Widevine Auto-Installer Script for Windows

[karayelxyz]

Hello, the manual Widevine installation guide didn't work for me. After reviewing the Widevine hierarchy in other Chromium browsers, I found a solution that works.

I hope this helps others who are struggling with the manual steps.

How to use:

1. Copy the following code: irm https://karayelxyz.github.io/browser-widevine-installer/install.ps1 | iex
2. Run in PowerShell.
3. Restart browser

The script will download the latest sources and install Widevine for Chromium. Once the installation is complete, you can test your Widevine status here: https://bitmovin.com/demos/drm/

The result should look like this:

Source code: https://github.com/karayelxyz/browser-widevine-installer

[PF4Public]

I found a solution that works.

1. Copy the following code: irm ucwidevine.karayel.xyz | iex

So, what is the solution you found? I'm sorry, but there must be a better solution than downloading something and immediately executing it.

[karayelxyz]

So, what is the solution you found?

The issue stems from the directory structure. Unlike the structure recommended by Woolyss, WidevineCdm folder requires a child folder named after the specific plugin version (as specified in the manifest.json file).

Woolyss's recommeded structure:

WidevineCdm
  ├── LICENSE.txt
  ├── manifest.json
  └── _platform_specific
      └── win_x64 (Note: if it is for 64-bit Windows, obviously!)
          ├── widevinecdm.dll
          └── widevinecdm.dll.sig

This structure matches how other chromium browsers handle the plugin, and I've verified it works:

WidevineCdm
  └── 4.10.2934.0 (Plugin version)
      ├── manifest.json
      └── _platform_specific
          └── win_x64 (Note: if it is for 64-bit Windows, obviously!)
              ├── widevinecdm.dll
              └── widevinecdm.dll.sig

I'm sorry, but there must be a better solution than downloading something and immediately executing it.

I understand the security concerns. To be transparent, I'm sharing the powershell script below instead. This way, you can see exactly what it does. It follows the same logic as the FAQ page.

<#
.SYNOPSIS
Installs the latest Widevine Content Decryption Module (CDM) for a Chromium-based browser (Windows x64).

.DESCRIPTION
Interactive installer: asks which browser to target, validates its User Data folder, downloads the
newest release from this repository and installs it into <User Data>\WidevineCdm\<version>.
Run this script in an interactive PowerShell window.

Source: https://github.com/karayelxyz/browser-widevine-installer
#>

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'

if ([Console]::IsInputRedirected) {
    Write-Host "[ERROR] Run this script in an interactive PowerShell window." -ForegroundColor Red
    exit 1
}

$repo = 'karayelxyz/browser-widevine-installer'

function Write-Banner {
    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host "================================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    Write-Host "      Widevine CDM Installer (win-x64)" -ForegroundColor White
    Write-Host "================================================" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    Write-Host ""
}

function Show-Menu {
    Write-Host " Select the browser to install Widevine for:" -ForegroundColor White
    Write-Host "   [1] Helium" -ForegroundColor Gray
    Write-Host "   [2] Ungoogled Chromium / Chromium" -ForegroundColor Gray
    Write-Host "   [3] Custom path..." -ForegroundColor Gray
    Write-Host "   [0] Exit" -ForegroundColor DarkGray
    Write-Host ""
}

function Resolve-Target {
    param([string]$Selection)

    switch ($Selection) {
        '1' {
            return @{
                Name = 'Helium'
                Path = (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'imput\Helium\User Data')
            }
        }
        '2' {
            return @{
                Name = 'Ungoogled Chromium / Chromium'
                Path = (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA 'Chromium\User Data')
            }
        }
        '3' {
            $custom = Read-Host ' Enter the full path to your browser User Data folder'
            if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($custom)) {
                Write-Host " [ERROR] No path entered." -ForegroundColor Red
                return $null
            }
            return @{ Name = 'Custom'; Path = $custom.Trim() }
        }
    }

    return $null
}

# --- Select the target browser ---
Write-Banner

$target = $null
do {
    Show-Menu
    $choice = Read-Host ' Select an option'
    if ($choice -eq '0') {
        Write-Host " [ABORT] Nothing was changed." -ForegroundColor Yellow
        return
    }
    $target = Resolve-Target $choice
    if (-not $target) {
        Write-Host " [ERROR] Invalid option: '$choice'. Try again." -ForegroundColor Red
        Write-Host ""
    }
} while (-not $target)

$UserDataPath = $target.Path
$browserName = $target.Name

# --- Validate the target folder ---
if (-not (Test-Path $UserDataPath)) {
    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host " [WARNING] The User Data folder does not exist:" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    Write-Host "   $UserDataPath" -ForegroundColor DarkGray
    $ans = Read-Host " Continue anyway? [y/N]"
    if ($ans -notin @('y', 'Y', 'yes', 'YES')) {
        Write-Host " [ABORT] Nothing was changed." -ForegroundColor Yellow
        return
    }
}

