> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.4thewords.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Installing & Signing In

> Install the desktop app on Mac, Windows, or Linux, connect it to your 4thewords account, and keep it up to date.

Install the app, give it keyboard access, and sign in. The whole thing takes a couple of minutes.

Download the file for your computer from the [4thewords desktop page](https://4thewords.com/desktop?utm_source=help_center\&utm_medium=docs\&utm_campaign=desktop), then open the tab for your system below.

[Install 4thewords. Start your first desktop battle.](https://www.youtube.com/embed/YqiGDuXUR4c)

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Why the keyboard permission?** 4thewords counts words as you type in your other apps, so your computer asks before it lets any app notice typing. The app counts words only. It never stores or sends your text.

## Installing the app

**Mac**

Three steps, about two minutes.

**1. Drag 4thewords into Applications**

Open the `.dmg` file. A window shows the 4thewords icon and your **Applications** folder. Drag the icon onto the folder, then open 4thewords from **Applications**.

If you open it straight from the disk image, the app offers to move itself. Click **Move to Applications** and it reopens from there.

**2. Turn on word counting**

4thewords opens a welcome window. Click **Turn on word counting**. macOS then asks about Accessibility: click **Open System Settings** and switch **4thewords** on. On macOS 11 and 12, open **System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Accessibility** instead.

The welcome window turns green and says **Word counting is on** as soon as the switch is on.

**3. Allow notifications**

The welcome window asks once. Allow them if you want battle results, your daily streak, and a heads-up when your session expires.

The app lives in the menu bar (the 4thewords shield) and in the Dock.

### Stuck on a Mac?

> **Nothing counts**
>
> Open **System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility** and check that 4thewords is switched on. If the welcome window doesn't turn green after you switch it on, quit 4thewords from the menu bar and open it again.

> **macOS says it can't verify the app**
>
> Download the file again from the [4thewords desktop page](https://4thewords.com/desktop?utm_source=help_center\&utm_medium=docs\&utm_campaign=desktop) and check that it finished downloading. If macOS still blocks it, open **System Settings → Privacy & Security**, scroll to **Security**, and click **Open Anyway** next to 4thewords.

**Windows**

The easiest way is the Microsoft Store: [get 4thewords from the Microsoft Store](https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/xpdcbcws3wdfsv). The Store installs it with no Windows warning and no administrator password, and the app updates itself after that, the same as any other install.

Prefer the file? Two steps, about a minute. 4thewords installs for your account only, so no administrator password is needed.

**1. Run the installer**

Open the `.exe` file from the [4thewords desktop page](https://4thewords.com/desktop?utm_source=help_center\&utm_medium=docs\&utm_campaign=desktop), click **Install**, then click **Finish**. Most PCs already have the WebView2 component the app needs. If yours doesn't, the installer downloads it, so keep your internet connection on for that step.

**2. Find the app**

4thewords opens in its own window: sign in there. Close the window and it keeps running in the system tray.

Windows hides new tray icons behind the **^** arrow next to the clock. Drag the 4thewords icon onto the taskbar to keep it in sight, or open 4thewords again from the Start menu.

### Stuck on Windows?

> **Windows shows a blue Windows protected your PC screen**
>
> This only happens with the `.exe` installer, not with the Microsoft Store version. Windows warns about apps that few people have installed yet. 4thewords is signed by its publisher, Reboot Cr S.A. Click **More info**, then click **Run anyway**. The only button you see at first is **Don't run**, so the link is the way through.
>
> ![The blue Windows protected your PC screen, with the More info link under the message and a Don't run button](https://mintcdn.com/4thewords/z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ/images/desktop-app/windows-smartscreen-more-info.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ\&q=85\&s=5e2017bad828967e09486fdc266d7821)

> **No Run anyway button**
>
> Click the small **More info** link first. **Run anyway** only appears after it.

> **Your browser blocked the download**
>
> Open your downloads list and choose **Keep** on the 4thewords file.

> **Windows Security removed the app**
>
> See [Troubleshooting](/tools/desktop-app/troubleshooting.md#windows-security-removed-the-app).

**Linux**

Three steps, about two minutes. You need your password once or twice, and one log out.

**1. Install the package for your system**

**Ubuntu, Debian, and similar:** double-click the `.deb` file. The App Center opens it and warns that the package comes from outside the store: click **Install**, click **Install** again to confirm, and type your password. Or, in a terminal:

```bash theme={null}
sudo apt install ./4thewords*.deb
```

![The Ubuntu App Center showing the 4thewords package with its Install button](https://mintcdn.com/4thewords/z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ/images/desktop-app/linux-app-center-install.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ\&q=85\&s=50d9c74f532f80719fafda04424b124f)

**Fedora and similar:** double-click the `.rpm` file, or run:

```bash theme={null}
sudo dnf install ./4thewords*.rpm
```

**Any other Linux:** use the `.AppImage` file. Make it runnable, then open it:

```bash theme={null}
chmod +x 4thewords*.AppImage
```

Or right-click it, open **Properties**, and allow running it as a program.

**2. Turn on word counting**

4thewords notices typing through the `input` group. If you installed from a terminal, the package added you to it, so all that's left is to **log out and back in once**. If you installed by double-clicking, it couldn't, and the next paragraph handles it.

If the welcome window says **Nothing is being counted yet**, click **Enable word counting** and type your administrator password. The app restarts itself and starts counting.

![The 4thewords welcome window on Ubuntu saying Nothing is being counted yet, with the Enable word counting link below the message](https://mintcdn.com/4thewords/z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ/images/desktop-app/linux-welcome-enable-word-counting.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ\&q=85\&s=642ef433a6a38a27b2009ac3c41c14e7)

**With the AppImage** there's no button. The window shows the command instead. Run it in a terminal, then log out and back in:

```bash theme={null}
sudo usermod -aG input $USER
```

**On Fedora Atomic** (Bazzite, Silverblue, Kinoite, Bluefin), run these two lines instead, then restart the computer or log out and back in:

```bash theme={null}
grep -q '^input:' /etc/group || grep -E '^input:' /usr/lib/group | sudo tee -a /etc/group
sudo usermod -aG input $USER
```

After the log out, counting just works.

**3. Find the window and the tray icon**

4thewords opens in its own window. Closing it doesn't quit the app: it keeps counting. To bring the window back, click the tray icon and choose **Open 4thewords**.

![The 4thewords tray menu in the Ubuntu top bar, with Open 4thewords at the top](https://mintcdn.com/4thewords/z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ/images/desktop-app/linux-tray-menu.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ\&q=85\&s=07596845e4ec7d792a770e8db967869d)

**Ubuntu already shows tray icons** in the top bar. **On plain GNOME (Fedora, for example) there's no tray at first**, so the app stays a window. Stock GNOME, LXQt, and MATE open the app as a window for the same reason. To get a tray icon on GNOME, add the [AppIndicator extension](https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/615/appindicator-support/), then log out and back in.

### Stuck on Linux?

> **Double-clicking the package does nothing**
>
> Use the terminal commands in step 1. Avoid `dpkg -i`: it skips the packages the app depends on.

> **Nothing counts**
>
> Log out and back in, or restart. Your session only picks up the new permission after that. Still nothing? Open the app and click **Enable word counting**.

> **"group 'input' does not exist" on Bazzite or Silverblue**
>
> That's the Fedora Atomic case: use the two lines in step 2.

> **The window opens blank**
>
> See [Troubleshooting](/tools/desktop-app/troubleshooting.md#the-window-opens-blank-on-linux).

## Signing in

**1. Click Sign in**

Your browser opens 4thewords. New to 4thewords? Create a free account on the same page.

**2. Sign in and approve**

If the browser asks whether to open 4thewords, say yes. You land back in the app, signed in.

**3. Use the code if needed**

If you don't land back in the app, the page shows a connection code that starts with `4TWC-`. In the app, click **Paste a connection code instead** and paste it.

![The Settings view before signing in, with a Sign in button and a Have a connection code? Paste it link](https://mintcdn.com/4thewords/z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ/images/desktop-app/desktop-sign-in.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ\&q=85\&s=6d63c05023294f52c62cfd01d9b90e53)

After you sign in, the app shows your account, your word count for the day, your battle, daily challenges, and Questbook.

![The 4thewords app after signing in, showing the account and Lifetime badge, Tracking with Words Today, a Choose a monster button, and Daily Challenges](https://mintcdn.com/4thewords/z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ/images/desktop-app/desktop-home-signed-in.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=z4UqAbpBhkYtWZRZ\&q=85\&s=1a340869a885c636efbd9d8594cba302)

Signing in happens on the 4thewords website, so you never type your password into the app. The app counts your words without an account too. Signing in sends them to your battles, quests, and streak.

## Keeping the app up to date

The app checks for updates when it starts and every few hours after that. It downloads a new version quietly, then asks before it restarts.

> **Where to find it:** 4thewords icon → **Settings** → **Check for updates**

When an update is ready, a banner says **Version X is ready** with two buttons:

* **Restart now.** The app saves your words, installs the update, and reopens.
* **Later.** The update installs when you next quit the app (Mac) or the next time it starts (Windows). On Linux, the banner comes back the next time you open the app.

On Linux, `.deb` and `.rpm` updates ask for your administrator password once.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Now and then a version changes something the app needs to keep counting. The banner then says **Update required** with a single **Update now** button, and counting pauses until you update.

If an update can't finish, the banner says why and offers **Try again** and a link to the download page. Your words are never lost: the app saves them before it restarts.

## Frequently Asked Questions

> **Why does the app need Accessibility or keyboard access?**
>
> The app counts words as you type them, so it needs to notice keystrokes. It turns them into a count on your computer and never stores or sends the text. See [Permissions & Privacy](/tools/desktop-app/permissions-and-privacy.md).

> **The connection code says it expired.**
>
> The code works for a couple of minutes, and only while the app is waiting for it. Click **Sign in** again to get a fresh one.

> **Can I use the app on more than one computer?**
>
> Yes. Install it and sign in on each computer. Words from every computer land on the same account.

> **Does the app start when I turn on my computer?**
>
> Not unless you ask it to. Turn on **Launch at login** in **Settings**.

> **I closed the window. Is the app still counting?**
>
> Yes. Closing the window leaves the app running in the menu bar or system tray. To stop it completely, open **Settings** and click **Quit app**.

> **How do I sign out?**
>
> Open **Settings** and click **Disconnect**. The app signs out, and the session also disappears from **Linked devices** on your 4thewords account.

**Next up**

> **[Word Counting & My Sites](/tools/desktop-app/word-counting-and-my-sites.md)**
>
> Choose which apps and sites count.

> **[Window, Mini Bar & Settings](/tools/desktop-app/window-mini-bar-and-settings.md)**
>
> Pick how the app shows up while you write.


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