Getting started with Ledger Live Desktop

Before you install anything

The setup has two halves that people often run together: getting the software onto the computer, and initialising the hardware wallet itself. Doing them in order, slowly, is what keeps the recovery phrase out of the wrong place.

Have these ready before you start:

• The hardware wallet, out of its packaging, with the cable that came in the box.
• The blank recovery sheet from the box and a pen — you will write the phrase by hand.
• Fifteen to twenty minutes without interruptions, and a private room. Nobody should be reading over your shoulder while the phrase is shown.
• A computer running a recent, up-to-date version of Windows, macOS or Linux.

Step 1 — Download only from ledger.com

Open a browser and type ledger.com yourself, then follow the link to download Ledger Live. Bookmark that page so you never have to search for it again.

This is not being over-cautious. Copycat installers are distributed through search ads, spoofed domains and links in emails, and once a fake build is running on your computer it can show you whatever it likes. A download from a "fast mirror", a review site's button or a forum post is not the same file, whatever the name on it says.

Step 2 — Install it on your computer

Windows

Download the Windows installer and run it. Windows SmartScreen may show a warning for a newly released installer; if you downloaded it from ledger.com moments earlier, you can choose to continue. Install it for your own user account, finish the wizard, and launch Ledger Live from the Start menu. If your antivirus quarantines the file, check that you got it from ledger.com before doing anything else.

macOS

Download the macOS build, open the disk image, and drag Ledger Live into Applications. Launch it from there rather than from the mounted image, so macOS can keep it updated and sandboxed properly. If Gatekeeper asks you to confirm the first launch, allow it — you already verified where the file came from.

Linux

Ledger Live is distributed for Linux as both an AppImage and a Debian package. The AppImage needs to be made executable before it will run. One extra Linux step is worth knowing about: your distribution needs the Ledger udev rules installed, otherwise the system will not let the app talk to the device over USB. The official instructions cover this, and you can also ask your package manager for a Ledger rules package.

Step 3 — First launch

On first run the app offers a short setup. Two of its choices are worth a moment:

• Anonymous usage data. Optional. It helps Ledger improve the app; declining it changes nothing about how the app works for you.
• Password lock. Optional, and it protects the app on this computer, not your funds. It stops someone who picks up your unlocked laptop from browsing your balances and account labels. Your crypto is protected by the device PIN regardless.

Step 4 — Set up the hardware wallet

1. Connect and unlock

   Plug the device into a USB port on the computer using the cable from the box. On a brand-new device the screen walks you through choosing a PIN — pick one you will remember, because three wrong attempts wipe the device's keys rather than revealing them.

2. Create a new wallet, or restore one

   The device asks whether to set up as new or restore from an existing recovery phrase. Choose restore only if you already have a wallet whose phrase you wrote down, and enter that phrase using the device's own buttons. The phrase is never typed into the computer.

3. Write down the recovery phrase by hand

   A new device displays 24 words, one screen at a time. Write them on the paper sheet, in order, and check them twice. Do not photograph them, do not type them into a notes app, a password manager or a cloud document. The device will quiz you on a few words afterwards to confirm you have them.

4. Open Ledger Live and let the app find the device

   With the device connected and unlocked, the app detects it and offers to add accounts. If it does not appear, see the device detection fixes before trying anything else.

Step 5 — Add your first account

In Ledger Live Desktop, choose to add an account and pick the asset — Bitcoin or Ethereum are the usual starting points. The app asks the device to confirm, the device displays the request, and you approve it there. The account then appears with its own receive address and history.

If you plan to hold a coin whose app is not on the device yet, the device manager section of Ledger Live installs it first. Each coin app is a small program that lives on the hardware wallet, and space on older models is limited.

Step 6 — Receive a small amount first

Choose Receive, and before you copy or share anything, check the address shown on the device screen. It must match the address on the computer exactly, character for character. The device screen is the one display a compromised computer cannot alter.

Send a small test amount, wait for the transaction to confirm, and only then move anything larger. A test that costs a few dollars in fees is the cheapest insurance in crypto.

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