How to fix BrowserWindow is not a constructor error when creating child window in Electron renderer process

Question

I'm using electron to build an application that includes two windows. I'm trying to open a second window from inside renderer process doing something like:

const electron = require('electron');
const BrowserWindow = electron.BrowserWindow;

const childWindow = new BrowserWindow({
   width: 800,
   height: 600
});

I'm getting an error saying

BrowserWindow is not a constructor.

My other option is to use window.open, but that is not ideal since that returns BrowserWindowProxy object, which has limited functionality.

user_11563654 · Answer

For anyone that also has this problem and their code isn't inside an electron renderer, you're probably running the script using node script.js, you need to run it using electron script.js.

user_6402548 · Answer

I kept running into a related error with being able to access the dialog module in my renderer processes. I ended up following the guide on this webpage, which does it through ipc: https://developpaper.com/using-electron-to-call-up-the-system-dialog-box/

How to fix BrowserWindow is not a constructor error when creating child window in Electron renderer process

3 Answers