In modern investigations, the web browser is no longer just an application – it is a comprehensive journal of a suspect’s life, intentions, and habits. While end-to-end encrypted clouds and locked smartphones often hit a dead end, the desktop web browser remains one of the most significant grounds for digital evidence, often serving as the silent witness that helps solve a case.

The significance of browser data cannot be overstated; it often provides the critical evidence of intent necessary to secure a conviction. Unlike physical evidence, which places a suspect at a scene, search history can reveal intent weeks or months in advance. Consider the infamous case of Melanie McGuire (the “Suitcase Killer”), where the prosecution’s case pivoted on digital evidence. Forensic analysis of her desktop computer revealed searches for “how to commit murder” and “undetectable poisons” made days before her husband’s death. These digital breadcrumbs dismantled her defense and were instrumental in her life sentence.

Similarly, in the trial of Justin Ross Harris, accused of intentionally leaving his toddler in a hot car, web history played a central role. Investigators recovered search terms regarding child deaths in hot vehicles and visits to Reddit threads on the same topic. While the defense argued these were innocent or coincidental, the sheer specificity of the browser data allowed prosecutors to construct a narrative of intent rather than negligence. In both instances, the browser history didn’t just support the physical evidence; it provided the narrative context that physical evidence alone could not.

The desktop as a backdoor to mobile data

Many users today spend the majority of their time on smartphones, yet smartphones are increasingly difficult to access due to robust encryption and biometric locks. This is where the desktop computer becomes a critical asset. Modern web browsers are designed for seamless continuity; a user searching for a location on their iPhone’s Google Maps or reading an article on their Android’s Chrome often has that activity synchronized instantly to their desktop PC.

While the smartphone itself may be securely locked, the desktop computer – often protected by nothing more than a simple Windows user password – acts as a synchronized mirror of that mobile activity. By performing forensic triage on a suspect’s laptop or desktop, an investigator can effectively bypass the security of the mobile device, recovering synced tabs, history, and even passwords that originated on the phone. The desktop is no longer just a repository of local actions; it is a gateway to the suspect’s entire cloud-connected ecosystem.

Navigating the browser landscape

To effectively exploit this data, a forensic specialist must understand the underlying architecture of the tools in use. The market is overwhelmingly dominated by the Chromium engine, an open-source project maintained by Google. As of 2025, Google Chrome alone commands approximately 65% of the global desktop market, establishing the baseline for how browser data is structured. However, the Chromium ecosystem extends far beyond Chrome. Microsoft Edge, having abandoned its proprietary engine, now holds a significant second-place share of around 13% on desktops, utilizing the same underlying Chromium structures but with unique Microsoft integrations.

The remaining market is fragmented but significant. Apple’s Safari, while dominant on mobile with nearly 25-30% of the market share due to the iPhone ecosystem, holds a smaller but distinct footprint on desktop, particularly in macOS environments or legacy Windows installations. Mozilla Firefox, once a primary competitor, has stabilized at around 6-7% market share, maintaining a loyal user base that often includes privacy-conscious individuals who may be of particular interest in complex investigations. This diversity means that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to data extraction is destined to fail; an investigator must be equipped to handle the nuances of each engine.

Which artifacts are the most significant?

While the list of extractable browser-related artifacts is extensive, a few key artifacts often provide the breakthrough. History and places.sqlite are the obvious starting points, but sophisticated investigators know to look deeper. The Network Action Predictor in Chromium browsers, for example, is a goldmine; it records not just where the user went, but where they intended to go, logging predictive text that the user typed into the address bar but perhaps never executed – evidence of intent that exists nowhere else.

Furthermore, Login Data and signons.sqlite are critical for seeing where a user has accounts and for accessing those accounts. Recovering encrypted tokens from Network\Cookies can allow investigators to replicate a suspect’s session on another machine, granting access to cloud accounts (like Gmail or OneDrive) without needing the user’s password or 2FA. Accessing these tokens requires running the extraction in an authenticated session due to App-Bound Encryption; more on that in Browser Forensics in 2026: App-Bound Encryption and Live Triage.

Elcomsoft Quick Triage

The sheer volume of browser variants and the complexity of their data structures present a logistical nightmare for investigators. Manually hunting for User Data folders across dozens of profiles or trying to recall the specific path for a niche browser like “CocCoc” or “Sputnik” is an inefficient use of critical field time.

This is where purpose-built triage tools like Elcomsoft Quick Triage (EQT) prove invaluable. Designed for the reality of on-scene investigations, EQT automates the identification and extraction of these forensic artifacts. It does not require you to know whether the suspect used Chrome, Brave, or a legacy version of Edge; it simply scans, identifies, and extracts the relevant databases and configuration files across all supported profiles. Whether you are facing a standard corporate laptop or a system running less common privacy-focused browsers, EQT ensures that the digital evidence – from search history to synced cloud tokens – is secured before the device is even powered down.

In Browser Forensics in 2026: App-Bound Encryption and Live Triage, we wrote about the passwords and their extraction. It is important to export those extracted passwords into a wordlist, shaping a custom dictionary that should be used to attack passwords protecting the other types of encrypted evidence discovered on the computer being investigated.

