Open in Browser

Open a saved file from VS Code in your preferred browser—or let your operating system choose the default application.

Use a keyboard shortcut, the Command Palette, or a context menu. Open a file directly, or use Serve Mode to view a local static page through HTTP.

Features

• Open local files in their system-associated application or a configured browser.
• Choose a browser for each launch with Open In Other Browsers.
• Add custom browsers to the picker with a display name and an application name or absolute executable path.
• Set per-browser arguments, such as Chrome's --incognito flag.
• Open non-HTML files, including JSON, XML, Markdown, and PSD, with their associated applications.
• Serve local static pages over HTTP when a page needs a localhost URL or relative assets.

Version 3.1 adds custom browsers and Microsoft Edge support on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Version 3.0 added Serve Mode. The 2.1 series added browser mappings, arguments, broader default-application menus, and launch fixes. See the changelog for release details.

Quick start

1. Install open in browser (techer.open-in-browser) from the VS Code Extensions view.
2. Save your file to disk.
3. Choose how to open it:

These commands are available in the Command Palette. Shortcuts and Command Palette commands use the active editor's file. Context-menu commands use the selected resource.

Context menus

Commands appear in the Explorer, editor, and editor-tab context menus:

• Open In Default Browser is available for local files of any type. Its menu entry excludes folders, unsaved documents, and remote resources.
• Open In Other Browsers appears for resources whose language mode is HTML.
• Open in Browser - Serve Mode appears for saved local files in trusted workspaces. It is unavailable in remote workspaces.

With no browser configured, Open In Default Browser uses the operating system's file association. A PSD may open in an image editor, for example—not in a browser. If a browser is configured, the file is sent to that browser instead; not every file type can be displayed by a browser.

Serve Mode

Serve Mode starts a small HTTP server for local static files and opens the selected file at a http://127.0.0.1:PORT/... URL in your system default browser. Use it when a page needs HTTP or loads CSS, JavaScript, images, or other relative assets. The existing direct-open commands still work without starting a server.

1. Open a trusted local workspace and save the file you want to view.
2. Run Open in Browser - Serve Mode from the Command Palette or a file's context menu.
3. If the file has unsaved edits, choose Save and Open to save it first.
4. When finished, run Open in Browser - Stop All Local Servers. Use Open in Browser - Manage Local Servers to reopen a URL, copy it, or stop one server.

By default, the server root is the selected file's workspace folder and the preferred port is 2222. If that port is busy, Serve Mode chooses a free port. A server is reused for other files under the same root. For a saved file outside a workspace, set open-in-browser.serve.root to ${fileDirname} before opening it.

Configure the root and port in your settings if needed:

{
  "open-in-browser.serve.root": "${workspaceFolder}/public",
  "open-in-browser.serve.port": 2222
}

serve.root also accepts ${fileDirname}, either variable followed by a subdirectory, or an absolute directory path. The selected file must be inside that root. Port 0 always chooses a free port. Changing these settings does not reconfigure an already running server; stop it and open the file again. The server listens only on 127.0.0.1. It can serve allowed static files under its root, including files other than the selected page; hidden files, backend scripts, and symlinks outside the root are blocked.

Serve Mode is a lightweight static server, not a general development or production server. It does not run PHP or other backend code, provide live reload, or support remote workspaces. Do not try to use it for complex services. If you need backend processing, advanced routing, build pipelines, or other special behavior, use a dedicated development-server extension or software instead.

Configuration

Open Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON) from the Command Palette and add the settings you need.

Default browser

Leave open-in-browser.default empty to use the system-associated application:

{
  "open-in-browser.default": ""
}

To choose a browser for Open In Default Browser, use a supported alias:

{
  "open-in-browser.default": "chrome"
}

This does not change your operating system's default browser. Open In Other Browsers still uses whichever browser you select from the picker.

Browser aliases

Aliases are case-insensitive. These are built-in mappings, not a list of browsers detected on your machine: the selected browser must already be installed and accessible.

Platform notes:

• Linux Chrome: the usual mapping is google-chrome. Set the value to google-chrome-stable if that is your installed command, as on some Arch/Manjaro installations.
• Linux Chromium: choose chromium or chromium-browser to match your installed command. The picker uses chromium; the alternate command can be selected through the default-browser setting.
• Windows Canary: the mapping uses %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome SxS\Application\chrome.exe. Canary is not offered on Linux.
• Legacy browsers: a mapping does not make a browser available on operating systems that no longer provide it.
• Microsoft Edge: edge maps to msedge on Windows, Microsoft Edge on macOS, and microsoft-edge on Linux.
• An unrecognized default-browser name falls back to the system-associated application unless registered as a custom browser. For other executables, register a custom browser or use an absolute path.

Custom browsers

Add open-in-browser.customBrowsers to your User Settings (JSON) to append entries to Open In Other Browsers:

{
  "open-in-browser.customBrowsers": [
    {
      "displayName": "My Edge",
      "name": "edge"
    },
    {
      "displayName": "Firefox Nightly (Linux)",
      "name": "firefox-nightly"
    },
    {
      "displayName": "Portable Browser (Windows)",
      "path": "D:\\Apps\\Browser\\browser.exe"
    }
  ]
}

Keep only entries that apply to your machine and replace the example names and paths as needed. The extension does not install or automatically detect browsers.

Each entry requires:

• displayName: a non-empty label shown in the browser picker. It is not a launch command or a default-browser identifier.
• Exactly one of name or path:
  • name: a built-in alias, such as edge, or an OS application/command name. Built-in aliases use the platform mappings above; other names are passed through as written and must be accessible to the operating system. On macOS, use the application name, such as Vivaldi; on Linux, use its executable command, such as vivaldi.
  • path: an absolute executable path. On macOS, both .app paths (for example, /Applications/Microsoft Edge.app) and actual executable paths (for example, /Applications/Microsoft Edge.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Edge) are supported.

