---
title: "Install Lilo"
description: "Download Lilo or install it with Homebrew, check which macOS version it needs, and see how updates arrive on their own once it is installed."
sidebar:
  order: 1
---

By the end of this page Lilo is in your Applications folder, open on its welcome screen, and set to update itself. It takes about two minutes.

## Check your Mac

Lilo 0.21.0 needs **macOS 26 or later**. It runs natively on Apple silicon and on Intel Macs. There is nothing else to install: Lilo uses the WebKit engine that comes with macOS.

## Install

Pick one of the two ways. Both give you the same signed and notarized app.

**Download**

1. **Download the disk image**

    Download [Lilo.dmg](https://github.com/Alexays/Lilo/releases/latest/download/Lilo.dmg) from the latest release on GitHub.

2. **Copy Lilo to Applications**

    Open `Lilo.dmg`, then drag the Lilo icon onto the **Applications** folder beside it.

3. **Open Lilo**

    Open Lilo from your Applications folder or with Spotlight. You can then eject the disk image.

**Homebrew**

1. **Install the cask**

    In Terminal, run:

    ```bash
    brew install --cask alexays/tap/lilo
    ```

    Homebrew puts Lilo in your Applications folder.

2. **Open Lilo**

    Open Lilo from your Applications folder or with Spotlight.

:::tip[Opened Lilo straight from the disk image?]
Lilo asks **Move Lilo to Applications?** Choose **Move to Applications**. Lilo can only update itself, and AI agent apps can only find it, when it runs from the Applications folder. If the move fails, quit Lilo, drag it to Applications in the Finder, and open it from there.
:::

## Start the setup

The first time Lilo opens, it shows **Welcome home.** with a **Get started** button.

1. **Get started**

    Click **Get started**, or press <kbd>Return</kbd>.

2. **Answer how you will use Lilo**

    Lilo asks **How will you use Lilo?** Pick one, then click **Continue**:

    - **For browsing**: your bookmarks, your look, the essentials.
    - **With my agents**: also lets AI agents such as Claude Code, Codex or Cursor use Lilo.
    - **For developing**: everything above, plus terminal tabs.

    **Skip** is the same as **For browsing**. You can change everything later in Settings.

3. **Bring your browser over**

    The next screen, **Bring your favorites**, imports from the browser you used until now. Follow [Import from another browser](/start/import).

Press <kbd>Esc</kbd> on the welcome screen, or close the setup with its close button, to leave it for later: a **Resume setup** button stays in the corner of the window until you come back to it.

## How updates arrive

You do not need to do anything to stay up to date.

- Lilo checks for a new version every hour and downloads it in the background.
- When an update is ready, a card in the sidebar says **Ready to install**. Click **Restart** to install it now, or keep working: it installs the next time Lilo restarts.
- Every update is signed, and Lilo checks the signature before it installs anything.

To check right away, choose **Lilo** > **Check for Updates…** in the menu bar, or open **Settings** (<kbd>⌘,</kbd>) > **General** and click **Check Now**. Turning off **Install updates automatically** in the same place stops both the hourly check and the download: Lilo then looks for a new version only when you choose **Check for Updates…** or click **Check Now**.

## Where Lilo keeps your data

Everything stays on your Mac:

| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Spaces, tabs, history, bookmarks and extensions | `~/Library/Application Support/Lilo` |
| Preferences | `~/Library/Preferences/fr.arouillard.lilo.plist` |
| Website data (cookies, site storage, caches) | `~/Library/WebKit/fr.arouillard.lilo` |

[Privacy](/about/privacy) lists every request Lilo makes on its own.

## Next

**[Import from another browser](/start/import)**

Bring your bookmarks, open tabs, history and sign-ins.

**[Your first five minutes](/start/first-five-minutes)**

Finish the setup and learn the handful of moves that make Lilo click.