Ardour

Before You Start (Windows Edition)

How To Install

If you are running Windows 11 and receive a message about "Ardour is not commonly downloaded", please read these instructions.

On versions of Windows before Windows 11, you should have been able to download the .exe file, and your browser should allow you to open/start it.

The file is a "classic" Windows installer. Ardour is not digitally signed, but you can just click OK when Windows asks you about this.

Anti-Virus Warnings
Note: if you have "anti-virus" software installed, it will likely complain that Ardour is "unsigned" or something similar. We do not interact with "anti-virus" companies and their "digital signature" systems, and have no plans to do so. If you are concerned about these messages, you will need to make your own decision about installation. Ardour is not malware, has no viruses and does not do weird stuff to your computer.
How To Uninstall

To uninstall Ardour, just use the Control Panel as you would to remove any other Windows software from your system.

You do not need to uninstall before installing a new version.

What To Do When It Doesn't Work

Very few Windows users have taken the time to become a part of the user community, and no Ardour developers work on Windows. We are happy to help Windows users with problems involving the use of the software and/or problems affecting all (or many) Windows users.

However, because our limited resources and the fact that none of us have the necessary experience of access to Windows, we cannot and will not support:

  1. Problems installing the software
  2. Problems with your audio interface
  3. Problems specific to your system or user

That said, you should probably read:

Finally, please do come and talk to us on our IRC channel. You may be used to online forums as a place to get help, but in our world, we prefer to do things in real time rather than go back and forth on a very delayed communication channel. It is harder for us to support our Windows users because we (developers and current core users, circa 2023) do not use or develop on Windows itself. But we can still talk you through many common problems in a few minutes online. This is preferable for us, and we think its probably better for you too.