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Floe Desktop is the same peer-to-peer transfer as floe.one, running as a native Windows app. It uses the same transfer engine as the floe CLI, so it sends to and receives from browser peers and CLI peers without any extra setup.
Floe Desktop is in beta and Windows only. macOS and Linux are planned. On other platforms, use the web app or the CLI.

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Requirements

  • From the Microsoft Store: Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later. The package itself declares that minimum version.
  • From GitHub: any Windows 10 or later. The installer stops on anything older.
  • x64. Both channels ship an x64 build only. The GitHub installer and the portable zip stop with an architecture error on a native ARM64 machine.
  • The Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, which draws the interface. Windows 11 includes it, and the vast majority of Windows 10 machines already have it. You do not normally need to do anything about it.
If it is missing, Floe asks to download and install it when you start the app, then carries on once that finishes. Decline, and Floe closes and asks again the next time you start it. The installer from GitHub also installs it during setup.One case needs care. If the machine cannot reach Microsoft’s download at that moment, because it is offline or behind a filtering proxy, the runtime cannot install and Floe cannot start. Install WebView2 yourself, then start Floe again.

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Choose a channel

The recommended way to install.Get Floe Desktop from the Microsoft StoreOr from a terminal:
Terminal
Microsoft re-signs the package with its own certificate, so it installs with no warning, and updates arrive automatically through the Store.Three things about the app itself differ from the GitHub build:
  • The Show in right-click menu setting is not available, and the Windows section of Settings that contains it is hidden entirely. A packaged app’s registry writes go to a private view that File Explorer never reads, so the entry could be written but would never appear. Hidden beats shown and broken.
  • Updates are handled by the Store, so there is nothing to download by hand. The Store build also never runs the GitHub build’s daily update check and does not show its Check for updates switch.
  • No SmartScreen warning, because Microsoft signs the package.
Both channels ship the same executable, so everything else about the app is identical, including how it handles a missing WebView2 runtime.

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Verify a download

Every GitHub release ships SHA256SUMS.txt. To check a file you downloaded:
PowerShell
Compare the result with the matching line in SHA256SUMS.txt. Store installs need no check: the Store verifies the package signature itself.

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Check the version

Open Settings (the gear in the title bar, or Ctrl ,) and look at the About section. App version reads the release tag, for example desktop-v0.2.5. A build you compiled yourself reads dev. That section also shows the transfer protocol version and which signaling server the app is using, and a Copy button that puts all of it on the clipboard. Those are the details worth including in a bug report.

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Update

Desktop builds are published as GitHub pre-releases, so they never appear under Latest release on the releases page. Watch floe.one/download or the full release list instead.
Desktop releases carry their own desktop-vX.Y.Z version numbers, separate from the vX.Y.Z tags that release the CLI and the server. The two lines never need to match, and you never need to match versions with the person on the other end of a transfer. See version compatibility.

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Uninstall

Open Settings in Windows, go to Apps, and uninstall it. The GitHub install is listed as Floe; the Store install is listed under its Store name, Floe Desktop, and can also be uninstalled by right-clicking it in the Start menu. Uninstalling removes the app, its shortcuts, and, on the GitHub build, the File Explorer right-click entry if you turned it on. It deliberately leaves a few things behind, so a reinstall picks up where you left off:
  • Your settings, in %APPDATA%\floe\desktop.json.
  • Your transfer history and save folder, stored in the app’s local data.
  • The update check’s once-a-day cache, in %APPDATA%\floe\desktop-update-check.json.
Delete the %APPDATA%\floe folder to remove those as well. Note that the floe CLI keeps its own files in that same folder, so only delete it if you are removing both.

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Run alongside the CLI

The desktop app and the floe CLI share the %APPDATA%\floe folder, and both talk to the same signaling server by default, so a transfer started in one can be received by the other. Point either at a different server and they still interoperate as long as both use the same one. See Settings.

Related topics

Floe Quick StartInstall the Floe CLIFloe FAQFloe Desktop SettingsFloe Desktop Keyboard Shortcuts