This page explains how to install the Ledger Wallet desktop application on a Windows PC, from the first compatibility check to the moment your hardware wallet is recognised. It is written for people who have never installed a hardware-wallet application before, and it deliberately slows down at the two points where most users get hurt: choosing a download source, and interpreting the security prompts that Windows shows while installing software it has not seen before.
Nothing on this page asks you for a recovery phrase, a PIN or a private key. No step in a genuine installation ever will.
Before you begin: three checks worth two minutes
The three checks below take a couple of minutes and prevent the majority of installation problems we see described in public forums: an unsupported Windows build, a full system drive, and a download taken from somewhere other than the developer's own website.
The application was called Ledger Live for years and is now called Ledger Wallet. Ledger's own support documentation records the rename reaching the desktop and mobile applications by 3 November 2025. Both names refer to the same product, so an older tutorial that says "Ledger Live" is not automatically wrong — but you should be certain you are installing the current package, not a repackaged copy that a third party uploaded under the old title.
1. Confirm that your Windows version is supported
Ledger's official system-requirements article states that the desktop application requires Windows 10 (64-bit) or later. Two details matter here:
- 64-bit only. On Windows, only the x64 architecture is supported. Windows on ARM (arm64) is not a supported platform for the desktop application.
- Current Windows builds matter. A Windows 10 machine that has not received updates for years can fail at the installer stage for reasons that have nothing to do with wallet software.
To check your version, open Settings → System → About and read System type and Windows specifications. Write the version down; you will compare it against the official documentation before downloading.
2. Check free space on the system drive
The developer's documentation does not publish a fixed disk-size figure for the desktop application, so we will not invent one. What we can say is that an installer of this kind, its data directory, and the operating system's own temporary files all compete for the same drive. Leave a comfortable margin rather than a few dozen megabytes: check Settings → System → Storage and free up space on C: if the drive is nearly full. A drive below roughly ten percent free space is worth cleaning before you install anything.
3. Decide where the software will come from, and write it down
Before you download anything, decide the source and do not deviate from it:
- The developer's own website, reached by typing the address yourself rather than clicking an advertisement, a search-engine promotion, a video description or a link in a message.
- Not a software aggregator, a "download portal", a mirror, a torrent, a cracked build, or a page whose address looks almost — but not exactly — like the developer's domain.
Paid search results and display advertisements for wallet software are a common delivery route for modified installers. The page can copy the design of the genuine site pixel for pixel and still serve a different file. Typing the domain by hand takes four seconds and removes that entire risk category.
How to install Ledger Wallet on Windows
The following sequence mirrors the vendor's published instructions, extended with the verification and safety detail that a vendor page reasonably leaves out. Where exact wording of a screen is quoted, it reflects the prompt as it appears in current Windows releases; minor wording changes between Windows builds do not change what the prompt means.
Confirm Windows compatibility
Compare the version you noted in Settings → System → About against the official minimum. Windows 10 (64-bit) or later is supported; x64 only. If your machine is Windows on ARM, or a virtual machine, stop here and read the section on unsupported setups below before going further.
Check the available storage on the system drive
Free space on C: before starting, so that the installer can unpack, write its data directory and leave room for the operating system's own temporary files. If the drive is nearly full, clear space first — a failed installation caused by a full disk frequently leaves a partial installation behind that then has to be cleaned up manually.
Install pending Windows updates
Open Settings → Windows Update and install whatever is pending, including security-intelligence updates for Microsoft Defender. Running the installer on a fully patched system avoids a whole class of "setup could not complete" errors, and it means the security features that will judge the installer are themselves current.
Identify the legitimate software source
Open your browser and type the developer's own domain yourself. Confirm the address in the address bar character by character, confirm the padlock and a certificate issued to the developer, and ignore any redirect you did not ask for. If a page pushes you through an intermediate download portal, close it and start again.
