share_target manifest member

Limited availabilityNot supported in Firefox (Desktop), Safari (iOS), Safari (macOS)WICG draft

share_target registers an installed web app as a destination in the operating system’s share sheet. When the user picks the app, the browser delivers the shared title, text, URL, and files to a URL inside the app’s scope, either as query parameters on a GET navigation or as a multipart/form-data POST that a service worker can intercept.

Chrome 76 on Android, Edge 89 on desktop (GET, with limited file support), and Samsung Internet 12.0 read the member (BCD html.manifest.share_target). Safari 27 on iOS and macOS and Firefox 157 do not implement it, so the app never appears in their share sheets. The member is the receiving half of sharing; the sending half is navigator.share().

Share target: from the manifest declaration through the OS share sheet to the GET or POST handler.

Member

• Type: object with action (in-scope URL that receives the share), method ("GET" or "POST"), enctype ("application/x-www-form-urlencoded" or "multipart/form-data"), and params, an object mapping the shared fields to parameter names: title, text, url, and files, an array of { "name", "accept" } where accept lists MIME types or extensions.
• Default: absent, so the app is not a share target. Inside the object method defaults to "GET" and enctype to "application/x-www-form-urlencoded".
• Example value: { "action": "/share", "method": "GET", "params": { "title": "title", "text": "text", "url": "url" } }.

Chromium validates the combination and drops the whole member on a bad one, logging to the manifest’s error list: invalid method. Allowed methods are: GET and POST., invalid enctype for GET method. Only application/x-www-form-urlencoded is supported., files are only supported with multipart/form-data POST., and property 'share_target' ignored. Property 'action' is invalid. when action is cross-origin or outside scope. Files therefore require "method": "POST" with "enctype": "multipart/form-data"; text-only targets work with the defaults.

The app must be installed before it appears in the share sheet, and the entry carries the manifest’s short_name and icon. Android shows it alongside native apps; a user who has not installed the PWA has no way to share into it, which is why a share-target page also needs an ordinary route for pasted content. When the shared payload has a text but no url, Chrome on Android often places the link inside text, so handlers parse both fields.

Observed

Chrome 155 on macOS 26 (English UI), DevTools > Application > Manifest, with "share_target": { "action": "/share", "method": "GET", "params": { "files": [{ "name": "f", "accept": ["image/*"] }] } }: the Errors and warnings section reads files are only supported with multipart/form-data POST. and the manifest is treated as having no share target. Switching to "method": "POST", "enctype": "multipart/form-data" clears the line.

Examples

The examples follow the two delivery paths and then cover the user who cannot reach either.

Receiving a link and text with a GET navigation

A read-later app accepts the three text fields. The share opens /share?title=…&text=…&url=… in the installed app, and the page reads the query string on load. Because Android sometimes delivers the link in text, the handler falls back to the first URL it finds there.

{
  "share_target": {
    "action": "/share",
    "method": "GET",
    "params": { "title": "title", "text": "text", "url": "url" }
  }
}

const params = new URLSearchParams(location.search);
const text = params.get('text') ?? '';
const url = params.get('url') ?? text.match(/https?:\/\/\S+/)?.[0] ?? null;

if (url) {
  saveLink({ title: params.get('title') ?? '', url });
} else {
  showPasteForm(text); // nothing shareable arrived: let the user paste a link instead
}

Use history.replaceState after saving so a reload does not store the same link twice.

Receiving files through the service worker

Images need POST and multipart encoding. The service worker intercepts the POST to action, reads the form data, stores the files, and answers with a 303 redirect so the client lands on a normal GET page; without the redirect a reload would resubmit the share.

{
  "share_target": {
    "action": "/share/upload",
    "method": "POST",
    "enctype": "multipart/form-data",
    "params": {
      "title": "title",
      "files": [{ "name": "photos", "accept": ["image/jpeg", "image/png", "image/webp"] }]
    }
  }
}

service-worker.js

self.addEventListener('fetch', (event) => {
  const url = new URL(event.request.url);
  if (event.request.method !== 'POST' || url.pathname !== '/share/upload') return;

  event.respondWith((async () => {
    const form = await event.request.formData();
    const files = form.getAll('photos');
    const cache = await caches.open('shared-inbox');
    await Promise.all(files.map((file, i) => cache.put(`/shared/${Date.now()}-${i}`, new Response(file))));
    return Response.redirect('/share/review', 303);
  })());
});

The /share/review page lists caches.open('shared-inbox') and lets the user confirm before the files go to the server, which also covers a share that arrives while the device is offline.

Falling back when the app is not installed

The share sheet only lists installed apps, and Safari 27 and Firefox 157 list no web apps at all. A route that accepts pasted content and, where navigator.share exists, offers the outgoing direction keeps the feature usable everywhere.

const canReceive = matchMedia('(display-mode: standalone)').matches; // installed: the OS can share into us
const canSend = 'share' in navigator;

document.querySelector('#hint').textContent = canReceive
  ? 'Share from any app and pick this one.'
  : canSend
    ? 'Install the app to receive shares; you can still share out with the button.'
    : 'Paste a link or text in the box.';

display-mode: standalone is a proxy for “installed”, not a guarantee that the share target was registered; it is the best signal a page has.

See also

• Receive shared content (share target)
• Web Share API: native share sheet from the browser
• scope manifest member
• file_handlers manifest member
• Web Share Target API (w3c.github.io)
• Receiving shared data with the Web Share Target API (developer.chrome.com)

Specifications

Specification	Status
manifest: share_target	WICG draft
Web Share Target API	W3C draft

• Legend
• Yes
• Partial
• Flag
• No
• Unknown

Browser / Platform	Support	Versions	Confidence	Source	Notes
Chrome (Android)	Yes	76	low	source	—
Edge (Desktop)	Yes	89	low	source	1
Samsung Internet	Yes	12.0	low	source	—
Firefox (Desktop)	No	—	low	source	2
Safari (iOS)	No	—	low	source	3
Safari (macOS)	No	—	low	source	4

1. Limited file support in GET mode.
2. No desktop install path consuming share_target.
3. Not supported on iOS.
4. Not supported on macOS.

Source data: /compatibility/manifest-share-target.json · Global usage: 72 % (StatCounter 2026-05)

Source: spec · MDN · Last verified 2026-07-11 · Confidence: low (computed from sources)