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desktopCapturer

Access information about media sources that can be used to capture audio and video from the desktop using the navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia API.

Process: Main

The following example shows how to capture video from a desktop window whose title is Electron:

// main.js
const { app, BrowserWindow, desktopCapturer, session } = require('electron')

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow()

  session.defaultSession.setDisplayMediaRequestHandler((request, callback) => {
    desktopCapturer.getSources({ types: ['screen'] }).then((sources) => {
      // Grant access to the first screen found.
      callback({ video: sources[0], audio: 'loopback' })
    })
    // If true, use the system picker if available.
    // Note: this is currently experimental. If the system picker
    // is available, it will be used and the media request handler
    // will not be invoked.
  }, { useSystemPicker: true })

  mainWindow.loadFile('index.html')
})
// renderer.js
const startButton = document.getElementById('startButton')
const stopButton = document.getElementById('stopButton')
const video = document.querySelector('video')

startButton.addEventListener('click', () => {
  navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia({
    audio: true,
    video: {
      width: 320,
      height: 240,
      frameRate: 30
    }
  }).then(stream => {
    video.srcObject = stream
    video.onloadedmetadata = (e) => video.play()
  }).catch(e => console.log(e))
})

stopButton.addEventListener('click', () => {
  video.pause()
})
<!-- index.html -->
<html>
<meta http-equiv="content-security-policy" content="script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'" />
  <body>
    <button id="startButton" class="button">Start</button>
    <button id="stopButton" class="button">Stop</button>
    <video width="320" height="240" autoplay></video>
    <script src="renderer.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

See navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia for more information.

note

navigator.mediaDevices.getDisplayMedia does not permit the use of deviceId for selection of a source - see specification.

Methods​

The desktopCapturer module has the following methods:

desktopCapturer.getSources(options)​

  • options Object
    • types string[] - An array of strings that lists the types of desktop sources to be captured, available types can be screen and window.
    • thumbnailSize Size (optional) - The size that the media source thumbnail should be scaled to. Default is 150 x 150. Set width or height to 0 when you do not need the thumbnails. This will save the processing time required for capturing the content of each window and screen.
    • fetchWindowIcons boolean (optional) - Set to true to enable fetching window icons. The default value is false. When false the appIcon property of the sources return null. Same if a source has the type screen.

Returns Promise<DesktopCapturerSource[]> - Resolves with an array of DesktopCapturerSource objects, each DesktopCapturerSource represents a screen or an individual window that can be captured.

note
  • Capturing audio requires NSAudioCaptureUsageDescription Info.plist key on macOS 14.2 Sonoma and higher - read more.
  • Capturing the screen contents requires user consent on macOS 10.15 Catalina or higher, which can detected by systemPreferences.getMediaAccessStatus.

Caveats​

Linux​

desktopCapturer.getSources(options) only returns a single source on Linux when using Pipewire.

PipeWire supports a single capture for both screens and windows. If you request the window and screen type, the selected source will be returned as a window capture.

MacOS versions 14.2 or higher​

NSAudioCaptureUsageDescription Info.plist key must be added in-order for audio to be captured by desktopCapturer. If instead you are running electron from another program like a terminal or IDE then that parent program must contain the Info.plist key.

This is in order to facillitate use of Apple's new CoreAudio Tap API by Chromium.

warning

Failure of desktopCapturer to start an audio stream due to NSAudioCaptureUsageDescription permission not present will still create a dead audio stream however no warnings or errors are displayed.

As of electron v39.0.0-beta.4 Chromium made Apple's new CoreAudio Tap API the default for desktop audio capture. There is no fallback to the older Screen & System Audio Recording permissions system even if CoreAudio Tap API stream creation fails.

If you need to continue using Screen & System Audio Recording permissions for desktopCapturer on macOS versions 14.2 and later, you can apply a chromium feature flag to force use of that older permissions system:

// main.js (right beneath your require/import statments)
app.commandLine.appendSwitch('disable-features', 'MacCatapLoopbackAudioForScreenShare')

MacOS versions 12.7.6 or lower​

navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia does not work on macOS versions 12.7.6 and prior for audio capture due to a fundamental limitation whereby apps that want to access the system's audio require a signed kernel extension. Chromium, and by extension Electron, does not provide this. Only in macOS 13 and onwards does Apple provide APIs to capture desktop audio without the need for a signed kernel extension.

It is possible to circumvent this limitation by capturing system audio with another macOS app like BlackHole or Soundflower and passing it through a virtual audio input device. This virtual device can then be queried with navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia.