Trezor Bridge is a lightweight communication layer designed to securely connect your Trezor Hardware Wallet with web applications and desktop tools. It acts as a translator between your browser or operating system and the Trezor device, ensuring that your private keys never leave the device.
When you want to manage your crypto assets via browser-based tools or web wallets, you often use Trezor.io/start or Trezor Login. In those moments, Trezor Bridge sits in between, forming a robust and encrypted pathway, eliminating the need for browser extensions or less secure plugins.
By deploying Trezor Bridge, the team behind Trezor ensures that the connection remains seamless, secure, and user friendly. Whether you are new or advanced, Bridge handles the low‑level USB or WebUSB logic so you don’t have to worry about it.
To get started with Trezor Bridge, you download and install the Bridge client (available for Windows, macOS, and Linux). Once installed, it runs silently in the background, listening for connections from your browser or applications like Trezor Suite.
After installation, when you visit Trezor.io/start or initiate a login via Trezor Login, the browser communicates locally with Bridge, which then forwards messages to your Trezor hardware device.
The high-level flow is:
Bridge supports multiple transports, including USB and WebUSB, allowing cross‑platform compatibility without extra browser extensions.
All communication between browser ↔ Bridge ↔ device is encrypted and integrity checked. Bridge acts purely as a relay and does not store or read your private keys.
Since the browser never holds direct access to the USB interface, malicious web pages cannot directly interact with your hardware wallet. Trezor Bridge ensures that only approved, authorized messages pass through.
Bridge can update itself (with your approval) to patch potential vulnerabilities. Also, it supports whitelisting trusted domains so that only allowed web addresses can communicate with your Trezor device.
Trezor Suite is the desktop app that unifies your wallet management experience. Bridge seamlessly integrates behind the scenes: when you connect your Trezor and open Suite, the app forwards communication through Bridge to the hardware.
Whether you're managing coins, staking, or interacting with dApps, Suite handles the front end. Bridge handles low‑level transport so Suite doesn’t need to worry about USB intricacies.
Many web-based crypto services now support wallet connection through Trezor Login or via redirect flows from Trezor.io/start. These web UIs rely on Bridge for stable communication.
Developers building on top of Trezor can call APIs exposed via Bridge (e.g. the Trezor Connect APIs). Bridge abstracts away the complexity of enumerating USB devices, framing messages, and handling failures, letting you focus on your application logic.
If you're embedding wallet support in your web app, your user is often prompted to install Bridge, then the app invokes Trezor Connect which in turn routes through Bridge.
Here are several reasons why Trezor Bridge is a critical and reliable component in the Trezor ecosystem:
In all, Bridge bridges the gap (pun intended) between the world of web apps and the secure environment of hardware wallets.
Answer: Trezor Bridge is a background communication layer that handles USB/WebUSB transport between your hardware wallet and your browser or applications. Trezor Suite is the user‑facing desktop application (or web app) for managing your crypto accounts, performing transactions, updates, etc. Bridge is the plumbing; Suite is the user interface.
Answer: No. You install Bridge once on your system (Windows, macOS, or Linux). After that, it runs as a background service. When you visit Trezor.io/start or use Trezor Login, Bridge will kick in automatically.
Answer: Yes. Bridge uses encrypted channels, message framing, and domain whitelisting. It never touches your private keys and only relays information between your browser and your hardware wallet. Malicious websites cannot use Bridge unless explicitly authorized.
Answer: You can use Bridge with both. When you use a web interface that supports Trezor (for example through Trezor Login), Bridge handles the transport for the browser. For desktop applications like Trezor Suite, Bridge also acts behind the scenes.
Answer: Without Bridge, your browser may not be able to detect or communicate with your Trezor device. In those cases, the UI (via Trezor.io/start or Trezor Login) will typically prompt you to download and install Bridge in order to enable connectivity.