()
systemPreferences.isInvertedColorScheme()
systemPreferences.isHighContrastColorScheme()

Use the following nativeTheme properties instead:

nativeTheme.shouldUseDarkColors
nativeTheme.shouldUseInvertedColorScheme
nativeTheme.shouldUseHighContrastColors

// Deprecated
systemPreferences.isDarkMode()
// Replace with
nativeTheme.shouldUseDarkColors

// Deprecated
systemPreferences.isInvertedColorScheme()
// Replace with
nativeTheme.shouldUseInvertedColorScheme

// Deprecated
systemPreferences.isHighContrastColorScheme()
// Replace with
nativeTheme.shouldUseHighContrastColors

Planned Breaking API Changes (7.0)

Deprecated: Atom.io Node Headers URL

This is the URL specified as disturl in a .npmrc file or as the --dist-url command line flag when building native Node modules. Both will be supported for the foreseeable future but it is recommended that you switch.

Deprecated: https://atom.io/download/electron

Replace with: https://electronjs.org/headers

API Changed: `session.clearAuthCache()` no longer accepts options

The session.clearAuthCache API no longer accepts options for what to clear, and instead unconditionally clears the whole cache.

// Deprecated
session.clearAuthCache({ type:'password'})
// Replace with
session.clearAuthCache()

API Changed: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState` is now `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState`

// Removed in Electron 7.0
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState(threshold, callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleState = powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState(threshold)

API Changed: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime` is now `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime`

// Removed in Electron 7.0
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime(callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleTime = powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime()

API Changed: `webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo` replaces separate methods

// Removed in Electron 7.0
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldContentSecurityPolicy(worldId, csp)
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldHumanReadableName(worldId, name)
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldSecurityOrigin(worldId, securityOrigin)
// Replace with
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo(
  worldId,
{
    securityOrigin:'some_origin',
    name:'human_readable_name',
    csp:'content_security_policy'
})

Removed: `marked` property on `getBlinkMemoryInfo`

This property was removed in Chromium 77, and as such is no longer available.

Behavior Changed: `webkitdirectory` attribute for `<input type="file"/>` now lists directory contents

The webkitdirectory property on HTML file inputs allows them to select folders. Previous versions of Electron had an incorrect implementation where the event.target.files of the input returned a FileList that returned one File corresponding to the selected folder.

As of Electron 7, that FileList is now list of all files contained within the folder, similarly to Chrome, Firefox, and Edge (link to MDN docs).

As an illustration, take a folder with this structure:

folder
├── file1
├── file2
└── file3

In Electron <=6, this would return a FileList with a File object for:

path/to/folder

In Electron 7, this now returns a FileList with a File object for:

/path/to/folder/file3
/path/to/folder/file2
/path/to/folder/file1

Note that webkitdirectory no longer exposes the path to the selected folder. If you require the path to the selected folder rather than the folder contents, see the dialog.showOpenDialog API (link).

API Changed: Callback-based versions of promisified APIs

Electron 5 and Electron 6 introduced Promise-based versions of existing asynchronous APIs and deprecated their older, callback-based counterparts. In Electron 7, all deprecated callback-based APIs are now removed.

These functions now only return Promises:

app.getFileIcon() #15742
app.dock.show() #16904
contentTracing.getCategories() #16583
contentTracing.getTraceBufferUsage() #16600
contentTracing.startRecording() #16584
contentTracing.stopRecording() #16584
contents.executeJavaScript() #17312
cookies.flushStore() #16464
cookies.get() #16464
cookies.remove() #16464
cookies.set() #16464
debugger.sendCommand() #16861
dialog.showCertificateTrustDialog() #17181
inAppPurchase.getProducts() #17355
inAppPurchase.purchaseProduct()#17355
netLog.stopLogging() #16862
session.clearAuthCache() #17259
session.clearCache() #17185
session.clearHostResolverCache() #17229
session.clearStorageData() #17249
session.getBlobData() #17303
session.getCacheSize() #17185
session.resolveProxy() #17222
session.setProxy() #17222
shell.openExternal() #16176
webContents.loadFile() #15855
webContents.loadURL() #15855
webContents.hasServiceWorker() #16535
webContents.printToPDF() #16795
webContents.savePage() #16742
webFrame.executeJavaScript() #17312
webFrame.executeJavaScriptInIsolatedWorld() #17312
webviewTag.executeJavaScript() #17312
win.capturePage() #15743

These functions now have two forms, synchronous and Promise-based asynchronous:

dialog.showMessageBox()/dialog.showMessageBoxSync() #17298
dialog.showOpenDialog()/dialog.showOpenDialogSync() #16973
dialog.showSaveDialog()/dialog.showSaveDialogSync() #17054

Planned Breaking API Changes (6.0)

API Changed: `win.setMenu(null)` is now `win.removeMenu()`

// Deprecated
win.setMenu(null)
// Replace with
win.removeMenu()

API Changed: `electron.screen` in the renderer process should be accessed via `remote`

// Deprecated
require('electron').screen
// Replace with
require('electron').remote.screen

API Changed: `require()`ing node builtins in sandboxed renderers no longer implicitly loads the `remote` version

// Deprecated
require('child_process')
// Replace with
require('electron').remote.require('child_process')

// Deprecated
require('fs')
// Replace with
require('electron').remote.require('fs')

// Deprecated
require('os')
// Replace with
require('electron').remote.require('os')

// Deprecated
require('path')
// Replace with
require('electron').remote.require('path')

Deprecated: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState` replaced with `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState`

// Deprecated
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState(threshold, callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleState = powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState(threshold)

Deprecated: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime` replaced with `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime`

// Deprecated
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime(callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleTime = powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime()

Deprecated: `app.enableMixedSandbox()` is no longer needed

// Deprecated
app.enableMixedSandbox()

Mixed-sandbox mode is now enabled by default.

Deprecated: `Tray.setHighlightMode`

Under macOS Catalina our former Tray implementation breaks. Apple's native substitute doesn't support changing the highlighting behavior.

// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(mode)
// API will be removed in v7.0 without replacement.

Planned Breaking API Changes (5.0)

Default Changed: `nodeIntegration` and `webviewTag` default to false, `contextIsolation` defaults to true

The following webPreferences option default values are deprecated in favor of the new defaults listed below.

Property	Deprecated Default	New Default
`contextIsolation`	`false`	`true`
`nodeIntegration`	`true`	`false`
`webviewTag`	`nodeIntegration` if set else `true`	`false`

E.g. Re-enabling the webviewTag

const w =newBrowserWindow({
  webPreferences:{
    webviewTag:true
}
})

Behavior Changed: `nodeIntegration` in child windows opened via `nativeWindowOpen`

Child windows opened with the nativeWindowOpen option will always have Node.js integration disabled, unless nodeIntegrationInSubFrames is true.

API Changed: Registering privileged schemes must now be done before app ready

Renderer process APIs webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsPrivileged and webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsBypassingCSP as well as browser process API protocol.registerStandardSchemes have been removed. A new API, protocol.registerSchemesAsPrivileged has been added and should be used for registering custom schemes with the required privileges. Custom schemes are required to be registered before app ready.

Deprecated: `webFrame.setIsolatedWorld*` replaced with `webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo`

// Deprecated
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldContentSecurityPolicy(worldId, csp)
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldHumanReadableName(worldId, name)
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldSecurityOrigin(worldId, securityOrigin)
// Replace with
webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo(
  worldId,
{
    securityOrigin:'some_origin',
    name:'human_readable_name',
    csp:'content_security_policy'
})

API Changed: `webFrame.setSpellCheckProvider` now takes an asynchronous callback

The spellCheck callback is now asynchronous, and autoCorrectWord parameter has been removed.

// Deprecated
webFrame.setSpellCheckProvider('en-US',true,{
spellCheck:(text)=>{
return!spellchecker.isMisspelled(text)
}
})
// Replace with
webFrame.setSpellCheckProvider('en-US',{
spellCheck:(words, callback)=>{
callback(words.filter(text=> spellchecker.isMisspelled(text)))
}
})

API Changed: `webContents.getZoomLevel` and `webContents.getZoomFactor` are now synchronous

webContents.getZoomLevel and webContents.getZoomFactor no longer take callback parameters, instead directly returning their number values.

// Deprecated
webContents.getZoomLevel((level)=>{
console.log(level)
})
// Replace with
const level = webContents.getZoomLevel()
console.log(level)

// Deprecated
webContents.getZoomFactor((factor)=>{
console.log(factor)
})
// Replace with
const factor = webContents.getZoomFactor()
console.log(factor)

Planned Breaking API Changes (4.0)

The following list includes the breaking API changes made in Electron 4.0.

