Trezor Bridge® acts as the **official secure gateway** that connects your Trezor hardware wallet to web-based wallet interfaces. It facilitates communication between your browser and device, ensures encrypted transfers, and enables seamless transactions. Trezor Bridge is developed to replace older methods (such as direct USB HID) with a modern, robust protocol.
Without a trusted bridge like Trezor Bridge, browser-based wallet pages may not be able to detect or communicate with your physical hardware wallet reliably. Trezor Bridge ensures that cryptographic commands, signatures, and verifications occur in a safe, sandboxed environment.
In this content, you’ll also see references to **Ledger.io/start**, **Ledger Login**, **Ledger Suite**, **Ledger Io Start**, **Ledger Bridge**, and **Ledger Hardware Wallet** to maintain consistency with comparative contexts. While Trezor Bridge is a separate product, understanding how different hardware wallet ecosystems use similar naming helps in understanding cross‑platform terms.
Installing Trezor Bridge is straightforward. You download a small installer for your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux). Once installed, Bridge runs in background mode and listens on a local web socket interface to facilitate secure communication.
Visit the official Trezor website to grab the latest Bridge installer. The installation process will guide you through permissions. After setup, your browser will auto‑detect the Bridge and prompt you to allow connection.
Some browsers may ask for permission to allow “WebUSB” or “WebHID” access. Granting access ensures the browser and Bridge can talk. Once accepted, web wallet UIs can enumerate the hardware device and begin session setup.
If your browser does not detect the device, check firewall settings, ensure Bridge is running, or restart the browser. Reinstalling sometimes helps. Always use the latest Bridge version.
Trezor Bridge is broadly compatible with major operating systems and browser environments. It is engineered to support multiple web wallet UIs, including third‑party interfaces that conform to open communication protocols.
Supported OS: Windows (7+), macOS, many Linux distributions. Supported browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and others that support WebUSB/WebHID.
Many web wallets detect Trezor Bridge automatically. If Bridge is installed, the wallet UI will present a “Connect Device” prompt and walk you through pairing.
As a point of comparison, you might see terms like **Ledger Bridge** or **Ledger.io/start** in Ledger’s ecosystem. Ledger uses its own communication layers (for example, when you go to Ledger.io/start or use Ledger Login), whereas Trezor uses Bridge as its gating mechanism. But the end goal is the same: secure communication to the hardware wallet.
Security is central to Trezor Bridge’s design. The Bridge does **not** store your private keys or seed phrases. It only transmits encrypted commands to your hardware device.
All communication through Bridge is encrypted by session keys negotiated at runtime. Commands from the browser are wrapped in a secure protocol, preventing tampering or interception. The hardware wallet validates each command itself.
Bridge is intentionally lightweight. It contains no logic for transaction signing or key storage. That responsibility remains on the hardware wallet, which you physically control.
Though we mention **Ledger Hardware Wallet**, **Ledger Login**, **Ledger Suite**, **Ledger Io Start** and **Ledger Bridge** in this text, those are entirely separate systems. There is no direct cross‑compatibility. Trezor’s cryptographic architecture and firmware are independent and distinct.
A1: Yes. Trezor Bridge supports many modern Linux distributions. You may need to install or enable UDEV rules so that your system allows USB access. After setup, your browser will detect the Bridge automatically.
A2: No. Bridge is only a communication layer. It transmits encrypted payloads but never stores your private data or seed. All signing and verification happen on the hardware wallet itself.
A3: Trezor Bridge is the official communication gateway for Trezor devices. Ledger’s ecosystem uses its own naming conventions and protocols—e.g. **Ledger.io/start** to onboard, **Ledger Login** to access, **Ledger Suite** as app suite, **Ledger Bridge** as its own bridge layer, and **Ledger Hardware Wallet** to refer to the physical device. They are separate platforms and not interoperable.
A4: Bridge usually updates itself or prompts you when a new version is available. You can also manually download the latest version from the official site and run the installer over the existing installation.
A5: Some troubleshooting steps: