Ledger Live / Getting started / Downloads
Download Ledger Live
Ledger Live is the companion application for Ledger hardware wallets, and it is distributed as a free download for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. This page covers where each build comes from, what the installer contains, how to confirm that the copy of Ledger Live on your machine is the real one, and what happens the first time you open it.
The download itself takes a couple of minutes. The part that deserves attention is everything around it: the address you type into the browser, the publisher name on the app store listing, and the checksum on the desktop installer. Wallet software attracts lookalike sites and imitation listings, and Ledger Live is one of the most heavily imitated applications in crypto, so these habits matter far more than the click.
One rule frames the whole process. Nothing here asks for a recovery phrase, and no genuine installation of Ledger Live ever will. If a download page, an app, or a support agent asks you to type your 24 words into a screen, stop immediately, because that request only ever comes from an attacker.
- Price
- Free
- Account
- Not required
- Builds
- 5 platforms
- Signing
- On device
§ 01
The package
What the Ledger Live download actually contains
The file you download is an ordinary application package for your operating system, not a browser plugin and not a background service. Once installed, Ledger Live gives you a portfolio view of your accounts, a send and receive screen for each supported asset, a device manager that adds or removes the small coin apps stored on your hardware wallet, and the connection layer that lets the computer or phone talk to that wallet over USB or Bluetooth.
What the package does not contain is your money or your keys. Private keys are generated and kept inside the hardware wallet, and they never travel into Ledger Live. The application assembles an unsigned transaction, sends it to the device for you to approve on the device screen, receives the signed result, and broadcasts it to the relevant network. If someone steals the laptop with Ledger Live on it, they still cannot move funds without the physical wallet and its PIN. This split between an online interface and an offline signer is the core idea behind a hardware cryptocurrency wallet, and it is the reason Ledger Live can be reinstalled freely without any risk to your funds.
There is no sign-up step. Ledger Live does not ask for an email address, a password, or a username before it will run, because your accounts are derived from the device rather than from an online profile. The download is free, and so is every core feature of Ledger Live: viewing balances, installing coin apps, sending, receiving, and updating firmware.
A few things arrive after installation rather than inside it. Coin apps for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and the rest are fetched on demand when you install them onto the device through Ledger Live. The buy, sell, swap, and staking screens inside Ledger Live are operated by third-party providers, each with its own pricing, identity checks, and regional availability, so those services are reached through Ledger Live rather than supplied by it.
§ 02
Builds
Where Ledger Live runs and how each build is delivered
There are five builds, and the delivery channel differs by platform. The three desktop builds of Ledger Live are downloaded from the official Ledger website as installer files you run yourself. The two mobile builds are published through the Apple App Store and Google Play, which means the store handles delivery, signing checks, and updates on your behalf. Anywhere else offering Ledger Live, including download aggregators, mirror sites, and third-party APK repositories, is outside that chain and should be ignored.
The requirements are modest. Any currently supported 64-bit version of Windows will run the desktop build of Ledger Live, macOS is supported on both Intel and Apple silicon machines, and the Linux build ships as an AppImage for 64-bit x86 systems. On phones, a reasonably recent iOS or Android release is enough. You need a working internet connection for Ledger Live to sync balances and broadcast transactions, plus a few hundred megabytes of free disk space for the application and its local cache.
Connection method is the detail people miss. On desktop, Ledger Live talks to the wallet over a USB cable, so a data cable rather than a charge-only one is essential. On mobile, Ledger Live connects over Bluetooth to the models that support it, and on Android it can also connect by cable using USB OTG. Check your specific model before assuming a wireless connection is available, since the smallest devices in the range are cable-only.
| Platform | Package | Delivered by | Device connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Signed .exe installer | Official website | USB cable |
| macOS | .dmg disk image | Official website | USB cable |
| Linux | .AppImage, 64-bit | Official website | USB cable, udev rules needed |
| iOS and iPadOS | App Store listing | Apple App Store | Bluetooth, on supported models |
| Android | Play Store listing | Google Play | Bluetooth or USB OTG cable |
§ 03
Which one
Ledger Live on desktop compared with Ledger Live on mobile
Both builds read the same accounts from the same hardware wallet, so this is not a question of one version of Ledger Live being the real one. The difference is in the setup and maintenance work: the desktop build has more room for firmware operations, long account lists, and detailed transaction history, while the mobile build is built around checking balances and approving payments while you are away from a computer.
If you are unboxing a device for the first time, run the onboarding in Ledger Live on a desktop machine with a cable. It is the most predictable path, and a wired connection removes an entire class of pairing problems. Once the device is set up, installing Ledger Live on a phone as a second view of the same accounts takes only a few minutes.
| Task | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up a brand new device | Recommended, wired and stable | Possible with Bluetooth models |
| Firmware updates | Supported for all connected models | Depends on the model, check in-app |
| Installing coin apps | Yes | Yes |
| Reviewing long histories | Easier, wide layout and filters | Workable but cramped |
| Receiving on the move | Tied to the computer | Strongest use case |
| Update mechanism | In-app prompt, manual on Linux | Handled by the app store |
§ 04
Preparation
Before you download Ledger Live
Two minutes of preparation removes most of the ways a Ledger Live download can go wrong. The single most important habit is deciding how you will reach the download page before you go looking for it. Type the official address by hand or use a bookmark you saved earlier, and treat search results, sponsored ads, social media posts, and messages from support accounts as untrusted routes, no matter how convincing the page they lead to looks.
The second habit is knowing what you should already have in front of you. A genuine setup only needs the device, a cable, and the installer for your platform. Nothing in the process requires you to reveal your recovery phrase, pay a fee to activate Ledger Live, or install a remote-access tool so someone can help you.
- Reach the Ledger Live download page through a bookmark or a typed address, then confirm the browser shows a valid HTTPS connection.
- Pick the build that matches your operating system and processor architecture, especially on macOS.
- Have the hardware wallet and its USB cable within reach, since Ledger Live will ask for the device early in onboarding.
- Close any other wallet software that may be holding the USB connection open, so Ledger Live can claim it.
- Note the published checksum for the desktop installer before you leave the page, so you can compare it afterward.
- Remember that Ledger Live never needs your 24-word recovery phrase, at download time or at any other moment.
§ 05
Desktop
Installing Ledger Live on Windows, macOS, and Linux
Each desktop platform has its own package format and its own quirks. The Ledger Live download page normally detects your system and offers the right file, but it is worth checking the file name before you run it, because downloading the wrong architecture is a common cause of an installer that refuses to start.
Windows
Download the installer, then run it from your Downloads folder. Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt while it checks the publisher signature on the file. Expand the details and confirm the publisher name is the one you expect before continuing, rather than clicking through on autopilot. The installer places Ledger Live in your user profile and adds a Start menu entry.
You do not need administrator rights for a standard installation of Ledger Live, and no separate USB driver is required. If a corporate machine blocks the installer outright, that is a policy decision by your IT department rather than a problem with the file, and a personal computer is generally a better home for wallet software anyway.
macOS
The macOS build arrives as a disk image. Open it, drag the application into your Applications folder, then eject the disk image and delete it. Launching Ledger Live from inside the mounted image rather than from Applications is a frequent cause of odd behavior later, including updates that appear to install but never take effect.
On first launch, macOS verifies the developer signature and notarization, which can add a short pause before the Ledger Live window appears. Choose the build that matches your processor if the page offers a choice between Apple silicon and Intel, and allow the local network or Bluetooth permission prompts only if you actually intend to pair a wireless device.
Linux
The Linux build is distributed as a single AppImage file that runs without being installed into the system. Save it somewhere sensible, mark it as executable, and run it. Nothing is written into system directories, so removing Ledger Live later is a matter of deleting the file and its configuration folder in your home directory.
The one extra step Linux users almost always need is udev rules. Without them the kernel will not grant your user account permission to talk to the USB device, and Ledger Live will sit there reporting that no wallet is connected even though the cable is plugged in. Ledger publishes a rules script for this purpose; run it, then unplug and reconnect the device, or log out and back in before starting Ledger Live again.
