Installation and Setup

Getting Lightworks onto your machine takes a few minutes. This article covers installing, signing in, the choices you make on first launch, and keeping the application up to date.

System requirements

Lightworks runs on Windows, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), and Linux (Ubuntu and Fedora packages are provided). Video editing rewards a capable machine: a modern multi-core CPU, a GPU with current drivers, plenty of RAM, and - above all - fast storage for your media. For the current, detailed requirements for your platform, check lwks.com.

Installing

Download the installer for your platform from lwks.com and run it:

• Windows - run the installer and follow the prompts.
• macOS - open the disk image and drag Lightworks to Applications.
• Linux - install the package for your distribution (DEB for Ubuntu-based systems, RPM for Fedora-based systems).

After installation you can choose your interface language and a keyboard layout from the Settings menu (see Application preferences).

Signing in and licensing

Lightworks uses an account-based licence. Sign in with your Lightworks account when prompted - your licence tier (Free, Create, or Pro) follows your account, and the application activates the system for you. You can use Lightworks as a guest for a limited period before registration is required.

Manage your account, licences, and subscriptions through the User Portal on the website. Inside the application, the avatar icon in the top right menu shows your licence type (see Application preferences).

Note: The Free tier is genuinely usable - including 1080p and portrait export - so you can learn the application before deciding on an upgrade.

First launch

On first launch you land in the Project Browser, where projects live and new ones are created (see Projects). A startup tour and contextual hints help you find your feet - hints appear once, when a feature is first encountered, and can be switched off in Settings.

Where your settings live

User settings are stored as files, so they're easy to back up and move:

• Windows - On a fresh install C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Documents\Lightworks\Preferences\UserSettings.txt
  If you have upgraded from an older version C:\Users\Public\Documents\Lightworks\Preferences\UserSettings.txt
• Linux - /home/$USER/Lightworks/Preferences/UserSettings.txt
• macOS - /Users/$USER/Lightworks/Preferences/UserSettings.txt

Note: v2026 changed where fresh installs store data and settings on Windows. New Windows systems use your user Documents folder rather than Public Documents for data.
On all Windows systems, settings are migrated from the registry to Lightworks\Preferences\UserSettings.txt
On all Linux systems, settings are migrated from Lightworks/UserSettings.txt to Lightworks/Preferences/UserSettings.txt

You can also export and import preferences from within the application (see Application preferences).

Keeping Lightworks up to date

When a new version is available, a notification appears at the top of the Project Browser - clicking it takes you to the download. Close Lightworks before installing the update.

Tip: Before a major version upgrade, archive current projects first (see Archiving and restoring work). New versions add project-level data, and full backwards compatibility with older versions can't always be guaranteed