What is a PWA, and how do you install or remove one?

Published 2026-10-24

A progressive web app, or PWA, is a website that can be installed so that it opens in its own window with its own icon, like an app, without going through an app store. You may have seen an install button in the address bar without knowing what it does. This article explains what a PWA is, what you gain and what you do not, and how to install and remove one in each major browser.

What a PWA is

A PWA is an ordinary website that tells the browser, through a small file called a web app manifest, what its name, icon and start page are. A browser that supports installation can use that information to put the site on your home screen, in your Start menu or in your Dock, and to open it in a window without the usual address bar and tabs. Behind the icon it is still the same website, running in the same browser engine, using the same web technologies. MDN describes installability as defined by that manifest, and web.dev points out that you can usually still install a site by hand in Chrome even if it does not meet every criterion.

Many PWAs also use a service worker, a background script that lets the app load faster, work in a limited way without a connection, and receive push notifications. Whether a particular app does that depends on its developer; installation by itself does not give a website new abilities.

What you gain and what you do not

A launcher icon and a window of its own, so the app is easy to find and does not get lost among tabs.
No store account or download. Updates arrive when the site updates.
Often a lighter footprint than a native app.
Permissions, such as camera and microphone, still work through the browser, and you manage them the same way as for the website.
You do not gain access to everything a store app can do. A PWA stays inside the web platform's limits.
A PWA is tied to the browser that installed it. MDN notes that installing the same PWA from two browsers creates two separate apps that do not share data.

Chrome on a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS)

Installing: open the site. Some sites show an Install icon at the right end of the address bar; select it and follow the prompts. If there is no icon, select More at the top right, then Cast, save, and share, then Install page as app. Follow the on-screen prompts.

Uninstalling: open the installed app, select More at the top right of its window, then Uninstall followed by the app name, and confirm with Remove. Tick Also delete data from Chrome if you want the app's stored data removed too. You can also manage installed apps by opening chrome://apps in the address bar. On a Chromebook, right-click the app's icon in the launcher and choose Uninstall.

Microsoft Edge

Installing: Edge offers to install a site when it recognises a PWA. For other sites, open Settings and more, then More tools, then Apps, and choose Install this site as an app. Installed apps are listed on the page edge://apps.

Uninstalling: open edge://apps, select Details on the app's card, choose Uninstall and confirm. The confirmation dialog asks whether to delete the app's data as well.

Safari and Apple devices

iPhone and iPad: open the site in Safari, open the Share menu, choose Add to Home Screen, confirm or edit the name and add it. There is no install prompt on iOS; adding to the Home Screen is the installation. MDN adds that PWAs installed from Safari show up in the App Library but not in the list of apps under Settings. To remove one, touch and hold its icon and delete it, which removes the PWA.
Mac: in Safari, choose File, then Add to Dock, or use the Share button and choose Add to Dock. Type a name and click Add. Apple says the web app is stored in the Applications folder of your home folder, and you can open it from the Dock or Spotlight. To remove it, drag it from that folder to the Trash. Dragging only the Dock icon out of the Dock removes the shortcut but keeps the app.
MDN notes that PWAs can be installed on macOS 14 or later and on iOS and iPadOS 16.4 or later from any browser that supports it, and that on Apple devices each installation has its own isolated storage and is treated as a different app.

Android

Open the site in Chrome and open the browser menu. MDN states that Chrome for Android puts the install command in the browser's settings menu. Look for Install app or Add to Home screen, depending on the version, and confirm. To uninstall, remove it like any other app from the launcher or from the phone's app settings. Other Android browsers, such as Samsung Internet, offer a similar entry in their own menus; the wording differs.

Firefox

MDN states that Firefox on desktop requires an extension for PWA installation, so it does not behave like Chrome or Edge in this respect. Firefox on Android can add a shortcut to the site on the home screen, which web.dev describes as a shortcut rather than a full installed app. Support has been changing, so check Mozilla's current documentation before relying on it.

Removing everything: icon versus data

Deleting an icon is not always the same as deleting what the app stored. web.dev warns that deleting the icon may not clear the storage a PWA is using, and that uninstalling is different for each combination of operating system and browser. A web app can keep conversations, files and settings in the browser. If you used a messenger as a PWA on a shared device, uninstall it, and then clear the site data for that site in the browser too. The article about clearing browser data on a shared computer shows how.

When installing makes sense

Install a web app that you open every day, such as a messenger, a calendar or a notes tool, because a dedicated window and icon save clicks. Skip it for sites you visit once. Installing costs almost nothing and is easy to undo, so it is fine to try, but remember that an installed app is just a window onto the website: if the site is slow, blocked on your network or missing a permission, the installed version has the same problem.

Is it safe?

An installed PWA is as safe as the website it comes from. Install only sites you trust.
Check which permissions it has in the browser's site settings, and revoke the ones you do not use.
Do not confuse a PWA with a download. Nothing outside the browser's sandbox is installed on your computer, although the app does have an icon and window of its own.
If a site keeps asking you to install, you can ignore it. Installation is optional.

About ChatLite

ChatLite can be installed as a PWA when you want an app-like window. After installing, the same camera and microphone permissions apply, and clearing the site data removes the conversations stored in the browser.

References

Official documentation used to check this article. Pages are maintained by their owners and may change.

Reviewed against ChatLite's current behavior on 2026-10-24.