You can rename this shortcut to just Arduino or Arduino IDE. Make sure that you have not moved the arduino.exe file by looking at the name of the file on your desktop which should contain the word "Shortcut" at the end. This will create a shortcut to the Arduino IDE instead of moving the file to the desktop. If you want to create a shortcut to the Arduino IDE on your desktop, start dragging the arduino.exe file to the desktop and hold down the Ctrl + Shift keys before dropping it on the desktop. exe on the file name), turn them on in the file manager by clicking View → File name extensions. Open the folder that you extracted from the zipped file and double click arduino.exe in the folder to start the Arduino IDE software. To avoid any confusion: the file that is downloaded is a file and not a folder, although it is called a "Compressed (zipped) Folder" in Windows. After clicking the download link, you will have the option of making a donation to Arduino or just downloading the file for free.īooks that may interest you: Installing Arduino Software on Windows 10Īfter downloading the Arduino Windows ZIP file, simply double-click it and then copy the folder from inside the zip file to the desired location. This installation guide uses the Windows ZIP file, so download the ZIP file and proceed to the installation step below. The Windows ZIP file allows you to unzip the Arduino IDE to any location of your choice and easily remove it if you want by simply deleting the unzipped folder. The Windows Installer version of the software will download an installer which will install the software into the Windows system. You can choose either of the two Windows options, but I prefer to use the ZIP file because it keeps the Windows system cleaner.
Go to the Arduino Software download page where you will find two downloads for Windows – Windows installer and Windows ZIP as shown in the image below.
This article shows how to download and install the Arduino IDE software and drivers on a Windows 10 computer. This software is known as the Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment).ĭrivers must be installed in order to be able to program an Arduino from the Arduino IDE. Arduino software is needed to program Arduino boards and must be downloaded from the Arduino website and installed on a computer.