Description of the issue: When my brave browser is closed and I click on an external link in an app like discord or a game it will not open brave unless it is already open, not much of an issue just little more work, it recently started dong this. How can this issue be reproduced?
When brave is not open and I click an external link in an app.
Expected result:brave does not open.
Brave Version( check About Brave):Brave 1.95.104 (Official Build) (64-bit)
This looks like it matches a known, still-open issue tracked on GitHub: brave/brave-browser#37918 (“Cannot open links from external programs”), opened April 28, 2024. The reported symptom there is the same as yours — links clicked from external apps (Discord, Outlook, mIRC, Phonelink, etc.) fail to open when Brave is set as default but Brave itself isn’t already running, while the same links work fine in Chrome/Firefox.
Status as of now: still open, labeled “needs-investigation,” with no branches or pull requests linked — meaning no fix has actually been worked on. The last visible activity on the issue was in May 2024 (just label/triage changes), so it’s been effectively stalled for over a year. Disabling Shields/Rewards doesn’t help either, per the reports there. The only “workaround” mentioned is switching the default browser away from Brave, which isn’t a real solution.
If your setup matches (external app + Brave closed = link fails, but works if Brave is already open), it would help to add a comment on #37918 with your OS, Brave version, and the specific app(s) affected — since the issue currently has no active investigation, another data point may help it get picked up.
Can you confirm: does the link work fine if Brave is already running in the background, and only fails when it’s fully closed?
Brave 1.95.104 (Official Build) (64-bit) and windows 11, seems to be any app, discord, nikke are the main ones i use that have links, it only does it when brave is closed, if it is open it opens the links fine.