Output Format

HTML Executable is a powerful tool that allows you to transform your websites, ebooks, and PDF documents into stand-alone Windows applications in .EXE format.

Stand-Alone EXE Files with No Dependencies 🚀

HTML Executable is designed to generate stand-alone Windows applications. Your website is neatly packed into a single .EXE file, ready for distribution. This .EXE file does not require any third-party software such as the Microsoft .NET Framework or external DLLs. However, the code necessary to run stand-alone EXE files takes about 15 MB uncompressed. If size is not a concern for you, stick with the stand-alone option.

Compressing Executable Files for Easy Distribution 📦

Planning to distribute your publication .EXE file on the Internet? We recommend compressing it to reduce its size and download time. Here are some ways to do it:

✅ Compress the final .EXE file with UPX: UPX is a free executable packer available at https://upx.sourceforge.net. HTML Executable can call UPX automatically if you enable this option.

✅ Distribute the final .EXE file in an installer: You can use the installer creator Paquet Builder to compress your .EXE file into an installer or Setup program, which is optimized for online distribution.

👉 See Create Installer.

✅ Protect your EXE file with a third-party EXE compressor or protector: Stand-alone executable files made with HTML Executable can be secured with third-party software protection systems.

Managing Publication Data and Search Index Data 📚

  HTML Executable creates a single EXE file by default. However, if you have large source files, you might easily reach the EXE size limit (4 GB). To bypass this limit, you can enable Keep publication data outside the EXE file. HTML Executable will create two files: your EXE file and a second file with the same name, but a different extension (.hedata).

  If you have a large amount of source files, the search index data might exceed the free memory limit available for 32-bit programs (2 GB). To address this problem, enable Keep the search index data outside the EXE file. HTML Executable will store the search index in two companion files with the same name as your publication EXE, but different extensions (.searchi.dat and .searchx.dat).

Managing Chromium Embedded Framework Runtime Files 💻

If you enable "Do not compile CEF files into the EXE", HTML Executable will not compile the mandatory Chromium Embedded Framework runtime files into your application EXE file (saving approximately 70 MB in size). However, the application will not work on a computer if these files are not found. The following error message will be shown: `missing CEF3 files!`

  You can use this option only if you are sure to install these files yourself. For instance, these files can be set up automatically if you use the hecefruntimeXXXX.exe installer (where XXXX is the version) available in the Redist subfolder of the HTML Executable installation. Alternatively, you can find them in the CEFRuntime subfolder of the HTML Executable installation. The files must be made available in the shared cache folder on the end user's computer.

Do Not Cache CEF Files Locally

Since the Chromium Embedded Framework runtime files have a large size (approximately 240 MB uncompressed), it normally takes several seconds for the application to decompress them to memory at startup. To avoid this decompression step and gain loading time, the application will decompress and store Chromium Embedded Framework runtime files into a shared cache folder on the end user's computer the first time it is run. If the runtime files already exist in the cache, they are used directly, and no decompression is necessary.

If you do not want your application to store Chromium Embedded Framework runtime files (for instance, to save disk space on the end user's computer), you can enable "Do not cache CEF files locally". However, the application will take longer to load each time it is run.

The cache folder is the same for all applications made with HTML Executable. By default, the following cache folder path is used: C:\ProgramData\GDG Software\HTML Executable App Cache\CEFXXXX, where XXXX represents the version number of the Chromium Embedded Framework used by HTML Executable.

A different cache folder name will be used if you configured a custom name for the application's storage folder.