`app.makeSingleInstance`

// Deprecated
app.makeSingleInstance((argv, cwd)=>{
/* ... */
})
// Replace with
app.requestSingleInstanceLock()
app.on('second-instance',(event, argv, cwd)=>{
/* ... */
})

`app.releaseSingleInstance`

// Deprecated
app.releaseSingleInstance()
// Replace with
app.releaseSingleInstanceLock()

`app.getGPUInfo`

app.getGPUInfo('complete')
// Now behaves the same with `basic` on macOS
app.getGPUInfo('basic')

`win_delay_load_hook`

When building native modules for windows, the win_delay_load_hook variable in the module's binding.gyp must be true (which is the default). If this hook is not present, then the native module will fail to load on Windows, with an error message like Cannot find module. See the native module guide for more.

Breaking API Changes (3.0)

The following list includes the breaking API changes in Electron 3.0.

`app`

// Deprecated
app.getAppMemoryInfo()
// Replace with
app.getAppMetrics()

// Deprecated
const metrics = app.getAppMetrics()
const{ memory }= metrics[0]// Deprecated property

`BrowserWindow`

// Deprecated
const optionsA ={ webPreferences:{ blinkFeatures:''}}
const windowA =newBrowserWindow(optionsA)
// Replace with
const optionsB ={ webPreferences:{ enableBlinkFeatures:''}}
const windowB =newBrowserWindow(optionsB)

// Deprecated
window.on('app-command',(e, cmd)=>{
if(cmd ==='media-play_pause'){
// do something
}
})
// Replace with
window.on('app-command',(e, cmd)=>{
if(cmd ==='media-play-pause'){
// do something
}
})

`clipboard`

// Deprecated
clipboard.readRtf()
// Replace with
clipboard.readRTF()

// Deprecated
clipboard.writeRtf()
// Replace with
clipboard.writeRTF()

// Deprecated
clipboard.readHtml()
// Replace with
clipboard.readHTML()

// Deprecated
clipboard.writeHtml()
// Replace with
clipboard.writeHTML()

`crashReporter`

// Deprecated
crashReporter.start({
  companyName:'Crashly',
  submitURL:'https://crash.server.com',
  autoSubmit:true
})
// Replace with
crashReporter.start({
  companyName:'Crashly',
  submitURL:'https://crash.server.com',
  uploadToServer:true
})

`nativeImage`

// Deprecated
nativeImage.createFromBuffer(buffer,1.0)
// Replace with
nativeImage.createFromBuffer(buffer,{
  scaleFactor:1.0
})

`process`

// Deprecated
const info = process.getProcessMemoryInfo()

`screen`

// Deprecated
screen.getMenuBarHeight()
// Replace with
screen.getPrimaryDisplay().workArea

`session`

// Deprecated
ses.setCertificateVerifyProc((hostname, certificate, callback)=>{
callback(true)
})
// Replace with
ses.setCertificateVerifyProc((request, callback)=>{
callback(0)
})

`Tray`

// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(true)
// Replace with
tray.setHighlightMode('on')

// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(false)
// Replace with
tray.setHighlightMode('off')

`webContents`

// Deprecated
webContents.openDevTools({ detach:true})
// Replace with
webContents.openDevTools({ mode:'detach'})

// Removed
webContents.setSize(options)
// There is no replacement for this API

`webFrame`

// Deprecated
webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsSecure('app')
// Replace with
protocol.registerStandardSchemes(['app'],{ secure:true})

// Deprecated
webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsPrivileged('app',{ secure:true})
// Replace with
protocol.registerStandardSchemes(['app'],{ secure:true})

`<webview>`

// Removed
webview.setAttribute('disableguestresize','')
// There is no replacement for this API

// Removed
webview.setAttribute('guestinstance', instanceId)
// There is no replacement for this API

// Keyboard listeners no longer work on webview tag
webview.onkeydown=()=>{/* handler */}
webview.onkeyup=()=>{/* handler */}

Node Headers URL

This is the URL specified as disturl in a .npmrc file or as the --dist-url command line flag when building native Node modules.

Deprecated: https://atom.io/download/atom-shell

Replace with: https://atom.io/download/electron

Breaking API Changes (2.0)

The following list includes the breaking API changes made in Electron 2.0.

`BrowserWindow`

// Deprecated
const optionsA ={ titleBarStyle:'hidden-inset'}
const windowA =newBrowserWindow(optionsA)
// Replace with
const optionsB ={ titleBarStyle:'hiddenInset'}
const windowB =newBrowserWindow(optionsB)

`menu`

// Removed
menu.popup(browserWindow,100,200,2)
// Replaced with
menu.popup(browserWindow,{ x:100, y:200, positioningItem:2})

`nativeImage`

// Removed
nativeImage.toPng()
// Replaced with
nativeImage.toPNG()

// Removed
nativeImage.toJpeg()
// Replaced with
nativeImage.toJPEG()

`process`

process.versions.electron and process.version.chrome will be made read-only properties for consistency with the other process.versions properties set by Node.

