Setup

The installation of Zettlr is very easy and takes only a few clicks. Zettlr is cross-platform, so it will run on most computers. Zettlr comes pre-built for macOS, Windows and several Linux systems.

Minimum System Requirements

Zettlr aims to be resource-friendly. However, there are a few minimum requirements that need to be met.

  • Operating System:
    • Windows 10 or newer
    • macOS 11.6.0 or newer
    • Debian 8 or newer
    • Ubuntu 12.04 or newer
    • Fedora 24 or newer
    • Arch Linux
    • Any distribution supported by AppImages or Flatpak
  • Processor: 1GHz Dual-Core Intel 64 bit or better (32 bit is not supported)
    • On Linux, an equivalent ARM 64 bit processor is supported
    • On macOS, Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.) is supported
  • RAM: 1 GB
  • Disk Space: At least 500 MB free disk space

Note

Please note that the supported operating system versions may change at any time. The most recent list of supported platforms can be found here.

Installing Zettlr

Windows

To install Zettlr on Windows, download the app from the download page and double click to open the installer. By default, the installer will request administrative permission during setup to install the app for all users on the computer.

If you do not have administrative privileges on your computer or do not wish to install the app for everyone, you can choose to install it just for the current user. In this case, no privileges are required, but some features may not work as expected.

Note

We recommend to install Zettlr for all users.

macOS

To install Zettlr on macOS, download the DMG-file from our download page and mount it by double-clicking it. Then, drag the Zettlr icon into your Applications directory and wait for the application to be copied over.

Note

You can also install Zettlr with Homebrew by running the following command:

$ brew install --cask zettlr

For more information, visit the Zettlr Homebrew page.

Ubuntu/Debian

To install Zettlr on Ubuntu or Debian derivatives, download the deb-package from our download page and execute the file.

Fedora

To install Zettlr or Fedora or Red Hat derivatives, download the rpm-package from our download page and execute the file.

Arch Linux

Thanks to community efforts, Zettlr is available as a regular package for Arch Linux. To install Zettlr on Arch, follow the normal installation instructions for packages on Arch. Read more on the Zettlr Arch Wiki page.

Note

We never heard any complaints about the Zettlr Arch package and believe it to be trustworthy and safe. However, since we do not control the compilation stage of these packages, we need to add a disclaimer that we cannot take responsibility for them. In case of problems, please get into contact with the maintainers directly.

AppImage

Zettlr is available as an AppImage bundle for Linux. To install it, download the package from our download page. To install the AppImage, place the file into a directory of your choice, make it executable, and begin using it.

Flatpak

Zettlr is available as a Flatpak. To install the Flatpak version, download it from Zettlr's FlatHub page and follow the setup instructions.

Note

The Flatpak cannot access your file system by default. To give it access to your documents, you must first configure that with a package like, for example, Flatseal. In case of problems, please get in contact with the Flatpak maintainer on the corresponding GitHub repository. Do not file reports on the main repository – we won't be able to help you.

Updating Zettlr

The application checks for new updates each time you start the app. You can also manually trigger the search for updates by clicking 'Help' → 'Check for updates'. If a new version is available, Zettlr will display a "download" symbol in the toolbar. If you click it, Zettlr will open a dialog which contains the new version's number, your current version and a changelog with all features and bug fixes the new version contains.

Warning

Never "jump over" versions! Sometimes, we change the configuration of Zettlr during an update. This may lead to data corruption during an update if you "leave out" the necessary version that will migrate your configuration. If you haven't updated Zettlr in a while, do not update directly to the latest version. Instead, install each update one after another. You can find all updates – not just the latest – on GitHub.

To update, click the download button and wait for the download to finish. Then, click "Begin Update", which will close Zettlr and begin the update process. The updater will be placed in your Downloads-folder. You can remove it once the update was successful.

Note

Do not use this update procedure if you installed Zettlr via a package manager, e.g., Homebrew. In that case, please update according to your package manager's procedure to avoid conflicts. You can disable the setting "Automatically check for updates" in your preferences to prevent Zettlr from checking for updates automatically.

After any update, be prepared to wait up to a few minutes for Zettlr to launch. After each update, the file cache is being cleared, and when the newer version of Zettlr boots for the first time, it has to recreate this file cache. The more files and folders you have open, the longer this process may take. So do not worry if you don't see any reaction for some time – the main window(s) will be opened as soon as Zettlr has scanned your workspaces again.

If automatic updates don't work for you, you can always manually update by downloading the appropriate installer for your system (see above). There is no (technical) difference between the first setup and an update; the files are the same.

Note

You can opt in to beta releases. To do so, activate "Notify me about beta releases" in the settings.

Uninstalling Zettlr

If you are unsatisfied with Zettlr or need to remove the app, please follow these instructions.

Note

In case you installed Zettlr with a package manager, consult your package manager's documentation on uninstalling software instead of following the instructions here.

On Windows, go into the software settings and uninstall it according to Microsoft's instructions. If you wish to remove the settings and user data as well, you can find those in the directory C:\Users\<your-user-name>\AppData\Roaming\Zettlr.

On macOS, head over to the Applications folder and move Zettlr.app to the trash. If you wish to remove the settings and user data as well, you can find those in the directory /Users/<your-user-name>/Library/Application Support/Zettlr.

On Linux, the uninstall procedure depends on your distribution and how you installed the app. Please consult the appropriate manual on how to do this. If you wish to remove the settings and user data as well, you can find those in the directory /home/<your-user-name>/.config/Zettlr.

Note

Zettlr will also create so-called "hidden" files inside your workspaces that remember your directory settings. These files are named .ztr-directory. After uninstalling Zettlr, you can safely remove those files.

Nightly Releases

Since 2.0.0, we offer so-called nightly releases. Nightlies are releases that are being built automatically every Monday at noon (UTC) (but sometimes we build them manually). They contain the most recent changes to the code base. This means that they are even more recent than the beta releases, but this also means that they may contain serious bugs which we haven't found yet.

Nightly releases are for advanced users only who understand the risks in using these. If you keep your settings, the writing statistics, and your files backed up regularly, it might be safe to use nightlies. We do appreciate every one who uses nightlies and informs us about bugs they encounter.

To install a nightly release, you need to manually download them from https://nightly.zettlr.com/. Your updater will not notify you about nightly releases, but since they are being automatically built every week, you can be sure that there will be a new release.

Warning

Nightly releases are fully automated. We do not guarantee any amount of stability for these. Normally, nothing bad should happen, but there is a chance that these releases may damage your computer. By using nightly releases you agree that you understand these risks.

Please also note that we do not retain any previous nightly builds. Each week's nightly will simply replace the previous one. If a nightly is unusable, feel free to notify us so we can manually schedule a new build after we have fixed the bug.