Definition

shortcuts (manifest field)

Short definition

shortcuts is a manifest array of up to (practically) four entries, each with name, url and optional icons, that appear when a user long-presses the installed app icon on Android or right-clicks it on Windows/ChromeOS. Example: {"name": "New order", "url": "/orders/new", "icons": [{"src": "/shortcut-new.png", "sizes": "96x96"}]}.

Reviewed July 23, 2026

Chromium documentation recommends no more than four shortcuts because most launchers truncate the jump list beyond that, regardless of how many entries the array contains.

Each shortcut URL must be within the manifest scope; an out-of-scope shortcut URL is dropped rather than causing the whole manifest to fail validation.

Shortcuts only appear after the app is actually installed — they have no effect on a site opened as a normal browser tab, and there is no equivalent long-press behaviour defined for iOS home-screen web apps.

Because shortcuts are read from the manifest at install time on some platforms, changing them may require the user to reinstall or wait for the periodic manifest re-check some browsers perform.

Related terms

Web App Manifest

A Web App Manifest is a JSON file (usually manifest.webmanifest) that declares your app's name, icons, start URL, theme colour and display mode. The browser reads it to render the install prompt and the home-screen icon.

icons (manifest field)

icons is a manifest array of objects like {"src": "/icon-512.png", "sizes": "512x512", "type": "image/png"}. Chromium requires at least a 192x192 and a 512x512 PNG for install eligibility; the browser picks the closest size for each surface (home screen, splash screen, task switcher) rather than scaling a single image.

start_url (manifest field)

start_url is the manifest field that sets the exact URL loaded when a user taps the installed app icon. It is resolved relative to the manifest URL, so "start_url": "/?source=pwa" launches the origin root with a query string you can use to distinguish installed-app sessions from browser-tab sessions in analytics.

screenshots (manifest field)

screenshots is a manifest array such as [{"src": "/shots/home.png", "sizes": "1080x1920", "type": "image/png", "form_factor": "narrow"}] used to render a richer install UI with app previews, similar to a Play Store listing, instead of the plain one-line install banner.

id (manifest field)

id is a manifest field, for example "id": "/app-v1", used as the app's permanent identifier for the OS install registry. Unlike start_url, id is not meant to change; if it is omitted, the browser derives an identity from start_url instead, which means later changing start_url can register as a brand-new app.

orientation (manifest field)

orientation is a manifest field, e.g. "orientation": "portrait-primary", that requests a fixed screen orientation for the installed app. Accepted values include any, natural, landscape, portrait, portrait-primary, portrait-secondary, landscape-primary and landscape-secondary.