Download the Windows installer
On the developer's download page, choose the Windows build. The browser saves an executable file (an .exe) to your Downloads folder. Note three things before you click anything else: the file name, its size, and the exact time it was saved. Those three details distinguish your file from a look-alike served by another page.
Verify the downloaded file before running it
Compute a SHA-512 checksum of the file and compare it with the value published on the developer's official download-signatures page. This is the single most valuable step on this page: it proves that the file on your disk is the file the developer published, byte for byte. A mismatch means you should delete the file and repeat the download from the official source.
:::cmd Windows PowerShell Get-FileHash "$HOME\Downloads\your-downloaded-installer.exe" -Algorithm SHA512 | Format-List
Replace the path with the real path of your download — right-click the file, choose Properties, and copy the location from there. Compare the resulting hash with the value on the developer's signatures page; SHA-512 hashes are not case-sensitive. @@ Start the installer Double-click the downloaded file. Windows will ask for permission to run it, because installing an application that writes into protected locations requires administrator rights. Read the publisher line in that dialog rather than clicking through it: it should name the developer, and it should not be blank, "Unknown publisher", or an unrelated company. @@ Review the security prompts Windows shows Windows may display a SmartScreen panel ("Windows protected your PC") or a notice that the application "isn't a Microsoft-verified app" if your PC is configured to install apps from the Microsoft Store only. Both are reputation prompts, not proof of maliciousness — but they are also exactly what a modified installer looks like. Use the checks in the next section to reach a decision, and never switch the protection off to get past the prompt. @@ Complete the installation Follow the setup wizard to the end and click Finish. Leave any "launch the application now" option ticked if you are ready to continue; otherwise close the wizard and start the application from the Start menu. If the wizard ends without a success message, treat the installation as incomplete and see the troubleshooting library before trying again. @@ Launch the application Open the Start menu, type the application name, and start it. The first launch prepares the local data directory. Depending on the release, the setup flow may offer an optional paid recovery subscription to subscribers of that service; if you do not subscribe to it, follow the ordinary setup path offered on the same screen. The desktop application does not require an email-and-password account, because it stores its data locally. @@ Connect the Ledger hardware wallet Connect the device with the USB cable that came with it, ideally straight into a port on the computer rather than into a hub, a dock or a monitor. Unlock the device with its PIN and leave it on its home screen. If the device asks you to allow a connection, confirm it on the device itself — the application cannot bypass a decision that belongs to the hardware. @@ Follow the application's setup instructions The application will look for a connected device and then guide you through the remaining choices: which accounts to add, whether to share optional diagnostics, and how to display your portfolio. Keep the device connected throughout. Screen order and wording change between releases — that is normal, and it is why this guide describes the decisions rather than pretending to photograph each screen. @@ Install the applications your device needs Blockchain-specific applications are installed onto the hardware device through the application's device-management area, not from the internet. Each device model has limited storage, so install only the applications you actually use and remove the ones you do not. Installing an application that is larger than the free space on the device simply fails, and the message will tell you so. @@ Check for updates Use the application's own update mechanism, or a fresh download from the developer's official source. Do the same check after any firmware update to the hardware device, because the two are usually updated in tandem. Never install an update from a link that arrives by email, advertisement or direct message, however official it looks. :::
Windows-specific prompts and concepts
The EXE installer
Windows distributes desktop software as executables. When you double-click the file, Windows itself decides whether to run it: first through the security zone and signature check that produced the file, then through reputation systems such as SmartScreen, and finally through the classic User Account Control prompt if the installer needs elevated rights. Understanding that chain helps: each prompt is asking a different question.
Administrator permissions and User Account Control
The User Account Control dialog with a blue or yellow banner and a yes/no choice is Windows asking whether the installer may modify protected areas of the system. Approve it only when you are the machine's owner or administrator, and only after you have read the publisher name. Refusing it simply stops the installation; it does not damage anything.
Microsoft Defender and antivirus software
A signed, reputation-poor installer occasionally trips a heuristic detection. If your security software flags the downloaded file:
- Do not disable the security software. Turning off real-time protection to install anything, wallet-related or not, is a habit that eventually costs money.
- Re-verify the hash against the official signatures page. This answers the only question that matters: is this file the published file?
- Prefer the vendor's own remediation path. Legitimate publishers document how to report a false positive and will confirm the current hash. Ledger's support documentation includes a dedicated article on verifying the authenticity of the application.
Windows SmartScreen and the "Microsoft-verified app" notice
SmartScreen is a reputation system, not a virus scanner. A brand-new release may have no accumulated reputation yet, which is why the message is unrecognised rather than known malware. The publisher notice (about apps not verified by Microsoft) appears when your PC is set to install applications from the Microsoft Store only. Neither message is an instruction to weaken your configuration; both are prompts to verify.
USB connection and device recognition
Desktop hardware wallets connect over USB. Use the supplied cable, plug directly into the computer, and check the device screen for a confirmation prompt. Ports on unpowered hubs, docking stations, monitor USB ports and front-panel extensions are frequent causes of "device not detected" reports; moving the cable usually resolves them. If the cable itself is loose or worn, replace it before assuming a software fault.
If Windows shows a security warning: verify, do not disable
Treat the warning as a question, and answer it with evidence rather than with a settings change.
- In the SmartScreen panel, choose More info — do not choose Don't run yet, and do not look for a way to switch SmartScreen off.
- Read the publisher and the app name shown there. A legitimate build names the developer. An empty or unrelated publisher is a hard stop.
- Compare the file's SHA-512 hash with the developer's published value, using the command in step 6 above.
- Correspond part of the hash, compare the file size and the file name prefix with what the developer's signatures page lists for the current release.
- Only when the hash matches should you continue. If it does not match, delete the file, empty the Downloads folder of any related copies, and download again from the official source.
Do not turn off Microsoft Defender, SmartScreen, Windows Firewall or your antivirus, and do not add folder exclusions for a wallet application, as a way of getting past a warning. A security feature objecting to a wallet installer is information, not an obstacle. When the evidence above says the file is genuine, the warning is a reputation artefact and can be acknowledged inside the prompt itself — with the protections still running.
Confirm the release version, the file size and the publication date on the developer's signature page, then compare them with the same properties on your downloaded file (right-click → Properties → Details). A file whose version and date disagree with the published release is worth re-downloading even when the name looks right.
Setups that are not supported
The following setups are documented as unsupported for the desktop application, independently of how modern the hardware is:
| Setup | Status | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual machines (VMware, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, Parallels) | Not supported | The application is documented as unsupported on virtual machines; USB pass-through problems and device-detection failures are frequent. Use a physical machine. |
| Windows on ARM (arm64) | Not supported | Only x64 Windows is supported. An ARM device may run the x64 build under emulation at best, which the developer does not support. |
| Surface Pro devices | Not compatible | The developer's documentation lists Surface Pro as incompatible with the desktop application. |
| Tablets and iPad models | Not supported | Even where a build technically starts, these devices are outside the supported set. |
If your only computer falls into one of those categories, the mobile application — supported on iOS 15 or later and Android 10 or later — is the documented alternative, and it needs a device with Bluetooth or a cable as appropriate to the model.
After installation: verify the shape of a healthy install
A successful installation looks like this. If any line does not match, the troubleshooting library below covers the symptom directly.
Windows installation checklist
If something goes wrong
| Symptom | Where to look |
|---|---|
| The installer does not run, or Windows blocks it | Ledger Wallet does not install and Windows blocks the application |
| A SmartScreen or publisher warning appears | SmartScreen reports an unrecognised app |
| Antivirus quarantines the download | Antivirus flags the installer |
| The application installs but never starts | The application does not launch |
| The device is not recognised after connecting | The hardware wallet is not detected |
| The download appears to be damaged | The installer file is corrupted |
You can also read the macOS installation guide if you work across both systems, or the download verification walkthrough for the checksum and publisher checks in more depth.