How to get a name of default browser using python

Question

My script runs a command every X seconds.

If a command is like "start www" -> opens a website in a default browser I want to be able to close the browser before next time the command gets executed.

This short part of a script below:

if "start www" in command:
    time.sleep(interval - 1)
    os.system("Taskkill /IM chrome.exe /F")

I want to be able to support firefox, ie, chrome and opera, and only close the browser that opened by URL.

For that I need to know which process to kill.

How can I use python to identify my os`s default browser in windows?

How are you opening the browser by URL? webbrowser.open? os.startfile? Running 'start "{}"'.format(url) via os.system? Using a third-party module? — abarnert
– abarnert, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 19:47
@Vivek: I don't think that answers the OP's question. He apparently already knows how to open a web page (although he hasn't told us how he's doing it). He just wants to know how to kill the process used to open that web page. — abarnert
– abarnert, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 19:49
Meanwhile… are you sure you want to do it? If I've already got my default browser open with 48 tabs in 6 windows, and your script pops open a new window, then kills the browser taking down my 6 existing windows, I'm not going to be too happy… — abarnert
– abarnert, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 19:50
I am using os.system(command) - if command = "start www.google.com" it starts default browser — Michał Węgrzyn
– Michał Węgrzyn, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 19:51

kindall · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-26 20:05:31Z

8

The solution is going to differ from OS to OS. On Windows, the default browser (i.e. the default handler for the http protocol) can be read from the registry at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\http\shell\open\command\(Default)

Python has a module for dealing with the Windows registry, so you should be able to do:

from _winreg import HKEY_CURRENT_USER, OpenKey, QueryValue
# In Py3, this module is called winreg without the underscore

with OpenKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER,
             r"Software\Classes\http\shell\open\command") as key:
    cmd = QueryValue(key, None)

You'll get back a command line string that has a %1 token in it where the URL to be opened should be inserted.

You should probably be using the subprocess module to handle launching the browser; you can retain the browser's process object and kill that exact instance of the browser instead of blindly killing all processes having the same executable name. If I already have my default browser open, I'm going to be pretty cheesed if you just kill it without warning. Of course, some browsers don't support multiple instances; the second instance just passes the URL to the existing process, so you may not be able to kill it anyway.

edited Sep 26, 2013 at 20:05

answered Sep 26, 2013 at 19:51

kindall

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5 Comments

abarnert Over a year ago

This is really only the right answer if he's using os.startfile or start via os.system… but since that apparently is what he's doing, +1.

Michał Węgrzyn Over a year ago

OK, how to use subprocess to launch a command "start www.google". I am having a difficult time with this one.

kindall Over a year ago

Don't use start. start goes away immediately after handing off control to the browser. Launch the browser directly.

user337598 Over a year ago

No such registry key on Windows 10, this is because the key uses an underlying default, struggling to locate that right now. Alternates?

Zois Tasoulas Over a year ago

This path does not exist for me on Windows 10. Check paths at superuser.com/a/1111131/1462649

Zoltán Kozma · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-07 20:33:17Z

I would suggest this. Honestly Python should include this in the webbrowser module that unfortunately only does an open bla.html and that breaks anchors on the file:// protocol.

Calling the browser directly however works:

    # Setting fallback value
browser_path = shutil.which('open')

osPlatform = platform.system()

if osPlatform == 'Windows':
    # Find the default browser by interrogating the registry
    try:
        from winreg import HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, OpenKey, QueryValueEx

        with OpenKey(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, r'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice') as regkey:
            # Get the user choice
            browser_choice = QueryValueEx(regkey, 'ProgId')[0]

        with OpenKey(HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, r'{}\shell\open\command'.format(browser_choice)) as regkey:
            # Get the application the user's choice refers to in the application registrations
            browser_path_tuple = QueryValueEx(regkey, None)

            # This is a bit sketchy and assumes that the path will always be in double quotes
            browser_path = browser_path_tuple[0].split('"')[1]

    except Exception:
        log.error('Failed to look up default browser in system registry. Using fallback value.')

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