Bitwarden

Version documented: 2024.2.1 Installer type: .exe (Squirrel, user-level) Hives written: HKCU

📁 Registry Paths

Path	Hive	Purpose
`SOFTWARE\Bitwarden`	HKCU	Application settings
`SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Bitwarden`	HKCU	Uninstall entry
`SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run`	HKCU	Startup entry (if enabled)
`SOFTWARE\Classes\bitwarden`	HKCU	`bitwarden://` URI scheme

🔑 Keys

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Bitwarden

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`InstallLocation`	REG_SZ	`C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Bitwarden`	Install path
`DisplayVersion`	REG_SZ	`2024.2.1`	Installed version

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Bitwarden

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`DisplayName`	REG_SZ	`Bitwarden`	Display name
`DisplayVersion`	REG_SZ	`2024.2.1`	Version
`Publisher`	REG_SZ	`Bitwarden Inc.`	Publisher
`InstallLocation`	REG_SZ	`C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Bitwarden`	Install path
`UninstallString`	REG_SZ	`"...\Uninstall Bitwarden.exe"`	Uninstaller

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (optional)

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`Bitwarden`	REG_SZ	`"...\Bitwarden.exe" --startup`	Auto-start on login

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\bitwarden

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`(Default)`	REG_SZ	`URL:Bitwarden`	URI scheme descriptor
`URL Protocol`	REG_SZ	``	Marks as a URL handler
`shell\open\command` (Default)	REG_SZ	`"Bitwarden.exe" "%1"`	URI open command

📝 Notes

Bitwarden uses the Squirrel framework — installs per-user to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Bitwarden.
The bitwarden:// URI scheme enables browser extension ↔ desktop app communication.
All vault data is encrypted and stored locally at %APPDATA%\Bitwarden\data.json — not in the registry.
The browser extension (for native messaging) may add keys under HKCU\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden.

# Disable auto-start without uninstalling
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" `
  -Name "Bitwarden" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Check if native messaging host is registered (for browser extension)
Test-Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden"

🗑️ Cleanup

# Remove Bitwarden registry entries
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Bitwarden" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Classes\bitwarden" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" `
  -Name "Bitwarden" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Remove browser native messaging hosts
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden" `
  -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden" `
  -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

📦 Package Managers

Manager	ID / Command
winget	`winget install Bitwarden.Bitwarden`
Chocolatey	`choco install bitwarden`
Scoop	`scoop install extras/bitwarden`