Conclusion

The forensic value of web browser data extends far beyond simple navigational history. Modern Chromium and Gecko-based browsers function as operating systems within operating systems, storing granular user activity while simultaneously caching cloud-synced artifacts that may originate from the user’s mobile devices. The extraction of these artifacts provides investigators with a mechanism to bypass mobile encryption barriers, discover digital crumbs and find evidence of intent. As browser vendors implement stronger protections, the window of opportunity for extracting usable evidence is increasingly tethered to the active user session. Consequently, the investigative workflow must evolve from static disk imaging to prioritized live triage that targets these encryption-dependent assets.

Addendum: the technical part

Below is a comprehensive list of Web browsers and artifacts extracted with Elcomsoft Quick Triage.

Supported web browsers

Elcomsoft Quick Triage supports all major web browsers and a  number of outliers, covering not just the “Big Three” but also the long tail of privacy-focused and region-specific browsers often favored by sophisticated actors to evade detection.

Chromium-Based Browsers 

Our tool supports the following Chromium derivatives:

• Major: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera (Standard, GX, Crypto, Neon), Brave, Vivaldi.
• Privacy/Security: SRWare Iron, Epic Privacy, GhostBrowser, Iridium, Avast Secure Browser, AVG Secure Browser, Comodo Dragon.
• Regional/Niche: Yandex, UCBrowser, Amigo, Xpom, Kometa, Nichrome, Torch, Blisk, Orbitum, Slimjet, QIP Surf, Kinza, BlackHawk, Superbird, Sidekick, CentBrowser, Xvast, Chedot, SalamWeb, Elements, CocCoc, QQBrowser, 360Browser (and 360), Citrio, Uran, Coowon, 7Star, CoolNovo, Sputnik, Atom, CCleaner Browser, CryptoTab, Maxthon, Netbox, Swing, UR, ViaSat.

Mozilla-Based Browsers

EQT targets the following Gecko-based browsers:

• Major: Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird (Email/Browser hybrid).
• Privacy/Legacy: Waterfox, Pale Moon, Cyberfox, IceCat, SeaMonkey, K-Meleon, Basilisk.
• Niche: Slim, BlackHawk (Mozilla variant), PostboxApp, Comodo IceDragon, BitTube, Cliqz, Falkon.

Microsoft Edge (Legacy) & Internet Explorer

While the primary focus is on the Chromium version of Edge, our extraction capabilities include artifacts relevant to the legacy EdgeHTML engine and Internet Explorer infrastructure, which remain critical for analyzing older images or corporate environments.

Safari support is fully included for Apple Safari on Windows, capturing data from legacy installations that often persist on older suspect machines.

Forensic artifacts by category

Elcomsoft Quick Triage targets specific, high-value files that reconstruct user behavior.

• Chromium Artifacts
  For Chrome and its derivatives (Edge, Brave, Opera, etc.), the triage profile targets the standard SQLite databases and JSON configuration files located in the User Data directories.
  • User Activity & Navigation:
    • History (URLs, visits, timestamps)
    • Visited Links
    • Media History (Audio/Video playback)
    • Network Action Predictor (Predictive loading data)
  • Identity & Security:
    • Login Data (Saved usernames and encrypted passwords)
    • EncryptedStorage
    • Network\Cookies (Session cookies)
    • Secure Preferences
  • Configuration & Session:
    • Preferences (User settings)
    • Local State
    • Web Data (Auto-fill, form history)
    • Sessions and Session Storage
  • Storage:
    • Local Storage\leveldb\*
    • IndexedDB\**
    • WebStorage (CacheStorage)
  • Specific Extensions (Yandex):
    • Ya Credit Cards, Ya Passman Data, Ya Login Data
• Mozilla Artifacts
  For Firefox and related browsers, the extraction focuses on the root profile directory and specific database files that handle security and history.
  • Credentials & Encryption:
    • key3.db / key4.db (Encryption keys for the password store)
    • signons.sqlite / logins.json (Saved credentials)
  • User Data:
    • places.sqlite (Bookmarks and History)
    • formhistory.sqlite
    • cookies.sqlite
    • downloads.sqlite
  • Configuration:
    • prefs.js (User preferences)
    • *.json (Session restore files, extensions)
  • Storage:
    • storage\default\*.sqlite (Local storage objects)
• Microsoft Edge (Legacy)
  While modern Edge artifacts mirror the Chromium list, the file targets the specific database used by the legacy EdgeHTML engine and Internet Explorer.
  • Web Cache Database: Edge WebcacheV01.dat (Located in \microsoft\windows\webcache)
  • Internet Explorer Specifics:
    • index.dat (History, Cookies, UserData – specifically for legacy/XP systems)
    • IE 9/10/11 Cache and Cookies folders
• Safari Artifacts
  For Safari on Windows, the triage targets both the raw database files and the Property List (plist) configuration files.
  • Navigation & Data:
    • History.plist / History
    • Downloads.plist / Downloads
    • Cookies.plist / Cookies
    • Bookmarks.plist / Bookmarks
  • Session & Cache:
    • LastSession.plist / LastSession
    • cache.db
  • Security:
    • keychain.plist / keychain