Ledger Live Desktop: frequently asked questions

It is the free companion application that Ledger publishes for Windows, macOS and Linux. It shows your portfolio and transaction history, manages your accounts, and prepares transactions for a Ledger hardware wallet to sign. It is the desktop counterpart of the Ledger Live mobile app, and it is not a wallet that holds your crypto by itself.

Yes. The app is free to download and use, and it is published by Ledger at ledger.com. You pay for the hardware wallet, and you may pay fees and spreads to third-party providers if you use the buy, sell or swap features inside the app.

You can install the app and browse market data without a device, but anything involving your own crypto — receive, send, stake, sign — requires a connected hardware wallet. That is the design: the device holds the keys and signs, the app is the interface.

Only from ledger.com, the official Ledger site. Copycat installers circulate through search ads, spoofed domains and email links, and a fake build of the app exists to capture your recovery phrase. Type the address yourself or use a bookmark.

Neither. Your crypto is on the blockchain and your private keys stay inside the hardware wallet. The app keeps a local cache of accounts, labels and settings on your computer so it starts quickly. It has no field for your 24-word recovery phrase and never asks for it.

Yes, if that wallet is a Ledger device. Choose the restore option during device setup and enter your existing recovery phrase using the device's own buttons. The device then derives the same accounts, and Ledger Live picks them up. A wallet from another maker cannot be used with Ledger Live.

Roughly: 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer, or a recent Ubuntu-style Linux distribution, plus a free USB port and the cable that came with the device. Requirements move with each release, so check the current list on ledger.com before installing.

Not fully. The app needs a connection to read balances, fetch prices and broadcast transactions. Your hardware wallet does not: signing happens entirely on the device, offline, which is what makes it resilient.

Thousands of assets are supported, but not every token on every network. Support for a specific coin depends on whether a coin app exists for it and whether the network is one the app can talk to. Check the asset list on ledger.com for the current coverage.

Yes. Both apps talk to the same hardware wallet and derive the same accounts, and Ledger Live can sync your account list between them so labels and new accounts match on both screens.

Your funds are on the blockchain, not on the device, so they are not lost. Get a replacement device and restore from your written recovery phrase, entering it on the new device's own screen. This is the moment the recovery sheet earns its keep — and the reason it must be accurate and stored separately from the device.

Common causes are a hidden account, a different display currency, a synchronization error, or a node that has not caught up with the network yet. See the synchronization section — none of these mean funds have been lost.

Ledger publishes the source code for its software publicly, and the community reviews it. If that matters to you, look for the current repositories and audit statements from ledger.com rather than from any third-party summary.

No. A public address lets anyone see your balance and send you funds, and that is all. Funds can only move with a signed transaction, which requires the device and your approval, or the recovery phrase.

A small application you install onto the hardware wallet itself for each network you use. Ledger Live's device manager section installs and removes them, and older devices have limited space, so most owners keep a few installed rather than all of them.