Which Browsers Support ipfs:// Links? What Works in 2026
Almost no browser opens ipfs:// links natively in 2026. Opera for Android resolves them through a gateway, and Brave removed its built-in support in August 2024. In Chrome, Edge, or Firefox you need the IPFS Companion extension. That is why most people share gateway URLs, which open in any browser.
TL;DR:
- Opera for Android 57 and later resolves
ipfs://andipns://through a gateway you can change; most other browsers ignore both schemes - Brave shipped native IPFS in 2021 (version 1.19) and removed local node and
ipfs://support in version 1.69.153 on August 22, 2024 - Chromium extensions can't declare protocol handlers in their manifest the way Firefox extensions can, so IPFS Companion uses a search interception workaround there
- Since Chrome 86, a website can ask to handle
ipfs://links throughregisterProtocolHandler(), but you have to approve it; nothing is set up by default - Gateway URLs such as
https://public.aiozpin.network/ipfs/CIDwork in every browser, which is why AIOZ Pin gives you gateway links
Updated Oct 19, 2026: corrected the Brave section (native support shipped in 2021 and was removed in 2024), added the registerProtocolHandler route, and rewrote the post for readability.
Do Browsers Support ipfs:// Links Natively?
ipfs://<CID> and ipns://<name> are defined URI schemes, meant to reference IPFS content the way https:// references a web page. Getting browsers to act on a scheme is a separate job, and most mainstream browsers still ship no built-in handling for either one. Opera for Android is the main exception: since version 57 it resolves both schemes through an HTTP gateway, and you can change which gateway it uses.
Why Don't Chrome and Edge Open ipfs:// Links?
The main reason sits in Chromium, the engine under Chrome, Edge, and most other browsers. Firefox lets an extension declare protocol handlers in its manifest with a protocol_handlers entry, which is exactly what an extension needs to open ipfs:// links properly. Chromium extensions have no such manifest key, so the same clean fix isn't available there, however well the extension is built.
Chromium does offer one other route: since Chrome 86, ipfs and ipns are on the safelist for navigator.registerProtocolHandler(). A website, such as a gateway you trust, can ask to handle those links, and you approve it in a browser prompt. Each user has to opt in, so a visitor who never granted it still gets nothing when they click an ipfs:// link.
What Does IPFS Companion Do?
IPFS Companion is a browser extension that connects your browser to an IPFS node running on your machine. It has to solve the problem differently in each engine. On Firefox it uses the real protocol_handlers mechanism for ipfs://, ipns://, and dweb: links. On Chromium it falls back to a workaround: when you type or click an ipfs://CID link, the browser treats it as a search query because it doesn't know the scheme. The extension intercepts that search, pulls out the CID, and redirects you to a gateway URL. It works, but it leans on the browser's search handling, which is more fragile than a real protocol handler.
Why Gateway URLs Became the Practical Default
Given all that, you can't rely on an ipfs:// link opening for an arbitrary visitor. It depends on their browser and, on Chromium, on an extension or handler they may not have. A gateway URL avoids the problem because it is a regular https:// link that any browser opens with no extension, no protocol registration, and no local node. That is why most IPFS content gets shared as gateway links.
Brave Shipped Native IPFS, Then Removed It
Brave is the one mainstream desktop browser that shipped native IPFS. Version 1.19, released in 2021, recognized ipfs:// and ipns:// addresses and offered to run a local Kubo node or use an HTTP gateway. Brave then removed local node and ipfs:// scheme support in version 1.69.153 on August 22, 2024. Its stated reasons were low use, under 0.1% of users, and the cost of support, maintenance, and node updates. If you relied on it, the IPFS project's migration guide moves your node to IPFS Desktop with the Companion extension.
How AIOZ Pin Handles Browser Access
We serve pinned content through gateway URLs for exactly this reason. A gateway link opens the same way in Firefox with Companion, in Chrome with nothing installed, or in any other browser. The AIOZ Pin public gateway needs no account but has usage limits; for heavier traffic, premium gateways use the same path on their own hostname. Both formats come from our gateway docs:
https://public.aiozpin.network/ipfs/<CID>
https://<premium-gateway-name>.aiozpin.network/ipfs/<CID>Next step: the AIOZ Pin public gateway docs cover access and limits, and premium gateways cover the paid option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do browsers support ipfs:// links natively? Very few do: Opera for Android resolves them through a gateway you can change. Brave did from 2021 until it removed support in August 2024. Chrome, Edge, and Firefox need an extension or a registered handler.
Why doesn't Chrome support ipfs:// the way Firefox extensions can? Chromium extensions can't declare protocol handlers in their manifest, while Firefox extensions can. A website can still ask Chrome to handle ipfs:// links through registerProtocolHandler, but you have to approve it.
What does IPFS Companion do? IPFS Companion connects your browser to a local IPFS node and routes ipfs://, ipns://, and dweb: links to it. On Firefox it uses a real protocol handler. On Chromium it intercepts the search the browser runs for an unknown scheme.
Why do people share gateway links instead of ipfs:// links? A gateway URL is a plain https:// link that opens in any browser with no setup. An ipfs:// link only works if the recipient's browser or extension handles it.
Is ipfs:// support likely to improve across more browsers? Not quickly, because the registerProtocolHandler route needs each user to opt in, and Chromium extensions still lack manifest protocol handlers. Brave's 2024 removal shows a shipped integration can also be dropped.
Does AIOZ Pin's gateway depend on visitors having IPFS Companion installed? No. A gateway URL is a standard HTTPS link that works in any browser as is, which is why AIOZ Pin content gets shared through gateway links.
Related Reading
- How IPFS Verifies Content Without Trusting the Gateway - the difference between a trusted gateway request and a self-verified one, both of which use the same gateway URLs covered here
- libp2p: The Networking Layer Underneath IPFS - the peer-to-peer connectivity a local IPFS node needs before IPFS Companion's Firefox integration can do anything
- IPNS: Mutable Pointers to Immutable IPFS Content - the ipns:// scheme this article's browser-support gap applies to as well
- Helia: IPFS's Modern JavaScript Implementation - the library a browser-based app runs to speak IPFS directly
- How to Host a Static Website on IPFS (and Why Pin It) - the concrete use case this browser-support gap directly affects
References
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