Download Ledger Live for Desktop and Mobile

What the Ledger Live download actually contains

There are two distinct products under the same name. Ledger Live desktop is a native-packaged application for Windows, macOS, and Linux, distributed as an installer you download from the web. Ledger Live mobile is a separate build for Android and iOS, distributed through the platform app stores. They share the same account model and the same design language, but they are separate downloads with separate local data, and installing one does not install the other.

The desktop package is a bundled application built on a Chromium runtime. Inside a Ledger Live desktop package you get the interface, the per-blockchain logic that constructs and broadcasts transactions, the manager that installs and removes device apps, and the transport layer that speaks to the hardware over USB. That bundling explains the file size. A Ledger Live installer is a few hundred megabytes rather than a few, because the runtime travels with the app instead of relying on whatever browser you happen to have.

What the download does not contain is anything belonging to you. There are no keys, no seeds, and no account list in the Ledger Live installer. A fresh copy of Ledger Live is completely empty. Your account list is reconstructed when you connect a device and let the app scan for addresses derived from it, which is why the same wallet produces the same accounts on any machine you install on.

It is also worth knowing what Ledger Live is not: it is not a blockchain node. The app does not download ledgers or validate chains locally. Ledger Live queries indexing services over HTTPS to fetch balances, history, and fee estimates, then asks your device to sign whatever you approve. That is why the install stays small relative to a full node client, and why an internet connection is required for the app to show anything useful.

Where a legitimate installer comes from

There are exactly two categories of legitimate source. For desktop, the Ledger Live installer comes from the official download page on Ledger's own website. For mobile, it comes from the Apple App Store or Google Play, published under Ledger's verified developer account. Every other channel that offers Ledger Live should be treated as hostile until proven otherwise, and in practice it will not be proven otherwise.

Search engines are the weak link. Paid placements and aggressively optimized clone sites regularly appear above or alongside the real result for queries about downloading Ledger Live, and the clones copy the layout, the typography, and the wording closely enough that a quick glance will not save you. The safest habit is to type the official domain into the address bar yourself, confirm the spelling character by character, and then bookmark the download page so you never have to search for Ledger Live a second time.

On mobile, check the publisher name on the store listing rather than the app icon. Impersonators reuse the icon and pick names that read almost identically. A genuine Ledger Live listing shows the official developer account, a long review history, and a large install base. A listing published days ago with a handful of reviews is a copy, whatever it calls itself.

No legitimate distribution of Ledger Live happens through download portals, software aggregators, torrent trackers, file lockers, messaging groups, QR codes printed on packaging inserts, or email attachments. If a support agent contacts you and sends a link to a special build, that is a scam with no exceptions. Support staff do not distribute software privately.

System requirements before you download

Ledger Live is undemanding by modern standards, but it is strictly 64-bit and it expects an operating system that still receives security updates. Minimum versions move over time as old platforms fall out of support, so treat the table below as the shape of the requirement and check the current release notes on the official download page for exact version numbers before installing Ledger Live.

Two physical details matter more than raw specs. First, the USB cable: many cables shipped with phones and power banks carry power but no data, and a charge-only cable is the most common reason a freshly installed copy of Ledger Live never sees the device. Use the cable that came with the wallet, or a known data cable. Second, the port: plug directly into the machine rather than through a hub, dock, or monitor, at least for the first connection.

If you plan to run Ledger Live on a managed work machine, check the policy first. Installers that write to the applications directory and drivers that claim USB HID access are frequently blocked by endpoint management, and a half-completed install is harder to diagnose than one that never started.

Installing Ledger Live on desktop

The Ledger Live download page detects your operating system and offers the matching build, but all three are listed if you need to fetch an installer for a different machine. Download the file, then follow the platform notes below. None of the Ledger Live installers require you to disable security software, and none of them ask for your recovery phrase at any point.

Windows

Run the downloaded .exe and let it complete. Windows SmartScreen may show a publisher prompt; the correct response is to check that the publisher name shown matches the official company name, not to click through blindly. If the prompt shows an unknown publisher, the file is not a genuine Ledger Live installer and should be deleted rather than run.

The installer places Ledger Live in your user profile by default and creates a Start menu entry. You do not normally need administrator rights. If an antivirus product quarantines the file, verify the hash first, then add an exception rather than turning protection off. Occasional heuristic flags on bundled runtimes are common, but a flag on a file you cannot verify is a reason to stop.

macOS

Open the .dmg and drag the app icon onto the Applications shortcut inside the window. Do not run Ledger Live from the mounted disk image; eject it once the copy is finished. The first launch may take a few seconds longer than usual while macOS checks the notarization ticket.

If macOS refuses to open the app because the developer cannot be verified, that is a signal, not an inconvenience. A properly notarized build does not trigger that dialog. Delete the file, clear your downloads, and fetch Ledger Live again from the official page rather than right-clicking your way past Gatekeeper.

