Zen Browser Portable

An unofficial portable build of Zen Browser for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Run it from a USB drive, external SSD, or any folder — no installation, no admin rights, no data left behind.

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⬇️ Download

Download the latest portable build from Releases.

File	Platform	Format
ZenBrowserPortable-windows-x86_64.zip	🪟 Windows x64 (Intel/AMD)	Standalone ZIP
ZenBrowserPortable-windows-arm64.zip	🪟 Windows ARM64 (Snapdragon)	Standalone ZIP
ZenBrowserPortable-linux-x86_64.tar.gz	🐧 Linux x64	Standalone
ZenBrowserPortable-linux-aarch64.tar.gz	🐧 Linux ARM64	Standalone
ZenBrowserPortable-macos-universal.tar.gz	🍎 macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon)	Standalone
ZenBrowserPortable_*.paf.exe	🪟 Windows x64	PortableApps.com

🚀 Getting Started

Windows (Standalone):

1. Download the .zip → Extract → Double-click zen-portable.exe

Windows (PortableApps.com):

1. Download the .paf.exe → Double-click → Choose install location → Run ZenBrowserPortable.exe
2. Or install via the PortableApps.com Platform for menu integration

Linux / macOS:

1. Download the .tar.gz → Extract → Run ./zen-portable

# Linux / macOS
tar xzf ZenBrowserPortable-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd ZenBrowserPortable
chmod +x zen-portable    # should already be executable
./zen-portable

All your data (bookmarks, history, passwords, extensions) is stored inside the Data/ folder. Move the entire ZenBrowserPortable/ folder anywhere and everything comes with it.

📁 Folder Structure

ZenBrowserPortable/
├── zen-portable(.exe)     ← Launch this!
├── portable.ini           ← Portable mode marker
├── README.txt             ← Quick reference
├── defaults/              ← Default preferences (Linux/macOS)
│   └── user.js
├── App/                   ← Browser engine (do not modify)
│   ├── zen(.exe)          ← Windows / Linux
│   └── Zen Browser.app/   ← macOS
└── Data/                  ← Your personal data (portable)
    ├── profile/           ← Bookmarks, history, extensions, settings
    ├── temp/              ← Temporary files (redirected here)
    └── cache/             ← Cache files

💡 Key Features

Feature	Details
True portability	Profile, temp, and cache all live inside the portable folder
Cross-platform	Windows, Linux, and macOS
USB / pendrive ready	Drive letter and mount point changes handled automatically
Zero footprint	No files left on the host machine
No admin required	Runs from any user-writable folder
Coexists with installed Zen	Uses --no-remote — won't interfere with an existing installation
Auto-updated builds	New portable builds are published automatically when Zen releases a new version
PortableApps.com Format	Also available as .paf.exe — integrates with the PortableApps.com Platform

🔄 Updating

1. Close Zen Browser completely
2. Download the latest archive from Releases
3. Delete the contents of the App/ folder
4. Extract the new archive's App/ folder into your existing one
5. Your Data/ folder (bookmarks, history, etc.) is preserved

Tip: Auto-updates are disabled in portable mode. Check this repo's Releases page for new versions.

⚙️ Portable Mode Defaults

The portable launcher applies these preferences via Data/profile/user.js (editable):

• 🚫 Disk cache disabled — uses RAM cache (256 MB) for USB performance
• 🚫 Auto-updates disabled — update manually by replacing App/
• 🚫 Default browser check disabled — portable apps shouldn't register as default
• 🚫 Telemetry & crash reporter disabled — no data sent
• ✅ zen.portable.mode = true — signals portable mode to Zen

You can change any of these in about:config or by editing Data/profile/user.js.

🏗️ How It Works

Windows (Standalone): The launcher (zen-portable.exe) is a small Go program (~2 MB) that resolves its own directory, redirects TEMP/TMP, and launches zen.exe --profile Data/profile --no-remote.

Windows (PAF): The launcher (ZenBrowserPortable.exe) is compiled by the PortableApps.com Launcher. It does the same job — redirects profile, temp, and APPDATA — but integrates with the PortableApps.com Platform menu and follows the PAF spec.

Linux / macOS: The launcher (zen-portable) is a bash script that does the same — finds the zen binary or .app bundle in App/, sets environment variables, and launches with --profile.

No modifications are made to the Zen Browser engine — it's the exact same build from the official releases.

🔨 Building From Source

Requirements: Go (Windows only), Python 3, 7-Zip

# Windows: compile the Go launcher
cd build/portable/launcher
go build -ldflags="-s -w -H=windowsgui" -o zen-portable.exe .

# Package (Windows)
python build/portable/package.py \
  --installer zen.installer.exe \
  --launcher  build/portable/launcher/zen-portable.exe \
  --assets-dir build/portable/assets \
  --output ZenBrowserPortable-windows-x86_64.zip

# Package (Linux)
python build/portable/package.py \
  --tarball zen.linux-x86_64.tar.xz \
  --shell-launcher build/portable/launcher/zen-portable.sh \
  --user-js build/portable/launcher/defaults/user.js \
  --assets-dir build/portable/assets \
  --output ZenBrowserPortable-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

# Package (macOS — requires 7z for DMG extraction)
python build/portable/package.py \
  --dmg zen.macos-universal.dmg \
  --shell-launcher build/portable/launcher/zen-portable.sh \
  --user-js build/portable/launcher/defaults/user.js \
  --assets-dir build/portable/assets \
  --output ZenBrowserPortable-macos-universal.tar.gz

# PortableApps.com Format (Windows — requires NSIS, 7z, ImageMagick)
python build/portable/build_paf.py \
  --installer zen.installer.exe \
  --paf-template build/portable/paf \
  --icon configs/branding/release/logo128.png \
  --pal-dir /path/to/PortableApps.comLauncher \
  --pai-dir /path/to/PortableApps.comInstaller \
  --output ZenBrowserPortable_1.0.0.paf.exe

Or just push to GitHub — the Portable Build workflow handles everything automatically.

📋 Upstream

This project is a fork of zen-browser/desktop. The portable build system lives in build/portable/ and does not modify any upstream source code.

• Zen Browser: zen-browser.app
• Upstream repo: zen-browser/desktop

📄 License

Mozilla Public License 2.0