Distribution packages for Ledger Live in community repositories, AUR helpers, or Flatpak-style stores are maintained by third parties rather than being official releases. They may lag behind, and they add a party you have to trust between the source code and your machine. The AppImage from the official download page is the safer default.
# make the AppImage executable, then run it
chmod +x ledger-live-desktop-*.AppImage
./ledger-live-desktop-*.AppImage§ 06
Mobile
Installing Ledger Live on iOS and Android
On phones and tablets the app stores handle delivery of Ledger Live, so there is no installer to verify by hand. The risk shifts from tampered files to imitation listings, which means your attention belongs on the developer name, the review history, and the number of downloads rather than on the icon and the title, both of which are trivial for a copycat to reproduce.
iPhone and iPad
Search the App Store for Ledger Live and check that the listing is published by Ledger before you install. Open the developer page to see the other apps under the same account, which is a fast way to tell an official publisher from an imitator with a similar name. Then install as you would any other app.
On iOS, Ledger Live connects to hardware wallets over Bluetooth, so a wired connection is not the path here. Grant the Bluetooth permission when prompted, keep the device close during pairing, and expect the first pairing to take a moment while the two sides exchange keys. Cable-only wallet models cannot pair with an iPhone, which is worth knowing before you plan around it.
Android
On Google Play, check the developer name shown under the title and open the listing details to confirm it. Install Ledger Live from Play rather than from an APK file offered by a website, a forum post, or a messaging app. Sideloaded builds of Ledger Live are the classic delivery method for wallet-draining clones, and once such an app is running on your phone it can present a convincing but false interface.
Android supports both connection methods. Bluetooth works with the wireless models, and a USB OTG cable works with the cable-only ones, which makes Android the more flexible of the two mobile platforms. If Ledger Live does not see a device over USB, try a different cable first, since many bundled cables carry power only.
§ 07
Integrity
Verifying that your Ledger Live download is genuine
Desktop downloads of Ledger Live can be checked against a published hash. The official download page lists a hash value for each installer, produced by running the file through a cryptographic checksum function. Compute the same hash on your own copy and compare the two strings. If they match character for character, the file that reached your disk is bit-for-bit identical to the one that was published.
Use the algorithm that matches the published value, and compare the whole string rather than glancing at the first few characters. A single altered byte anywhere in the Ledger Live installer produces a completely different result, which is exactly what makes the check useful.
Code signing is the second layer, and it works even if you skip the hash. The Windows installer carries a publisher signature that SmartScreen checks, and the macOS build of Ledger Live is signed and notarized by Apple, which is why the operating system pauses briefly on first launch. A warning that the developer cannot be verified is a reason to stop and delete the file, not a hurdle to bypass with a right-click.
The third layer runs after installation. When you connect your wallet, Ledger Live performs a genuine check, a challenge-and-response exchange with Ledger's servers that confirms the device holds an authentic secure element and has not been swapped for a counterfeit. A device that fails this check should never be loaded with funds, whatever the seller told you. Taken together, the hash, the signature, and the genuine check inside Ledger Live cover the file, the publisher, and the hardware, which is the full chain between a download page and a working setup.
# Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt
certutil -hashfile ledger-live-desktop-setup.exe SHA512
# macOS and Linux
shasum -a 512 ledger-live-desktop-*.AppImage
# then compare the output with the value published
# next to the download link, in full§ 08
Onboarding
First launch of Ledger Live, step by step
Opening Ledger Live for the first time starts a guided flow that adapts to whether your device is brand new or already set up. The sequence below is the common path from a fresh installation to a portfolio that shows real balances.
-
Step 01
Open the app and choose your device
Ledger Live asks which model you have and whether you are setting it up for the first time or restoring an existing one. Pick the model printed on your device rather than guessing from the picture.
-
Step 02
Set a PIN and write down the recovery phrase
Both happen on the device screen, never in the Ledger Live window. Write the words on the supplied cards by hand, and never photograph them or type them into any screen, including one that looks like Ledger Live.
-
Step 03
Let the genuine check run
Connect the device and allow Ledger Live to confirm its authenticity. If firmware is out of date, take the update now, while the device is empty and the process is low risk.
