Installation and Setup¶
Where to get it¶
Blender Long Term Support LTS (Stable)¶
Download the Stable LTS version of blender for Linux, Windows or Mac OS at the following url:
The Blender Stable can be installed via the Microsoft Windows Store on Windows machines, via Steam on Mac OS, Windows and Linux (not recommended) or via the Canonical Snap Store on Linux. If you install Blender this way you will get automatic updates.
Alternatively you can also download a binary package for Linux, Mac OS and choose between a binary package or msi-installer on Windows. Do this if you want to be in control of the update cycle and want to choose when and if you update.
Blender Latest and Experimental¶
Note
If you are in need of one of the features only avaiable in the newer builds of Blender like the Latest Release version or the Experimental Version use one of the links below:
Installation and Application Settings¶
Windows¶
Installation depends on whether you aquired an Installer (.exe, .msi) or a binary package (.zip, .rar) from the blender website.
Installer¶
Start the installer (*.exe, *.msi) and follow the instructions in the Installer until the end. You should now be able to start blender via the Windows Startmenu.
Binary Package¶
Binary packages are often either .rar or .zip-files. Unzip or unrar using an extraction application like winrar or 7-zip. Once unpacked the folder contains the Blender binary executable and all needed files. You can move the folder to a location of your choosing on your harddrive. If you want it to show up in the Startmenu you need to add it yourself.
Note
Binary Packages are great if you want to have multiple versions of blender installed right next to each other!
Application Settings location (windows)¶
Application Settings contain your userpreferences, bookmarks, scripts and addons
- Location:
- C:/Users/[user]/AppData/Roaming/Blender Foundation/[version]/
Linux¶
Installation depends on which way you choose to install Blender. Some Linux distributions have the latest Blender builds in their package manager repositories (e.g. Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch/Manjaro in AUR). This is the most comfortable way to install Blender on Linux. But if it is not in your in your package managers repository or the version is ancient you have other options.
Binary Package¶
Binary packages on linux are often .zip, or .tar-archives. Unzip or untar using an extraction application for the archive (tar, unzip, zip) or your distros file browser. Once unpacked the folder contains the Blender binary executable and all needed files. You can move the folder to a location of your choosing on your harddrive. If you want it to show up in your Application menu add the included blender.desktop file to the ~/.local/share/applications/ folder. Make sure the exec path inside the desktop file points to the Blender binary.
Snap¶
If you have snap installed on your distro you can visit Canonical’s snapcraft store to install Blender and have it update automatically.
Application Settings location (linux)¶
Application Settings contain your userpreferences, bookmarks, scripts and addons
- Location:
- ~/.config/blender/[version]/
Mac OS¶
Most of the time you will get a .dmg disk image file. Sometimes you will get a .pkg installer or a .dmg file will contain a .pkg-installer.
Warning
If you are on Mac OS you will not be able to render with Cycles render engine using your graphical processing unit (GPU) due to Apple removing OpenCL support from their Operating System. Only CPU rendering will be supported for Cycles but everything else will work just fine.
Disk Image File¶
Drag and drop the .dmg-file into /Applications to install it and enter your user password if you are prompted for it.
PKG Installer¶
Double click the .pkg-file to start the Installation Wizard. Follow it’s instruction to the end and you will have successfully installed Blender.
Application Settings location (mac os)¶
Application Settings contain your userpreferences, bookmarks, scripts and addons
- Location:
- ~/Library/Application Support/Blender/[version]/