electron/docs/api/shell.md

shell

Manage files and URLs using their default applications.

The shell module provides functions related to desktop integration.

An example of opening a URL in the user's default browser:

const {shell} = require('electron')

shell.openExternal('https://github.com')

Methods

The shell module has the following methods:

shell.showItemInFolder(fullPath)

• fullPath String

Show the given file in a file manager. If possible, select the file.

shell.openItem(fullPath)

• fullPath String

Open the given file in the desktop's default manner.

shell.openExternal(url[, options])

• url String
• options Object (optional) macOS
  • activate Boolean - true to bring the opened application to the foreground. The default is true.

Open the given external protocol URL in the desktop's default manner. (For example, mailto: URLs in the user's default mail agent.) Returns true if an application was available to open the URL, false otherwise.

shell.moveItemToTrash(fullPath)

• fullPath String

Move the given file to trash and returns a boolean status for the operation.

shell.beep()

Play the beep sound.

shell.writeShortcutLink(shortcutPath[, operation], options) Windows

• shortcutPath String
• operation String (optional) - Default is create, can be one of followings:
  • create - Creates a new shortcut, overwriting if necessary.
  • update - Updates specified properties only on an existing shortcut.
  • replace - Overwrites an existing shortcut, fails if the shortcut doesn't exist.
• options Object
  • target String - The target to launch from this shortcut.
  • cwd String (optional) - The working directory. Default is empty.
  • args String (optional) - The arguments to be applied to target when launching from this shortcut. Default is empty.
  • description String (optional) - The description of the shortcut. Default is empty.
  • icon String (optional) - The path to the icon, can be a DLL or EXE. icon and iconIndex have to be set together. Default is empty, which uses the target's icon.
  • iconIndex Integer (optional) - The resource ID of icon when icon is a DLL or EXE. Default is 0.
  • appUserModelId String (optional) - The Application User Model ID. Default is empty.

Creates or updates a shortcut link at shortcutPath. On success true is returned, otherwise false is returned.

shell.readShortcutLink(shortcutPath) Windows

Resolves the shortcut link at shortcutPath, an object is returned with the fields described in the options of shell.writeShortcutLink.

An exception will be thrown when any error happens.