Mercurial > pidgin > nest / file revision

---
title: Install
date: 2019-01-16T20:14:59.000Z
replaces:
  - pidgin.im/download/
  - pidgin.im/download/windows/
  - pidgin.im/download/linux/
  - pidgin.im/download/mac/
  - pidgin.im/download/source/
lastmod: 2020-01-14T05:00:21.000Z
weight: 10
aliases:
  - download/
  - download/windows/
  - download/linux/
  - download/mac/
  - download/source/
---

<!-- Never pipe curl sudo bash -->

## Pidgin

### Windows

{{% sourceforge-download-logo ".exe" %}}

This version of Pidgin downloads an appropriate version of GTK. GTK is now
installed locally for Pidgin, and not system-wide, thus Pidgin will not
interfere with other GTK apps on your system.

If you would like to have GTK included in the installer, we have an [offline
installer]({{% sourceforge-download "-offline.exe" %}})
that bundles everything except spell-checking dictionaries.

If you're looking for a portable version that doesn't need installation, [we
also have that available]({{% sourceforge-download "-win32-bin.zip" %}}).

### Linux

We do not provide pre-built packages for Linux and Unix distributions. We
recommend installing Pidgin using your operating system's standard package
management tool.

If your operating system doesn't provide a pre-built package, or if their
pre-built package is out of date and you want to upgrade, then you can try
[building from source]({{< ref "development/building" >}}).

#### Debian/Ubuntu

```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install pidgin
```

### FreeBSD

```
pkg install pidgin
```

### macOS

For a native macOS experience we recommend [Adium](https://adium.im/), which
uses libpurple (the core of Pidgin) for much of its protocol support.

If you're sure you want to use Pidgin on macOS, you may find the packages
provided through [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/),
[pkgin](https://pkgsrc.joyent.com/),
[Fink](https://finkproject.org/download/) or
[Macports](https://www.macports.org/install.php) more convenient than compiling
from source. Please note, *we do not provide support for issues related to
installing Homebrew, pkgin, Fink, Macports, or their packages of Pidgin*. Contact those
projects directly with questions or concerns.

If you're sure you want to use Pidgin on macOS and you don't want to use
Homebrew, Fink or Macports, you can [download the Pidgin
source](#source) and compile.

### Source

{{% sourceforge-download-logo ".tar.bz2" %}}

This download is for the source code of Pidgin {{< param currentVersion >}}.

If you want to **use** Pidgin, you should either download and use our Windows
installer or look for pre-built packages from your operating system
distribution.

If you are looking to **modify** Pidgin, you may want to look at our
[instructions for contributing code from our
repository]({{< ref "development/contributing" >}}).

### Older versions

If you need binaries for older versions of Pidgin, visit our [package repository
main page](https://sourceforge.net/projects/pidgin/files/Pidgin). That is also
where you can find the checksums for each file and their corresponding gpg
signatures.

## Finch

Finch is a text-based IM client written in C which uses the ncurses toolkit.

### Linux

We do not provide pre-built packages for Linux and Unix distributions. We
recommend installing Pidgin using your operating system's standard package
management tool.

If your operating system doesn't provide a pre-built package, or if their
pre-built package is out of date and you want to upgrade, then you can try
[building from source]({{< ref "development/building" >}}).

#### Debian/Ubuntu

```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install finch
```

### FreeBSD

```
pkg install finch
```