-
Step 04
Install coin apps and add accounts
Use the manager to install the apps for the assets you hold, then add the matching accounts. Ledger Live scans the blockchain for addresses derived from your device and imports any history it finds.
-
Step 05
Test with a small transaction
Send a small amount in, confirm it appears in Ledger Live, then send a small amount back out and approve it on the device. This proves the whole path works before larger sums depend on it.
The first full sync can take longer than you expect on accounts with years of history, and the portfolio may look incomplete while it works through them. Leave Ledger Live open until the loading indicators finish rather than restarting it repeatedly, which only starts the scan over.
§ 09
Maintenance
Keeping Ledger Live up to date after the first download
On Windows and macOS, Ledger Live checks for new releases itself and offers to download and apply them, so the initial download is usually the only one you make by hand. Accepting these updates matters, because new networks, changed fee rules, and fixes for provider integrations arrive through them, and an old build of Ledger Live can misread a chain that has moved on.
The Linux AppImage works differently. Because it is a self-contained file rather than a managed installation, you replace it manually: download the new Ledger Live AppImage from the official page, mark it executable, and delete the old one. Your accounts and settings live in a separate configuration folder, so swapping the file does not touch your data.
On iOS and Android the app store handles it, and leaving automatic updates on is the simplest approach. Wherever an update comes from, the rule from the download stage still applies: an update prompt should come from inside Ledger Live or from the app store, never from an email, a pop-up on a website, or a message claiming your wallet will be locked unless you install a patch. Those messages are phishing, and the only safe response is to open Ledger Live yourself and check.
§ 10
Fixes
Common Ledger Live download and installation problems
Most failures at this stage come from three sources: the cable, the operating system's permission model, and other software holding the USB connection open so Ledger Live cannot reach the device. None of them involve your funds, and none of them are fixed by entering a recovery phrase, whatever a search result may suggest.
Work through the table below in order before looking for deeper causes. If a problem persists, reach support only through the help section inside Ledger Live or the official support site, since fake support accounts on social platforms actively hunt for people posting about wallet trouble.
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Device not detected on desktop | Charge-only cable, or a hub in the way | Use a data cable directly into the computer, then unlock the device |
| Nothing detected on Linux | udev rules missing | Apply the udev rules script, reconnect, and restart Ledger Live |
| Installer blocked on Windows | SmartScreen or antivirus false positive | Confirm the publisher and the hash, then allow the verified file |
| macOS refuses to open the app | Running Ledger Live from the mounted disk image | Move it to Applications, eject the image, launch again |
| Bluetooth pairing fails on mobile | Stale pairing record on the phone | Forget the device in system Bluetooth settings, then pair again from Ledger Live |
| Balances stuck at zero | Sync still running, or no network access | Wait for the scan to finish, check the connection, then resync accounts |
| Update will not apply | Linux AppImage, which does not self-update | Download the new Ledger Live AppImage and replace the old file |
§ 11
Threats
How to spot a fake Ledger Live download
Counterfeit wallet software is a business, and it is well funded. The usual pattern is a page that copies the real design closely, sits on a domain with a small spelling difference, and reaches victims through paid search placement or a link in an email. The clone installs, opens a window that resembles Ledger Live, and asks you to restore an existing wallet by entering your 24 words. Those words go straight to the attacker, and the accounts are emptied within minutes.
The tells are consistent. A genuine copy of Ledger Live never asks for a recovery phrase in the application window, never asks for payment to unlock features you already own, never asks you to disable antivirus, and never sends unsolicited messages about a security incident that requires immediate reinstallation of Ledger Live. Any one of those behaviors is enough to close the window and start over from a trusted address.
Watch the delivery channel as much as the content. Ledger Live ships as a desktop and mobile application only; there is no web page where you log into Ledger Live to reach your accounts, so a site presenting a browser-based version with a phrase field is a fake by definition. On mobile, check the publisher name on the listing, and treat any APK download offered outside Google Play as hostile. If you have already entered your words into something that asked for them, treat the wallet as compromised, move the funds to a new device set up with a fresh recovery phrase, and do not reuse the old one.