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.
The FIXME string is used in code comments to denote things that should be fixed for future releases. See https://github.com/electron/electron/search?q=fixme
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,Infinityand-Infinitywill now be correctly serialized, instead of being converted tonull.- Objects containing cyclic references will now be correctly serialized,
instead of being converted to
null. Set,Map,ErrorandRegExpvalues will be correctly serialized, instead of being converted to{}.BigIntvalues will be correctly serialized, instead of being converted tonull.- Sparse arrays will be serialized as such, instead of being converted to dense
arrays with
nulls. Dateobjects will be transferred asDateobjects, instead of being converted to their ISO string representation.- Typed Arrays (such as
Uint8Array,Uint16Array,Uint32Arrayand so on) will be transferred as such, instead of being converted to Node.jsBuffer. - Node.js
Bufferobjects will be transferred asUint8Arrays. You can convert aUint8Arrayback to a Node.jsBufferby wrapping the underlyingArrayBuffer:
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.
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')
const getGuestForWebContents = function (webContentsId, contents) {
const guest = webContents.fromId(webContentsId)
if (!guest) {
throw new Error(`Invalid webContentsId: ${webContentsId}`)
}
if (guest.hostWebContents !== contents) {
throw new Error(`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())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.
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
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()// Removed in Electron 7.0
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState(threshold, callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleState = getSystemIdleState(threshold)// Removed in Electron 7.0
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime(callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleTime = getSystemIdleTime()// 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'
})This property was removed in Chromium 77, and as such is no longer available.

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).
// Deprecated
win.setMenu(null)
// Replace with
win.removeMenu()// Deprecated
contentTracing.getTraceBufferUsage((percentage, value) => {
// do something
})
// Replace with
contentTracing.getTraceBufferUsage().then(infoObject => {
// infoObject has percentage and value fields
})// Deprecated
require('electron').screen
// Replace with
require('electron').remote.screen// 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(threshold, callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleState = getSystemIdleState(threshold)// Deprecated
powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime(callback)
// Replace with synchronous API
const idleTime = getSystemIdleTime()// Deprecated
app.enableMixedSandbox()Mixed-sandbox mode is now enabled by default.
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.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 = new BrowserWindow({
webPreferences: {
webviewTag: true
}
})Child windows opened with the nativeWindowOpen option will always have Node.js integration disabled, unless nodeIntegrationInSubFrames is `true.
Renderer process APIs webFrame.setRegisterURLSchemeAsPrivileged 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.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'
})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)))
}
})The following list includes the breaking API changes made in Electron 4.0.
// Deprecated
app.makeSingleInstance((argv, cwd) => {
/* ... */
})
// Replace with
app.requestSingleInstanceLock()
app.on('second-instance', (event, argv, cwd) => {
/* ... */
})// Deprecated
app.releaseSingleInstance()
// Replace with
app.releaseSingleInstanceLock()app.getGPUInfo('complete')
// Now behaves the same with `basic` on macOS
app.getGPUInfo('basic')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.
The following list includes the breaking API changes in Electron 3.0.
// Deprecated
app.getAppMemoryInfo()
// Replace with
app.getAppMetrics()
// Deprecated
const metrics = app.getAppMetrics()
const { memory } = metrics[0] // Deprecated property// Deprecated
let optionsA = { webPreferences: { blinkFeatures: '' } }
let windowA = new BrowserWindow(optionsA)
// Replace with
let optionsB = { webPreferences: { enableBlinkFeatures: '' } }
let windowB = new BrowserWindow(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
}
})// 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()// 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
})// Deprecated
nativeImage.createFromBuffer(buffer, 1.0)
// Replace with
nativeImage.createFromBuffer(buffer, {
scaleFactor: 1.0
})// Deprecated
const info = process.getProcessMemoryInfo()// Deprecated
screen.getMenuBarHeight()
// Replace with
screen.getPrimaryDisplay().workArea// Deprecated
ses.setCertificateVerifyProc((hostname, certificate, callback) => {
callback(true)
})
// Replace with
ses.setCertificateVerifyProc((request, callback) => {
callback(0)
})// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(true)
// Replace with
tray.setHighlightMode('on')
// Deprecated
tray.setHighlightMode(false)
// Replace with
tray.setHighlightMode('off')// Deprecated
webContents.openDevTools({ detach: true })
// Replace with
webContents.openDevTools({ mode: 'detach' })
// Removed
webContents.setSize(options)
// There is no replacement for this API// Deprecated
webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsSecure('app')
// Replace with
protocol.registerStandardSchemes(['app'], { secure: true })
// Deprecated
webFrame.registerURLSchemeAsPrivileged('app', { secure: true })
// Replace with
protocol.registerStandardSchemes(['app'], { secure: true })// 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 */ }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
The following list includes the breaking API changes made in Electron 2.0.
// Deprecated
let optionsA = { titleBarStyle: 'hidden-inset' }
let windowA = new BrowserWindow(optionsA)
// Replace with
let optionsB = { titleBarStyle: 'hiddenInset' }
let windowB = new BrowserWindow(optionsB)// Removed
menu.popup(browserWindow, 100, 200, 2)
// Replaced with
menu.popup(browserWindow, { x: 100, y: 200, positioningItem: 2 })// Removed
nativeImage.toPng()
// Replaced with
nativeImage.toPNG()
// Removed
nativeImage.toJpeg()
// Replaced with
nativeImage.toJPEG()process.versions.electronandprocess.version.chromewill be made read-only properties for consistency with the otherprocess.versionsproperties set by Node.
// Removed
webContents.setZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)
// Replaced with
webContents.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)// Removed
webFrame.setZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)
// Replaced with
webFrame.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)// Removed
webview.setZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)
// Replaced with
webview.setVisualZoomLevelLimits(1, 2)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.