Version 1.1.3 · Chrome 116+ · Manifest V3

One tab. Its own output.

AudioRoute sends a single Chrome tab's audio to headphones, speakers, HDMI, a USB DAC or a virtual device. Windows, your games, your call and every other tab stay on their default output.

Get it on the Chrome Web Store How it works

No accountNo backendNo telemetry

Windows lets every application pick its output. Chrome sends every tab to the same one.

AudioRoute adds the missing layer: an output device per tab — without touching the Windows default output and without a second program running in the background.

Features

Six things it does well

Per-tab control

Only the tab you picked is redirected. The rest of Chrome and Windows stays untouched.

Guided setup

Pick a device — done. If Chrome needs permission, a dedicated setup window opens where the prompt stays visible and clickable.

Local by default

No account, no backend, no analytics, no recording, no upload, no access to your browsing history.

Switch while playing

Move a live route between headphones, speakers, HDMI, USB and virtual outputs with one click.

Runs without the popup

Close the popup whenever you like. The route keeps running in the background until you stop it.

Fullscreen works

A small bundled bridge helps common players enter native fullscreen — YouTube-style controls, Video.js, Shaka Player, Plyr.

How it works

Redirected in three clicks

01
Play audio
Start a video, track or stream in the Chrome tab you want to redirect.
02
Open AudioRoute
Toolbar, AudioRoute, pick an output device. If device permission is already granted, the picker stays inside the popup.
03
Start routing
The audio moves to the selected device and stays there — even after you close the popup.

What happens technically

Step 1Active Chrome tabactiveTab

Step 2Local tab audio streamchrome.tabCapture

Step 3Offscreen AudioContextoffscreen

DestinationSelected output devicesetSinkId()

The service worker obtains a stream ID for the active tab. A hidden extension document consumes that stream, creates a Web Audio context and selects your output through it. Everything stays inside Chrome's local media pipeline — the audio never leaves your device.

Permissions

Five permissions, each with a reason

activeTab: Briefly identifies the tab you opened AudioRoute from.
tabCapture: Creates that tab's local audio stream after an explicit action by you.
offscreen: Keeps the Web Audio context alive after the popup closes.
scripting: Injects the bundled fullscreen bridge into exactly that tab.
storage: Remembers the selected output and resumes an interrupted device setup.

No host permission such as <all_urls>, no persistent access to websites, no remote code.

One special case: if Chrome does not offer its native output picker, AudioRoute requests media permission once — solely to display the names of the available outputs. The microphone stream this creates is stopped immediately and is never recorded, stored or transmitted.

AudioRoute has no backend and makes no network requests.

Your audio never leaves your device. Exactly one thing is stored permanently: the output device you picked last — locally in Chrome, on your machine.

Read the privacy policy

No account, no sign-in
No analytics, no telemetry
No advertising, no tracking
No cloud processing
No recording, no transcript
No access to browsing history
No remote code

Honest limits

What AudioRoute cannot do

Routing is per tab. Start a separate route for every additional tab.
Chrome system pages and the Web Store cannot be captured.
Chrome shows its usual capture indicator while a route is active.
Bluetooth, HDMI and virtual devices add latency from the driver and the operating system.
If the active device is disconnected, the route ends cleanly instead of running on silently.
Unusual embedded players still need F11 for fullscreen.

The right tab. The right output.

Nothing leaves your machine. Free, no account, no background program.

Get it on the Chrome Web Store

Requires Google Chrome 116 or newer on desktop.