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Brave Browser

Version tested: 1.63.169 Installer type: .exe official installer from brave.com

📦 Package Managers

Manager Install Command
winget winget install Brave.Brave
Chocolatey choco install brave
Scoop scoop install brave

📁 Registry Paths

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\BraveSoftware Brave Browser
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BraveHTML (HTML file handler ProgID)
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\brave (brave:// URI scheme handler)

🔑 Keys

Installation entry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser)

Key Name Type Description
pv REG_SZ Installed version string (e.g., 1.63.169)
name REG_SZ Brave
install_path REG_SZ Full path to brave.exe

Uninstall entry (HKLM\...\Uninstall\BraveSoftware Brave Browser)

Key Name Type Description
DisplayName REG_SZ Brave
DisplayVersion REG_SZ Installed version (e.g., 1.63.169)
InstallLocation REG_SZ Root installation directory
Publisher REG_SZ Brave Software Inc
UninstallString REG_SZ Path to the uninstaller

HTML file handler (HKCR\BraveHTML)

Key Path Type Description
(Default) REG_SZ Brave HTML Document
shell\open\command\(Default) REG_SZ "C:\...\brave.exe" -- "%1"

📝 Notes

  • Brave is Chromium-based; its registry structure closely mirrors Google Chrome (BraveSoftware replaces Google).
  • All user data (bookmarks, extensions, settings) is stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\, not the registry.
  • The System installer (for all users) writes to HKLM; the User installer writes the same keys to HKCU.
  • Enterprise policies can be pushed via HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\BraveSoftware\Brave — structure mirrors Chrome's managed policy schema.
  • Brave's built-in ad blocker and Shields configuration are stored in the profile's Preferences JSON file, not the registry.

🗑️ Cleanup

Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\Software\BraveSoftware"                       -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\BraveSoftware"                       -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKCR:\BraveHTML"                                    -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKCR:\brave"                                        -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue