Quick Start For MS .Net 5.0 or greater

1.0 Install Nuget Packages

Install one of the following via the Nuget Package Manager from within Visual Studio

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2.0 Set a RuntimeIdentifier in your proj file.

A RuntimeIdentifier tells VS/MSBuild which architecture specific files to copy as part of the build process. If no <RuntimeIdentifier/> is specified then files for x86, x64 and arm64 will all be copied resulting in a very very large bin folder. A <RuntimeIdentifier/> must be specified when releasing/publishing your application.

Use one of the following in your proj file.

<RuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">win-x86</RuntimeIdentifier>
<RuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">win-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
<!-- Use $(NETCoreSdkRuntimeIdentifier) in most cases this will be win-x86 -->
<RuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">$(NETCoreSdkRuntimeIdentifier)</RuntimeIdentifier>
<!-- .Net 7.0 introduces a new UseCurrentRuntimeIdentifier property-->
<UseCurrentRuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(UseCurrentRuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">true</UseCurrentRuntimeIdentifier>

<!--
You should also set
SelfContained = false (otherwise the whole .Net Framework will be included in your bin folder
-->
<SelfContained Condition="'$(SelfContained)' == ''">false</SelfContained>

If your proj file specifies multiple platforms e.g. <Platforms>x86;x64</Platforms> then I'd suggest using the following:

<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(PlatformTarget)' == 'x86'">
  <RuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">win-x86</RuntimeIdentifier>
  <SelfContained Condition="'$(SelfContained)' == ''">false</SelfContained>
</PropertyGroup>

<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(PlatformTarget)' == 'x64'">
  <RuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">win-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
  <SelfContained Condition="'$(SelfContained)' == ''">false</SelfContained>
</PropertyGroup>

<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(PlatformTarget)' == 'arm64'">
  <RuntimeIdentifier Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == ''">win-arm64</RuntimeIdentifier>
  <SelfContained Condition="'$(SelfContained)' == ''">false</SelfContained>
</PropertyGroup>

3.0 Read the Docs

• Review the Post Installation steps in the Readme.txt file that's opened in Visual Studio upon installation.
• Review the Release Notes for the version you just installed, a list of Known Issues for the problems we're currently aware of.
• Check out the API Doc, it's version specific, make sure you pick the correct version.

4.0 Add app.manifest to your application

Add an app.manifest to your exe if you don't already have one, it's required for Windows 10/11 compatibility, GPU Acceleration, HighDPI support and tooltips. See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/w8cookbook/windows-version-check#declaring-windows-10-compatibility-with-an-app-manifest

<!-- example.exe.manifest -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
    <assemblyIdentity
        type="win32"
        name="Contoso.ExampleApplication.ExampleBinary"
        version="1.2.3.4"
        processorArchitecture="x86"
    />
    <description>Contoso Example Application</description>
    <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
        <application>
            <!-- Windows 10/11 -->
            <supportedOS Id="{8e0f7a12-bfb3-4fe8-b9a5-48fd50a15a9a}"/> <!-- * ADD THIS LINE * -->
        </application>
    </compatibility>
</assembly>

The https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp.MinimalExample project contains an example app.manifest file in the root of the WPF/WinForms/OffScreen examples.

5.0 Add ChromiumWebBrowser to your application.

Implementation	Example
WPF	For WPF use CefSharp.Wpf.ChromiumWebBrowser <!-- Add a xmlns:wpf="clr-namespace:CefSharp.Wpf;assembly=CefSharp.Wpf" attribute to your parent control --> <!-- Create a new instance in code or in `xaml` --> <Border Grid.Row="1" BorderBrush="Gray" BorderThickness="0,1"> <wpf:ChromiumWebBrowser x:Name="Browser" Address="www.google.com"/> </Border>
WinForms	For WinForms use CefSharp.WinForms.ChromiumWebBrowser using CefSharp; using CefSharp.WinForms; //Create a new instance in code or add via the designer var browser = new ChromiumWebBrowser("www.google.com"); parent.Controls.Add(browser); //Load a different url browser.LoadUrl("https://github.com");
OffScreen	For OffScreen use CefSharp.OffScreen.ChromiumWebBrowser using CefSharp; using CefSharp.OffScreen; //Create a new instance in code var browser = new ChromiumWebBrowser("www.google.com"); //Load a different url browser.LoadUrl("https://github.com");

5.1 Execute some JavaScript (optional)

See https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp/wiki/General-Usage#javascript-integration for more details

// Add usage statement to access additional functionality
// e.g. EvaluateScriptAsync
using CefSharp;
var response = await browser.EvaluateScriptAsync("1 + 1");
if(response.Success)
{
    var result = response.Result;
}

6.0 Publish

# For x86
dotnet publish -c Release -f net6.0-windows -r win-x86
# For x64
dotnet publish -c Release -f net6.0-windows -r win-x64
# For arm64
dotnet publish -c Release -f net6.0-windows -r win-arm64

7.0 SelfPublish and SelfContained (Optional)

You will need to self host the BrowserSubProcess using your main application executable. See https://github.com/cefsharp/CefSharp/issues/3407 for details