Ledger Live Desktop: frequently asked questions

Ledger Live Desktop is the computer version of the Ledger Live companion application for Ledger hardware wallets. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and brings your accounts, balances, transaction history, staking and device settings together in one dashboard. Your keys stay on the hardware wallet — the app is the screen you work through, not the place your assets live. See the feature overview for the detail.

Downloading and using the app is free. Optional services inside it — buy, sell, swap, staking — are run by third-party providers who set their own fees, and you see those before confirming anything. The vendor also offers an optional paid recovery subscription; it is opt-in and never required.

They are companion applications for the same hardware wallet. People generally prefer the desktop app for initial setup, firmware updates and heavier account management, and the mobile app for quick balance checks. Both require the same physical confirmation on the device before a transfer can be signed.

No, to both. Your assets are on the blockchain and your keys are on the device. The 24-word recovery phrase is generated on the hardware wallet and never needs to be typed into the application or a website — so any screen asking for it is fraudulent.

Only from the vendor’s official website, and ideally by typing the address yourself rather than clicking a search advert or a link someone sent you. Check the domain carefully before you open the installer: lookalike pages often add words like “-download”, “-app” or “-support”. Our download link points at the official page — nothing is hosted on this site.

Windows, macOS and Linux, with a separate mobile app for phones. You will need a free USB port, current operating-system updates and a few hundred megabytes of disk space. On Linux you may also need USB access rules installed before the wallet is recognised.

Ledger ships dedicated desktop and mobile applications, and that is what the official site documents; check it for the currently supported platforms. Independently of that: any third-party web page that asks you to enter your recovery phrase — to connect, sync, unlock or validate a wallet — is an attempt to steal it.

Application updates arrive through the app or from the official download page — never as an attachment in an email. Firmware updates start inside the app with the device connected and unlocked, and the wallet verifies the signature before installing. Keep the device plugged in and stop your computer from sleeping during an update.

Yes. The app is just an interface, so installing it on a second machine costs nothing and does not duplicate your wallet. Connect the hardware wallet to whichever computer you are using; your accounts are rebuilt from the device, not from the first computer.

Current Ledger hardware wallets, including the Ledger Nano S Plus, Ledger Nano X, Ledger Flex and Ledger Stax, connected over USB, or over Bluetooth on models that support it. The official Ledger Live page keeps the current compatibility list.

Yes. You can hold accounts from more than one device, and accounts created under an optional passphrase show up separately from your main set — useful for keeping a personal wallet and a business wallet apart without confusing the two.

Open the accounts section, choose to add an account, and follow the device prompts. The app discovers what belongs to your wallet and offers it, so you rarely need to paste an address. Token accounts appear under their parent network — an ERC-20 balance, for example, sits under Ethereum. Adding an account is a local operation and costs nothing.

Not really. The app needs network access to fetch balances, broadcast transactions and synchronise with the blockchain. Your wallet still holds the keys and your funds are unaffected offline — you simply cannot see current data or send anything until you are back online.

In order: unlock the wallet with its PIN; use the cable that came in the box; plug straight into the computer rather than through a hub; close any other wallet application that may be holding the device; on Linux, install the USB access rules. Restarting both the app and the computer clears the remainder. The setup guide walks through it step by step.

Refresh the account, then check the address on an independent block explorer to see what the network reports. A missing account is another common cause. Remember that a stale figure is a display issue only: your holdings were never stored inside the app, so nothing has actually changed hands.

The wallet only holds a few network apps at a time. Remove the ones you are not using to free up room — uninstalling an app does not touch the assets it manages, and you can reinstall it later in seconds.

A fee below the current network rate leaves a transaction waiting, sometimes for hours. It usually settles on its own; when the network supports it, you can speed it up or cancel it from the transaction history by replacing it with a higher fee. The funds stay in your account until it confirms.

Stop transacting from that machine. Malware can swap an address in your clipboard, but it cannot approve a transfer on the device — so always compare the destination on the wallet screen. If you believe your recovery phrase was exposed, create a new wallet with a fresh phrase and move your assets there from a clean computer. The security guide has the full sequence.

From the vendor’s official support site, reached by typing the address yourself. Ignore direct messages, social media “agents” and anyone offering remote access to your computer. Real support never needs your 24-word recovery phrase or your PIN, and no one can recover funds for you without them.