Linux

The Ledger Live build for Linux ships as an AppImage, a single self-contained file that runs without installation. Move it somewhere sensible, make it executable, and launch it:

chmod +x ledger-live-desktop-*.AppImage
./ledger-live-desktop-*.AppImage

Out of the box, most distributions do not grant a normal user permission to talk to the wallet over USB, so Ledger Live will start but never detect the device. The fix is a set of udev rules that assign the right permissions to the vendor's USB identifiers. Ledger publishes a script for this, and every mainstream distribution supports the same underlying mechanism. After applying the rules, unplug and replug the device, or reboot if the session still holds the old permissions.

Because an AppImage is not managed by your package manager, Ledger Live on Linux does not update through apt, dnf, or pacman. Ledger Live notifies you when a new version exists and you replace the file manually. Community-maintained packages in third-party repositories are not official builds, and their contents are not verified by the same signing process.

Installing Ledger Live on Android and iOS

On phones and tablets, the store handles the Ledger Live download, signature checking, and updates for you. Search the store, confirm the publisher, install, and open. The store transport removes most of the tampering risk that applies to desktop downloads, which is why sideloading an APK of Ledger Live from outside Google Play is a bad trade even when the file appears to work.

How the mobile app reaches your hardware depends on the device you own. Wallets with Bluetooth pair wirelessly, and on iOS that is the only option available, since the platform does not expose the wired connection that Ledger Live needs. On Android, wired devices can connect through a USB-C cable using USB On-The-Go, though results vary by handset and cable quality.

Bluetooth pairing is worth a note on permissions. Android ties Bluetooth scanning to location permissions on some versions, so the operating system may ask for location access before Ledger Live can find your wallet. That request comes from Android, not from the app wanting your position. Denying it means the device list stays empty.

Pairing is also a good moment to remember what Bluetooth does and does not carry. The link transports transaction data and interface commands. Private keys never travel over it, and every transaction still has to be confirmed with the physical buttons or touchscreen on the wallet itself, exactly as it would on desktop. Ledger Live proposes; the hardware decides.

Desktop and mobile installations of Ledger Live are independent. Running Ledger Live on a laptop and on a phone at the same time is fine, and both will show the same balances because both derive the same accounts from the same device. There is no license, no seat limit, and no requirement to remove one install before adding another.

Verifying the file you downloaded

Verification answers a narrow question: is this Ledger Live file byte-for-byte the file the publisher released? Two mechanisms give you that answer. Code signing, which the operating system checks automatically on Windows and macOS, and published hashes or detached signatures, which you check yourself. Neither is exotic, and on Linux the manual check matters most because the AppImage format carries no platform-enforced signature.

A hash is a fixed-length fingerprint of a file. Change one byte anywhere inside the installer and the fingerprint changes completely. So if the hash of a Ledger Live release is published next to the download and your local copy produces the same string, you know the transfer was clean and nothing intercepted it in flight. Run the appropriate command for your platform and compare the output character by character, or at least the first and last eight characters plus the length.

A signature check is stronger than a hash check, because it proves who published the file rather than only that the file is intact. If you verify a detached signature for a Ledger Live release, make sure you obtained the signing key through a channel independent of the download itself. A key served from the same page as a malicious installer proves nothing.

Verification has a hard limit that people often miss. It confirms the software matches the release; it does not confirm your wallet is authentic. That second question is answered by the genuine check that Ledger Live runs when you connect the device, which challenges the secure element to prove it holds a factory key issued by the manufacturer. Both checks are independent, and both are worth passing.

If a hash does not match, do not troubleshoot the installer. Delete it, clear the browser cache, and download Ledger Live again over a connection you trust. A mismatch is occasionally a truncated download, but the cost of assuming that and being wrong is your entire balance.

How to get started after the install

The first launch is a short guided sequence rather than a configuration marathon. Ledger Live asks what you want to do, walks through connecting hardware, and then leaves you on the portfolio screen. Set aside twenty minutes if you are also setting up a brand-new wallet, since writing down and confirming a recovery phrase should never be rushed.

1. Step 01 / Open the app

   Launch Ledger Live and choose whether you are setting up a new device, restoring one from a recovery phrase, or connecting a wallet you have already initialized.

2. Step 02 / Connect and unlock

   Plug in over USB or pair over Bluetooth, then enter your PIN on the device itself. The PIN is never typed into Ledger Live.

3. Step 03 / Pass the genuine check

   Approve the check on screen. The wallet proves cryptographically that it is factory hardware, and Ledger Live reports the result before letting you continue.

4. Step 04 / Install device apps

   Use the Ledger Live manager to install the blockchain apps you need. Device storage is limited, but apps can be removed and reinstalled freely without affecting funds.

5. Step 05 / Add accounts

   Add an account per asset. Ledger Live scans for existing balances on the derived addresses and populates your portfolio from the chain.

Before you move any real value, do a rehearsal. Receive a small amount first, confirm the address shown in Ledger Live matches the one displayed on the device screen, and only trust the device screen if the two ever disagree. That habit is the entire point of owning hardware, and the first receive is the natural place to build it.