`webContents`

// Removed
webContents.setZoomLevelLimits(1,2)
// Replaced with
webContents.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1,2)

`webFrame`

// Removed
webFrame.setZoomLevelLimits(1,2)
// Replaced with
webFrame.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1,2)

`<webview>`

// Removed
webview.setZoomLevelLimits(1,2)
// Replaced with
webview.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1,2)

Duplicate ARM Assets

Each Electron release includes two identical ARM builds with slightly different filenames, like electron-v1.7.3-linux-arm.zip and electron-v1.7.3-linux-armv7l.zip. The asset with the v7l prefix was added to clarify to users which ARM version it supports, and to disambiguate it from future armv6l and arm64 assets that may be produced.

The file without the prefix is still being published to avoid breaking any setups that may be consuming it. Starting at 2.0, the unprefixed file will no longer be published.

For details, see 6986 and 7189.

Breaking Changes

Types of Breaking Changes​

Planned Breaking API Changes (15.0)​

Default Changed: nativeWindowOpen defaults to true​

Planned Breaking API Changes (14.0)​

Removed: remote module​

Removed: app.allowRendererProcessReuse​

Removed: Browser Window Affinity​

API Changed: window.open()​

Removed: worldSafeExecuteJavaScript​

Removed: BrowserWindowConstructorOptions inheriting from parent windows​

Removed: additionalFeatures​

Planned Breaking API Changes (13.0)​

API Changed: session.setPermissionCheckHandler(handler)​

Removed: shell.moveItemToTrash()​

Removed: BrowserWindow extension APIs​

Removed: methods in systemPreferences​

Deprecated: WebContents new-window event​

Planned Breaking API Changes (12.0)​

Removed: Pepper Flash support​

Default Changed: worldSafeExecuteJavaScript defaults to true​

Default Changed: contextIsolation defaults to true​

Removed: crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()​

Removed: crashReporter methods in the renderer process​

Default Changed: crashReporter.start({ compress: true })​

Deprecated: remote module​

Deprecated: shell.moveItemToTrash()​

Planned Breaking API Changes (11.0)​

Removed: BrowserView.{destroy, fromId, fromWebContents, getAllViews} and id property of BrowserView​

Planned Breaking API Changes (10.0)​

Deprecated: companyName argument to crashReporter.start()​

Deprecated: crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()​

Deprecated: crashReporter methods in the renderer process​

Deprecated: crashReporter.start({ compress: false })​

Default Changed: enableRemoteModule defaults to false​

protocol.unregisterProtocol​

protocol.uninterceptProtocol​

protocol.registerFileProtocol​

protocol.registerBufferProtocol​

protocol.registerStringProtocol​

protocol.registerHttpProtocol​

protocol.registerStreamProtocol​

protocol.interceptFileProtocol​

protocol.interceptStringProtocol​

protocol.interceptBufferProtocol​

protocol.interceptHttpProtocol​

protocol.interceptStreamProtocol​

protocol.isProtocolHandled​

Planned Breaking API Changes (9.0)​

Default Changed: Loading non-context-aware native modules in the renderer process is disabled by default​

Deprecated: BrowserWindow extension APIs​

Removed: <webview>.getWebContents()​

Removed: webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits()​

Behavior Changed: Sending non-JS objects over IPC now throws an exception​

API Changed: shell.openItem is now shell.openPath​

Planned Breaking API Changes (8.0)​

Behavior Changed: Values sent over IPC are now serialized with Structured Clone Algorithm​

Deprecated: <webview>.getWebContents()​

Deprecated: webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits()​

Deprecated events in systemPreferences​

Deprecated: methods in systemPreferences​

Planned Breaking API Changes (7.0)​

Deprecated: Atom.io Node Headers URL​

API Changed: session.clearAuthCache() no longer accepts options​

API Changed: powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState is now powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState​

API Changed: powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime is now powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime​

API Changed: webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo replaces separate methods​

Removed: marked property on getBlinkMemoryInfo​

Behavior Changed: webkitdirectory attribute for <input type="file"/> now lists directory contents​

API Changed: Callback-based versions of promisified APIs​

Planned Breaking API Changes (6.0)​

API Changed: win.setMenu(null) is now win.removeMenu()​

API Changed: electron.screen in the renderer process should be accessed via remote​

