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I am looking for a way to launch Chrome, Firefox, or IE9+ (any one will do) from a script or command line without any window frame, address bar, or tabs section.

Illustration:

OrangeBox

For instance, I'd like to only be able to see the section that is comprized of the orange box, and the area inside of it.

The horizontal scroll bar won't be an issue (I control the html that will be displayed and I can ensure it won't need to scroll). Ideally I'd like to cut out the vertical scrollbar, but I could live with it if it were shown.

Does anyone know of any tool or script that would allow me to do this on Windows 7?

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  • 1
    If you're writing the HTML, there are ways to make the browser hide the scrollbar through standard CSS. No need to depend on browser flags for it.
    – ADTC
    Jul 7, 2015 at 7:10

9 Answers 9

Reset to default
27

Internet Explorer

For Internet Explorer you can use -k (kiosk mode):

Starts Internet Explorer in kiosk mode. The browser opens in a maximized window that does not display the address bar, the navigation buttons, or the status bar.

Example:

iexplore.exe -k http://www.google.com/

Read more about this:

Firefox

Firefox command line option -fullscreen didn't work for me:

"firefox.exe" -url http://superuser.com -fullscreen

But the use of R-kiosk 0.9.0 extension by Kimmo Heinaaro works like a charm.

Real Kiosk is a Firefox extension that defaults to full screen, disables all menus, toolbars, key commands and right button menus. Alt+Home still takes you home.

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  • 5
    That is nifty and might work for me, is there anyway that I can specify a Height/Width and x/y position for IE to occupy while in this kiosk mode? Ideally I don't want it to occupy the full screen.
    – FoamyGuy
    Aug 9, 2012 at 23:52
  • @Tim Updated my answer with the requested solution.
    – Zuul
    Aug 10, 2012 at 0:13
91

For chrome/chromium it is the --app=http://address.com flag.

You would use it by calling chromium-browser --app=http://some.website.org or google-chrome --app=http://www.google.com or chrome.exe --app=http://you.get.it etc.

All available switches: http://peter.sh/experiments/chromium-command-line-switches/

EDIT: You might also want to take a look at the --kiosk flag.

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  • 5
    MOG so many options :D +1
    – Zuul
    Aug 10, 2012 at 0:18
  • 1
    This hides the address bar and tabs but leaves the window frame (with min/max, and exit buttons) +1 anyhow though got me a lot closer than I got myself.
    – FoamyGuy
    Aug 10, 2012 at 0:44
  • 1
    @Tim You could try using the --kiosk flag on some versions of chrome/chromium.
    – Alex
    Aug 10, 2012 at 0:49
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    Any idea how I can do this on macos/osx?
    – Luke Davis
    Feb 21, 2018 at 19:14
  • For Chrome in KIOSK mode add "--user-data-dir=c:\temp" before the "--kiosk". This will hide the title bar close and mineralize buttons
    – andrew.fox
    Feb 2, 2021 at 14:21
8

for firefox use 

firefox.exe -chrome http://example.com

Works like a charm but it is not a documented command line option.

Note: the size of the window is calculated based on the size of the body, make sure you specify the necessary window size in html.

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6

This is trivial to do, via the Chrome extension "Open As Popup".

Opens the current Tab as a Popup-Window

This Extension is really simple: Click on the Icon and the current Tab will be moved to a new Poup-Window. (A Popup-Window is a Window without Navigation- and Tabbar, so it takes much less vertical-space)

You don't know how this could be useful? I use it as example for API-References or Manuals which I use beside or overlapping my Editor so they take less space without the Navigation- and Tabbar.

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  • 2
    That doesn’t launch the browser, it opens the current tab (read: browser already running).
    – Synetech
    Dec 28, 2016 at 3:12
  • 3
    This suited my needs perfectly; thanks for sharing!
    – Luke Davis
    Feb 21, 2018 at 19:08
2

To Expand on @Zuul answer with another way to specify Width/Height and x/y position for the window

This autohotkey script will do the trick too:

Run, C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe -k http://www.google.com/
WinWait, Windows Internet Explorer
WinMove,,,100,100,400,300

this example will position the window at x=100, y=100, with width=400 and height=300.

EDIT:Also 

<body scroll="no">

in my html will disable(hide) the verticle scrollbar for IE. that + Zuul answer + this AHK script gets me to exactly where I was hoping.

EDIT2: Turns out I didn't even need the scroll-"no" in my html the vert scrollbar was never shown anyway. I imagine this is going to be dependent on what page you are showing though.

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  • Are you sure this works? Nothing happens when I reload my AHK script. The path is correct.
    – geotheory
    Oct 14, 2014 at 11:15
  • it definitely worked for me back when I needed it. Haven't touched it over a year though. Can't vouch for it with current IE versions. that being said, I can't think of a reason off the top of my head that would prevent it from working.
    – FoamyGuy
    Oct 14, 2014 at 14:43
  • This is what I assumed I’d have to resort to (which is okay since it is an AHK script that is launching the website anyway), but then I found this and this. I’ll add the AHK method to my script as a comment in case Google decides to ruin the native options.
    – Synetech
    Dec 28, 2016 at 5:02
1

Use the following extension "Popup window" by Ett Chung in Firefox in combination with this Autohotkey script:

LWin & f::

WinGet Style, Style, A
if(Style & 0xC40000) {
  WinSet, Style, -0xC40000, A
  ;WinMaximize, A 

} else {
  WinSet, Style, +0xC40000, A
 ; WinRestore, A
}
return
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0

I've managed to get Firefox to run in an (almost) borderless mode. There's just a thin bar at the top with the red/yellow/green blobs and page title (I use a Mac).

If I point the cursor to the top of the page, a drop-down strip appears with basic tools and address slot. Cursor down and it vanishes again.

BUT! It only works with Firefox 56. Updates after that refuse to work with my add-ons. In case you want to experiment they are: 'Hide Tab Bar With One Tab' and 'Toolbar Autohide'. I also use 'Menu Wizard' to change the first menu item to 'Open in New Window' instead of tab.

Happy experimenting,

Ol.

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0

To add to @Alex's answer: You can quickly add this to your .bashrc so you don't have to type/remember the whole command everytime

## run chrome w/o frame
chrome-no-frame(){
   chrome --app=$1
}

Then you can just copy the url and run chrome-no-frame https://stackoverflow.com

*** note that https:// is required

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0

If you're looking to do this in a mac you can use Pennywise. It's a very basic browser, but it does exactly what you're asking for.

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