Installation

Kdenlive is released about every three month. See the Kdenlive news page to get the latest information and release notes. And check out What’s New for the most recent feature additions.

You can install Kdenlive in two different ways: Using an installer or as fully self-contained executable (Windows: standalone; Linux: appimage). On MacOS you can only use the installer version.

Visit the download page of the Kdenlive web site for up to date information on installing Kdenlive.

You’ll find all previous Kdenlive versions in the attic.

Minimum system requirements

Operating system: 64-bit Windows 7 or newer, Apple macOS 10.15 (Catalina) [1] or newer and on M1, 64-bit Linux. Please see the details below.

CPU: x86 Intel or AMD; at least one 2 GHz core for SD-Video, 4 cores for HD-Video, and 8 cores for 4K-Video. Please see the details below.

GPU: OpenGL 2.0 that works correctly and is compatible. On Windows, you can also use a card with good, compatible DirectX 9 or 11 drivers.

RAM: At least 4 GB for SD-Video, 8 GB for HD-Video, and 16 GB for 4K-Video.

Tip

If your computer is at the lower end of CPU and RAM requirements, you should use the Preview Resolution, Proxy and Timeline Preview Rendering features to help reduce preview lag.

Note

Video editing is in general relying heavily on CPU power. While Kdenlive has render profiles with GPU support timeline playback uses the CPU. Therefore, the more powerful your CPU the better the playback performance of Kdenlive. More and better GPU support is on the near-term roadmap.

Kdenlive on Linux

Kdenlive can be installed on non-KDE Desktops without any issues.

Packages: Minimum Ubuntu 22.04 for PPA. AppImage, Snap or Flatpak have no such minimal requirements.

Kdenlive on Windows

Kdenlive runs only on 64bit version of Windows. Kdenlive runs on Windows 7 and newer. We cannot guarantee that Kdenlive runs on server or embedded Windows version.

Kdenlive is available as an install and as a standalone version.

  • Install version: Needs administrator rights and gets installed on your local machine. It’s also listed as a program.

    • It’s available for all users on your computer.

    • The Kdenlive files are always located in the same folder.

  • Standalone version: Doesn’t need administrator rights and isn’t installed. It’s not listed as a program. Is only accessible for the user who has downloaded the file.

    • If you work with a normal user on your computer, you can use Kdenlive.

    • You can copy the Kdenlive folder on any external drive and run it on a different computer without installing it. However, your personal settings and downloads within Kdenlive are related to the computer you work on.

Double click the downloaded file.

kdenlive_zip_self_extracting_archive

Kdenlive self-extracting archive

Point to the folder you like to store the Kdenlive folder

Kdenlive_bin_folder

Kdenlive bin folder

To start Kdenlive navigate to the bin folder and double-click Kdenlive. You can also create a shortcut to your Desktop for easy access. Right-click on kdenlive.exe and select Send to … and then Desktop (create shortcut).

Kdenlive in a Windows domain

If you want to use Kdenlive with domain users with using Windows Active Directory and/or Group Policies (GPOs) make sure all users have read/write rights to the following folders:

%AppData%\kdenlive

%LocalAppData%\kdenlive

%LocalAppData%\kdenliverc

%LocalAppData%\kdenlive-layoutsrc

%LocalAppData%\kxmlgui5\kdenlivekdenliveui.rc

%AppData%\kdenlive\.backup

%LocalAppData%\knewstuff3

Do also make sure no GPO is blocking the access to these folders.

Kdenlive on macOS

Kdenlive runs with Intel based Macs on macOS 10.15 (Catalina)[1] or newer and on M1 (available on the download page).

Install procedure

macos_download_option

MacOS download option

Choose the option Open with DiskImageMounter (Default).

macos_diskimagemounter

MacOS DiskImageMounter

When the dmg file is downloaded, the DiskImageMounter will open. Drag the Kdenlive Logo into the Applications Folder.

macos_copy

MacOS copy

The files get copied.

macos_check

MacOS check

MacOS will try to check the files for malware.

macos_warnig

MacOS warning

The message “kdenlive” cannot be opened, because Apple cannot search for malware in it will appear. Here you have to click Show in Finder.

macos_right_click

MacOS right-click

The Finder opens. Now right click on Kdenlive and choose Open.

macos_open

MacOS open

The message that Apple can’t search for malware will appear again. Just click on Open and Kdenlive will open up.

Automatically check for updates

Kdenlive automatically check at startup for updates based on the app version (no network connection)

kdenlive2402_check-for-update

You can disable this function in Settings ‣ Configure Kdenlive under Environment see Check for updates.

Configuration Information

Kdenlive’s application-wide persistent settings are stored in the following locations, depending on your platform.

Linux

Windows

Description

~/.config/kdenliverc

%LocalAppData%\kdenliverc

General settings of the application. Delete this and restart Kdenlive to reset the application to “factory” settings

~/.config/kdenlive-appimagerc

Linux AppImage only: contains the general settings of the application

~/.config/session/kdenlive_*

temporary session info

~/.cache/kdenlive

%LocalAppData%\kdenlive

cache location storing audio and video thumbnails, and proxy clips, user defined titles, LUTS, lumas, shortcuts

~/.local/share/kdenlive

%AppData%\kdenlive

contains downloaded: effects, export, library, opencv models, profiles, speech models, and titles

~/.local/share/kdenlive/lumas

%LocalAppData%\kdenlive\lumas

lumas folder contains the files used for Composition - Wipe

~/.local/share/kdenlive/.backup

%AppData%\kdenlive\.backup

Auto Save Recovery files

~/.config/kdenlive-layoutsrc

%LocalAppData%\kdenlive-layoutsrc

contains the layout settings

~/.local/share/kxmlgui5/kdenlive/kdenliveui.rc

%LocalAppData%\kxmlgui5kdenlive\kdenliveui.rc

contains UI configuration, if your UI is broken, delete this file

~/.local/share/knewstuff3

%LocalAppData%\knewstuff3

contains LUT definition

~/.local/share/kdenlive/speechmodels

%AppData%\kdenlive\speechmodels

contains the VOSK models downloaded

~/.local/share/kdenlive/opencvmodels

%AppData%\kdenlive\opencvmodels

contains the OpenCV models downloaded

~/.local/share/kdenlive/venv

%LocalAppData%\kdenlive\venv

contains the Python virtual environment (venv)
Windows

To reach the above folders: Windows+R then copy above path into the window.

Notes