WebUSB API

WebUSB API — The WebUSB API lets a web app request access to non-standard USB devices via navigator.usb.requestDevice() and communicate with them directly.

Browser & ecosystem support

• Legend
• Yes
• Partial
• Flag
• No
• Unknown

Browser / Platform	Support	Versions	Confidence	Source	Notes
Chrome (Desktop)	Yes	61	high	source	—
Chrome (Android)	Yes	61	high	source	1
Edge (Desktop)	Yes	79	high	source	2
Firefox (Desktop)	No	—	high	source	3
Firefox (Android)	No	—	high	source	45
Safari (macOS)	No	—	high	source	6
Safari (iOS)	No	—	high	source	78
Samsung Internet	Yes	8.0	high	source	9
WebView (Android)	No	—	high	source	10
Opera	Yes	48	high	source	—

1. Derived by browser-compat-data mirroring from Chrome.
2. Derived by browser-compat-data mirroring from Chrome.
3. No Firefox support is recorded in browser-compat-data.
4. No Firefox for Android support is recorded in browser-compat-data.
5. Derived by browser-compat-data mirroring from Firefox.
6. No Safari support is recorded in browser-compat-data.
7. No Safari on iOS support is recorded in browser-compat-data.
8. Derived by browser-compat-data mirroring from Safari.
9. Derived by browser-compat-data mirroring from Chrome Android.
10. No WebView Android support is recorded in browser-compat-data.

Source data: /compatibility/web-usb.json · Global usage: 74 % (StatCounter 2026-05)

Source: spec · MDN · Last verified 2026-10-03 · Confidence: high (computed from sources)

How to use it

Requesting a device must happen inside a user gesture, and filters narrows the picker to devices matching a vendor/product ID pair. Once the user selects a device, open it before transferring data:

async function connectUsbDevice() {
  const device = await navigator.usb.requestDevice({
    filters: [{ vendorId: 0x1209, productId: 0xa800 }],
  });
  await device.open();
  return device;
}

The configuration and interface numbers to select and claim next are specific to each device’s own descriptors — read them from device.configurations rather than assuming fixed numbers, then call device.selectConfiguration() and device.claimInterface() with the values found there.

How to detect it at runtime

Check for navigator.usb before offering the feature, and give the reader a fallback path when it is absent:

if ('usb' in navigator) {
  connectButton.hidden = false;
} else {
  connectButton.hidden = true;
  fallbackNotice.textContent = 'This browser cannot access USB devices from the page.';
}

Practical checklist

• Requires a secure context (HTTPS) — it is unavailable on plain HTTP origins.
• requestDevice() needs transient user activation (a click or keypress handler); without it, the returned promise rejects with a SecurityError DOMException.
• claimInterface() claims a specific interface for exclusive use: only one execution context can hold a given interface at a time, and it must be released with releaseInterface() (or the device closed) before another context can claim it.
• The picker only lists devices matching the filters you pass, so a request with no matching device leaves the user with nothing to select, which rejects the returned promise.
• Firefox and Safari do not implement the API, so 'usb' in navigator is false there and any USB-dependent flow needs the fallback path above.

Where to go next

For the full reference (device pairing, permission model, landing pages), see WebUSB API.

See also Web Bluetooth API for the equivalent flow over Bluetooth.

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