This is a machine-specific user setting, not a workspace setting: do not put it in a project's .vscode/settings.json. Custom entries appear after the built-in browsers and do not replace them. Changes take effect the next time you open the picker, without reloading VS Code.

Entries with missing or blank labels, both name and path, or relative paths are ignored. A valid entry whose application cannot be launched produces an error rather than opening the system default browser.

Do not include shell quotes or arguments inside name or path. Use open-in-browser.arguments for arguments, keyed by the configured name or exact absolute path—not by displayName. You can also set open-in-browser.default to that name or path:

{
  "open-in-browser.customBrowsers": [
    {
      "displayName": "My Nightly",
      "name": "firefox-nightly"
    }
  ],
  "open-in-browser.default": "firefox-nightly",
  "open-in-browser.arguments": {
    "firefox-nightly": ["-private-window"]
  }
}

This example requires the firefox-nightly command to be installed and accessible. Custom browsers apply to direct-open commands; Serve Mode continues to use the system default browser.

Absolute browser paths

Use an absolute executable path if a browser is installed in a custom location, cannot be found, or another application intercepts its command name. On macOS, you can use an absolute .app path.

For example, on Windows:

{
  "open-in-browser.default": "C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe"
}

Use the actual path on your machine. Keep the JSON quotes, but do not put additional shell quotes or command-line arguments inside the value. Backslashes must be escaped as \\ in JSON.

This setting applies to Open In Default Browser. It does not replace the browser picker's built-in mappings.

Browser arguments

open-in-browser.arguments maps a browser alias, a registered custom browser name, or an absolute path matching your configured browser to an array of arguments.

For Chrome incognito windows:

{
  "open-in-browser.default": "chrome",
  "open-in-browser.arguments": {
    "chrome": ["--incognito"]
  }
}

Each array element is one argument. Keep spaces within that element, without adding shell quoting:

{
  "open-in-browser.default": "chrome",
  "open-in-browser.arguments": {
    "chrome": ["--user-data-dir=/path/with spaces/profile"]
  }
}

Replace the example profile path with a suitable path on your machine.

• Arguments apply to both commands when the matching browser is explicitly selected, including through the picker.
• Arguments are ignored when using the unconfigured system default application or a different browser.
• Configure only one alias per browser. When using an absolute browser path, use that same path as the arguments key.
• Argument support depends on the browser. An already-running browser may ignore startup-only flags.

Customize shortcuts

Run Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts from the Command Palette, search for either command, and edit its binding. Use Show Same Keybindings to investigate conflicts, for example with GitLens.

Alternatively, run Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON) and add entries to keybindings.json—not settings.json:

[
  { "key": "alt+b", "command": "-extension.openInDefaultBrowser" },
  { "key": "shift+alt+b", "command": "-extension.openInSpecifyBrowser" },
  { "key": "ctrl+alt+b", "command": "extension.openInDefaultBrowser" },
  { "key": "ctrl+alt+shift+b", "command": "extension.openInSpecifyBrowser" }
]

The first two entries remove this extension's default bindings. The remaining entries assign example replacements; choose keys that are free in your environment.

Troubleshooting

A file does not open

1. Save the file to disk. The extension opens the on-disk file; save any edits you want to view.
2. Open the same file from your operating system's file manager to check its association and accessibility.
3. If you configured a browser, verify its alias or absolute path and confirm that it can open the file outside VS Code.
4. Check the Extension Host log for entries beginning with [open-in-browser]. The notification is generic, but the log preserves the underlying launch error.

Opening a file manually is a diagnostic step or workaround, not proof that an extension failure is fixed.

Firefox is not found on Windows

Set open-in-browser.default to the absolute path to firefox.exe, then use Open In Default Browser.

Alternatively, add the directory containing firefox.exe—not the executable itself—to your user PATH. Keep the existing entries, then fully exit and restart VS Code so it inherits the change. This addresses command lookup, not every permission or launch failure.

A Linux browser command is not found

Check the command used by your distribution. Try google-chrome-stable or chromium-browser where appropriate, or configure the browser's absolute executable path. The picker uses built-in mappings and does not detect every distribution-specific installation.

Windows reports a permission error

Try opening the same file under your normal user account and inspect the underlying error. An earlier report was resolved by restoring Windows account settings, but that does not establish a common cause for other failures. Do not disable UAC, weaken security policies, or run VS Code as administrator as a general workaround.

Reporting a problem

Search the existing issues first. When reporting a problem, include:

• Extension, VS Code, operating system, and browser versions.
• Browser installation method and relevant extension settings.
• The command or menu you used and a representative file path.
• Whether opening the file outside VS Code works.
• The underlying Extension Host error and reproducible steps.

Remove private information from paths and logs before sharing them.

Scope and limitations

• Direct open and lightweight Serve Mode. Direct-open commands use file paths. Serve Mode provides localhost HTTP for static files; it does not map files to an existing development server, provide live reload, or run backend code. Use a dedicated server for more complex needs.
• Saved content only. Unsaved-document preview is not supported; save edits before opening the file.
• Local Serve Mode only. Serve Mode is disabled in SSH, containers, WSL, and other remote workspaces. Direct-open commands do not automatically make remote files accessible to a local browser.
• Verification is platform-specific. Automated tests cover mappings, parameters, and menu declarations; a macOS test application exercises LaunchServices. Windows/Linux browser launches, VS Code menu behavior, and Insiders installation still need desktop validation. The reported Ubuntu 24.04 default-browser failure has not been confirmed fixed.

How launching works

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release notes.

License

MIT.