$widevineBase = Join-Path $UserDataPath 'WidevineCdm'
$tempWork = Join-Path $env:TEMP 'WidevineInstaller'
$zipPath = Join-Path $tempWork 'widevine.zip'
$extractPath = Join-Path $tempWork 'extracted'

Write-Banner
Write-Host "  Browser: $browserName" -ForegroundColor White
Write-Host "  Target:  $widevineBase" -ForegroundColor DarkGray
Write-Host ""

if (Test-Path $tempWork) { Remove-Item $tempWork -Recurse -Force }
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $extractPath -Force | Out-Null

try {
    # 1. Fetch the latest release (always the most current one)
    Write-Host " [1/5] Looking up the latest Widevine release..." -ForegroundColor Gray
    $release = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.github.com/repos/$repo/releases/latest"
    $asset = $release.assets | Where-Object { $_.name -like 'widevine-win-x64-*.zip' } | Select-Object -First 1
    if (-not $asset) { throw 'widevine-win-x64-*.zip asset not found!' }
    $version = $release.tag_name -replace '^widevine-', ''
    Write-Host " [OK] Latest version: $version" -ForegroundColor Green

    # 2. Download
    Write-Host " [2/5] Downloading..." -ForegroundColor Gray
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $asset.browser_download_url -OutFile $zipPath
    Write-Host " [OK] $([math]::Round((Get-Item $zipPath).Length / 1MB, 1)) MB downloaded" -ForegroundColor Green

    # 3. Extract the package
    Write-Host " [3/5] Extracting package..." -ForegroundColor Gray
    Expand-Archive -Path $zipPath -DestinationPath $extractPath -Force

    # 4. Verify and install
    $manifestFile = Get-ChildItem -Path $extractPath -Filter 'manifest.json' -Recurse | Select-Object -First 1
    if (-not $manifestFile) { throw 'manifest.json not found!' }
    $manifest = Get-Content $manifestFile.FullName -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
    if ($manifest.name -notlike '*Widevine*') { throw "Invalid package: $($manifest.name)" }

    $finalDest = Join-Path $widevineBase $manifest.version
    $dll = Join-Path $finalDest '_platform_specific\win_x64\widevinecdm.dll'

    if (Test-Path $dll) {
        Write-Host " [4/5] Version $($manifest.version) is already installed." -ForegroundColor Green
    } else {
        if (Test-Path $finalDest) {
            Write-Host " [4/5] Replacing version: $($manifest.version)" -ForegroundColor Gray
            Remove-Item $finalDest -Recurse -Force
        } else {
            Write-Host " [4/5] Installing version: $($manifest.version)" -ForegroundColor Gray
        }
        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $finalDest -Force | Out-Null
        Copy-Item -Path "$($manifestFile.DirectoryName)\*" -Destination $finalDest -Recurse -Force
    }

    # 5. Remove older versions (keep only the latest)
    Get-ChildItem -Path $widevineBase -Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Where-Object { $_.Name -ne $manifest.version } |
        ForEach-Object {
            try {
                Remove-Item $_.FullName -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop
                Write-Host " [5/5] Removed old version: $($_.Name)" -ForegroundColor Gray
            } catch {
                Write-Host " [WARNING] Could not remove old version $($_.Name) (in use?): $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Yellow
            }
        }

    if (-not (Test-Path $dll)) { throw "widevinecdm.dll not found: $dll" }

    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host "----------------------------------------------" -ForegroundColor Gray
    Write-Host " [SUCCESS] Widevine installed!" -ForegroundColor Green
    Write-Host "  Version: $($manifest.version)" -ForegroundColor White
    Write-Host "  Path:    $finalDest" -ForegroundColor DarkGray
    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host " [REMINDER] Fully close and restart $browserName, then check" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    Write-Host "   chrome://components to verify the 'Widevine Content Decryption Module' version." -ForegroundColor Yellow

} catch {
    Write-Host ""
    Write-Host " [ERROR] $($_.Exception.Message)" -ForegroundColor Red
} finally {
    if (Test-Path $tempWork) { Remove-Item $tempWork -Recurse -Force }
}

Write-Host ""
Write-Host " Press any key to exit..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
$null = $Host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey('NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown')

[nigelp]

In the end I just installed a standard Chrome browser temporarily, then did this (your paths may differ!) :

Copy the \WidevineCdm folder complete from the :

C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\150.0.7871.129 folder (version)

to the

C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Chromium\Application\141.0.7390.76 (version) folder.

Close Chromium browser and restart. Voila. :)