Trezor Bridge is a lightweight, background service developed by SatoshiLabs that enables secure communication between your Trezor Hardware Wallet and web applications. Because modern browsers often restrict direct USB interactions for security reasons, Bridge acts as a trusted mediator. When you use apps like Trezor Suite or third‑party wallet interfaces via browser, Bridge ensures that all commands—such as balance reads, transaction signing, or firmware updates—are forwarded securely. Private keys remain only on the hardware device; Bridge never exposes them.
Without Bridge, users would face fragmented support across browsers, unstable device detection, and increased risk of exposing sensitive data through faulty or malicious extensions. Bridge solves these problems:
Getting started with Bridge is straightforward. Head to Trezor.io/start to download the installer that matches your operating system. During installation, you may be asked to allow USB permissions or approve driver prompts. Once installed, Bridge runs quietly in the background. Then connect your Trezor Hardware Wallet via USB, open Trezor Suite or a web‑based wallet that supports Trezor Login, and you’ll see your device detected. All transaction signing or other secure operations will require confirmation on the device itself.
Bridge’s interface is minimal—most of its work is internal. After setup, you rarely need to interact with it manually, unless troubleshooting issues like compatibility or driver problems.
Trezor Bridge includes multiple layers of protection to ensure that your crypto remains safe. Some of the key features include:
Bridge enables many everyday crypto workflows that would be harder or unsafe otherwise. Examples include:
No. The desktop Suite includes built‑in communication drivers. Bridge is essential primarily when using browser‑based interfaces or third‑party web wallets that rely on web protocols to talk to your hardware wallet.
Trezor Bridge is very safe. It is open source, runs locally, does not log private keys or recovery seeds, and requires confirmation on the hardware wallet for sensitive operations. Always download Bridge from the official site via Trezor.io/start.
Ensure that Trezor Bridge is installed and running. Check that your USB cable works, try different USB ports, and confirm browser permissions for USB access. Also, make sure your browser version is supported.
Minimal impact. Bridge introduces only slight latency, mostly imperceptible—because the heavy work (signing, private key operations) happens on the device itself. The network and blockchain confirmation times typically dominate.
You can uninstall Bridge, but then browser‑based detection of your Trezor device will likely fail. If you rely solely on desktop Suite, that may be okay; otherwise keeping Bridge ensures compatibility with web apps, Trezor Login, and other ecosystem tools.