One optional setting is worth visiting immediately. Ledger Live can lock itself behind a local password, which encrypts the app data on that computer. It does not protect your funds, since spending always needs the device, but it does stop someone browsing your balances and address history if they get to your desk.

Keeping the installation current

Ledger Live on desktop checks for new releases when it starts and prompts you when one is available. The download happens in the background and the new version takes effect after a restart of the app. On Windows and macOS the update replaces the installed copy; on Linux you download a fresh AppImage and swap the file yourself.

Mobile is simpler. The store pushes updates like any other app, and enabling automatic updates means you never think about it. There is no benefit to holding back a version of Ledger Live on mobile, since older builds lose access to network features as backend interfaces change.

Updates matter more here than for ordinary software because new blockchain support, changed fee mechanics, and device firmware compatibility all arrive through the app. Running a copy of Ledger Live that is several versions behind is how people end up unable to install a firmware update or unable to see a newly supported asset.

Firmware itself is a separate matter delivered through Ledger Live. When a device update is offered, Ledger Live verifies the firmware signature before installing it, and the device refuses anything not signed by the manufacturer. Keep the wallet connected and let the process finish; interrupting a firmware flash is the one operation here that genuinely warrants care. Your funds remain recoverable from the recovery phrase in any case.

Reinstalling, migrating, and removing the app

Because nothing irreplaceable lives inside the app, reinstalling Ledger Live is a low-stakes operation. Uninstall, download a fresh Ledger Live installer, connect the device, re-add your accounts, and you are back where you started. The only things you lose are local conveniences: account names, custom nodes, and any operation notes you added by hand.

Moving to a new computer works the same way. There is no account to transfer and no export required. Install Ledger Live on the new machine, connect the wallet, and the portfolio rebuilds from the blockchain. This is also the reason a lost or dead laptop is not an emergency: the recovery phrase, kept offline and off-camera, is the only backup that matters.

If you do want to preserve settings, Ledger Live stores its data on desktop in a user-level folder that survives an ordinary uninstall. Copying that folder to the equivalent location on another machine carries your account names and preferences across, though a clean start is usually cleaner than migrating a cache.

To remove Ledger Live completely, uninstall it through the usual platform mechanism and then delete that data folder. On Linux, deleting the AppImage and the configuration directory is the whole job. Selling or lending the computer is the one case where wiping the folder matters, since the cache holds your address history even though it holds no keys.

Uninstalling Ledger Live has no effect on your holdings. Coins live on their respective blockchains and are controlled by keys inside the device, so removing the software is closer to closing a window than to closing an account.

Desktop build compared with the mobile build

If you are deciding which download to start with, the practical differences come down to how you connect and how much screen you have. Most people end up installing both copies of Ledger Live and using the phone for quick checks and the desktop for management tasks.

Neither build is a lesser version of the other in terms of custody. Both leave signing to the hardware, both show the transaction on the device for physical confirmation, and neither copy of Ledger Live can move funds on its own.

Download and installation troubleshooting

Most reported Ledger Live problems fall into three buckets: the file will not install, the app installs but does not see the device, or the app opens but shows nothing. The table below maps the common symptoms to their usual cause. Work through the cheap physical checks before touching settings, since a cable swap resolves more cases than any configuration change.

A blank or zeroed portfolio is alarming and almost never serious. Ledger Live reads balances from the network, so a failed sync looks identical to an empty wallet. Confirm the same addresses on a public block explorer before concluding anything; if the chain shows the funds, the problem is local to the app.

If you need to escalate, use only official support channels reached from the official site. Search results, social media accounts, and community chats are heavily targeted by people posing as helpers. No genuine agent will ever ask you to install a remote-desktop tool alongside Ledger Live, send a custom build, or read out your recovery words.

Recognizing a counterfeit installer

Fake wallet software is a persistent category of crypto fraud, and applications imitating Ledger Live have shown up in search ads, on cloned domains, and occasionally in app store listings before removal. A convincing copy looks right down to the animation on the loading screen, so learn the behavioral tells rather than trying to spot visual differences.

The strongest tell is any request for your recovery phrase. Genuine Ledger Live has no screen anywhere in the product that accepts those words as input, because it has no use for them. Recovery happens on the device keypad or touchscreen during setup, never in the app on your computer or phone. A phrase field is proof of a counterfeit, full stop.

Other signals worth treating as disqualifying in anything claiming to be Ledger Live: an installer offered without any code signature, a build that works fine without a device connected and still shows balances, prompts for a payment or activation fee, a download hosted on a domain that is not the official one, and a version that never displays a genuine check. Legitimate Ledger Live is free, refuses to invent accounts, and always defers to the hardware.

If you believe you installed a fake, assume the worst and act quickly. Move funds to a wallet generated from a recovery phrase that has never been typed into any software, using a device and a copy of Ledger Live you have verified. A phrase that has touched a keyboard should be considered public, and no amount of uninstalling changes that.

Ready to install

Frequently asked questions about the download

The short version

Done in that order, downloading and installing Ledger Live is a routine job with one careful moment in it. Get the source right and verify the file, and everything after that is guided by the app and confirmed by the hardware in your hand.