Enabling Protocol Handlers for Sites in Chrome (Windows)

Enabling Protocol Handlers for Sites in Chrome (Windows)

Custom protocol handlers in web browsers allow websites to handle specific protocols and perform custom actions. For instance, a web application can use a custom protocol to open a specific program or perform a particular function. This article will walk you through enabling protocol handlers for sites in Google Chrome on Windows.

Registering a Custom Protocol Handler

Before enabling a custom protocol handler for a site, it must be registered on your system. This process involves creating a registry entry that associates the protocol with an application. This section will demonstrate how to register a custom protocol handler using the microsoft-edge: protocol and the Microsoft Edge browser as an example.

To register a custom protocol handler, follow these steps:

1. Press Win + R and type regedit to open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY\_CLASSES\_ROOT in the Registry Editor.
3. Create a new key for your custom protocol. In this case, create a key called microsoft-edge.
4. Create a new string value within the key named URL Protocol and set its value to .
5. Create a new key under the microsoft-edge key named shell.
6. Create a new key under the shell key named open.
7. Create a new key under the open key named command.
8. Set the default value of the command key to the path of the application you want to handle the protocol, including the %1 argument placeholder. In this case, something like "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" %1.

Enabling Protocol Handlers for Sites in Chrome

Once a custom protocol handler is registered, you can enable it for specific sites in Google Chrome:

1. Open Google Chrome and navigate to chrome://settings/handlers.
2. Find the protocol you want to enable and click on the corresponding Manage button.
3. Enter the site URL that will be granted permission to handle the protocol and click Add.
4. The site is now permitted to handle the custom protocol.
   In our example, prepending microsoft-edge: to a URL in the Chrome address bar will prompt a popup asking, "Open Microsoft Edge?".

• Registering a custom protocol handler involves creating a registry entry associating a protocol with an application.
• Enabling protocol handlers for sites in Chrome involves navigating to the Chrome settings page for protocol handlers, adding the desired site URL, and granting it permission to handle the protocol.

References

• Register a URL Protocol Handler (Microsoft)
• protocolHandlers API (Chrome)