Chrome Is Redesigning PWA Installs With a Windows-Like Setup Experience

Google is updating how Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) dialogs look when you try to install them in Chrome Canary. The old version was a simple, small pop‑up box. Now, it looks much more like a native app installation on Windows, with multiple screens that include an intro, options, progress, and a final confirmation similar to a typical Windows app setup.

PWAs are websites that users can install and use like regular desktop or mobile apps. In Chrome, supported websites can open in their own dedicated window, appear in the taskbar or Start menu, and work separately from normal browser tabs.

Back in March, I reported that PWAs in Chrome were getting a multi‑view install flow dialog. The feature is now fully working, though still behind a flag, and it reminds you that you are installing PWAs on Windows, albeit through Chrome. To be fair, Google is making the installation experience unique to each platform, whether that’s Windows, Mac, Linux, or ChromeOS.

Here is what has changed and how it looks today.

Chrome’s new PWA install dialog resembles native Windows app installs

Chrome clearly states that you can “access this site in a dedicated window on your computer” and offers a Next button and a Learn more link that take you to Chrome’s Help Center page to give more context about how to use web apps in Chrome.

The Next button explains that Chrome is adding the app to Chrome Apps and creating a desktop shortcut and taskbar pin, all of which you can configure directly in the dialog, something that was not available in the current version during PWA installation.

Like a Windows app, the Chrome app installation shows a progress screen and then a confirmation dialog with options to open the tab in the app and close the dialog.

You may feel at home with Chrome’s new PWA install experience on Windows, but the extra steps may not please everyone. Keep in mind this may also depend on the app and how the developer adds options, so the experience may vary from app to app.

To uninstall the app, you can use the uninstall option in the app menu or remove it from the Settings app in Windows 11, just like any regular Windows app. Chrome has supported that for some time.

As of now, the feature is fully working and is still behind the “Web App Install Dialog” flag in Chrome Canary. Enable the flag and give the new PWA installation experience a try in Chrome on Windows, Mac, Linux, and ChromeOS.

Let us know what you think of the new PWA install dialog redesign in the comments below, and whether you like it or not.