API Changed: require()ing node builtins in sandboxed renderers no longer implicitly loads the remote version​

Deprecated: powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState replaced with powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState​

Deprecated: powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime replaced with powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime​

Deprecated: app.enableMixedSandbox() is no longer needed​

Deprecated: Tray.setHighlightMode​

Planned Breaking API Changes (5.0)​

Default Changed: nodeIntegration and webviewTag default to false, contextIsolation defaults to true​

Types of Breaking Changes

Planned Breaking API Changes (15.0)

Default Changed: `nativeWindowOpen` defaults to `true`

Planned Breaking API Changes (14.0)

Removed: `remote` module

Removed: `app.allowRendererProcessReuse`

Removed: Browser Window Affinity

API Changed: `window.open()`

Removed: `worldSafeExecuteJavaScript`

Removed: BrowserWindowConstructorOptions inheriting from parent windows

Removed: `additionalFeatures`

Planned Breaking API Changes (13.0)

API Changed: `session.setPermissionCheckHandler(handler)`

Removed: `shell.moveItemToTrash()`

Removed: `BrowserWindow` extension APIs

Removed: methods in `systemPreferences`

Deprecated: WebContents `new-window` event

Planned Breaking API Changes (12.0)

Removed: Pepper Flash support

Default Changed: `worldSafeExecuteJavaScript` defaults to `true`

Default Changed: `contextIsolation` defaults to `true`

Removed: `crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()`

Removed: `crashReporter` methods in the renderer process

Default Changed: `crashReporter.start({ compress: true })`

Deprecated: `remote` module

Deprecated: `shell.moveItemToTrash()`

Planned Breaking API Changes (11.0)

Removed: `BrowserView.{destroy, fromId, fromWebContents, getAllViews}` and `id` property of `BrowserView`

Planned Breaking API Changes (10.0)

Deprecated: `companyName` argument to `crashReporter.start()`

Deprecated: `crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory()`

Deprecated: `crashReporter` methods in the renderer process

Deprecated: `crashReporter.start({ compress: false })`

Default Changed: `enableRemoteModule` defaults to `false`

`protocol.unregisterProtocol`

`protocol.uninterceptProtocol`

`protocol.registerFileProtocol`

`protocol.registerBufferProtocol`

`protocol.registerStringProtocol`

`protocol.registerHttpProtocol`

`protocol.registerStreamProtocol`

`protocol.interceptFileProtocol`

`protocol.interceptStringProtocol`

`protocol.interceptBufferProtocol`

`protocol.interceptHttpProtocol`

`protocol.interceptStreamProtocol`

`protocol.isProtocolHandled`

Planned Breaking API Changes (9.0)

Default Changed: Loading non-context-aware native modules in the renderer process is disabled by default

Deprecated: `BrowserWindow` extension APIs

Removed: `<webview>.getWebContents()`

Removed: `webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits()`

Behavior Changed: Sending non-JS objects over IPC now throws an exception

API Changed: `shell.openItem` is now `shell.openPath`

Planned Breaking API Changes (8.0)

Behavior Changed: Values sent over IPC are now serialized with Structured Clone Algorithm

Deprecated: `<webview>.getWebContents()`

Deprecated: `webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits()`

Deprecated events in `systemPreferences`

Deprecated: methods in `systemPreferences`

Planned Breaking API Changes (7.0)

Deprecated: Atom.io Node Headers URL

API Changed: `session.clearAuthCache()` no longer accepts options

API Changed: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState` is now `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState`

API Changed: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime` is now `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime`

API Changed: `webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo` replaces separate methods

Removed: `marked` property on `getBlinkMemoryInfo`

Behavior Changed: `webkitdirectory` attribute for `<input type="file"/>` now lists directory contents

API Changed: Callback-based versions of promisified APIs

Planned Breaking API Changes (6.0)

API Changed: `win.setMenu(null)` is now `win.removeMenu()`

API Changed: `electron.screen` in the renderer process should be accessed via `remote`

API Changed: `require()`ing node builtins in sandboxed renderers no longer implicitly loads the `remote` version

Deprecated: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState` replaced with `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleState`

Deprecated: `powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime` replaced with `powerMonitor.getSystemIdleTime`

Deprecated: `app.enableMixedSandbox()` is no longer needed

Deprecated: `Tray.setHighlightMode`

Planned Breaking API Changes (5.0)

Default Changed: `nodeIntegration` and `webviewTag` default to false, `contextIsolation` defaults to true

Behavior Changed: `nodeIntegration` in child windows opened via `nativeWindowOpen`