DarkWire DarkWire for Windows
A desktop app for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit). It's a DarkWire device of its own, with its own profile, or linked to your phone: you add contacts the same way as on a phone, and messages go straight between your computer and their devices, end-to-end encrypted. It's the same app as DarkWire for Linux, and it works together with DarkWire for Android.
"Windows protected your PC". The first time you start the setup you downloaded,
Windows' SmartScreen will most likely show this warning. DarkWire's setup isn't signed with a
paid code-signing certificate, and SmartScreen warns about every program it doesn't know yet.
Click More info, then Run anyway. It may show up again for a later version.
Not comfortable with that? Check the download first (see below), or use DarkWire for the web on a server of your own instead.
Not comfortable with that? Check the download first (see below), or use DarkWire for the web on a server of your own instead.
Installing. Run the setup. It installs DarkWire for your own Windows account only,
without administrator rights, and adds it to the Start menu (a desktop shortcut is a checkbox on
the last page). Uninstalling it, from Windows' Installed apps, asks whether to remove your
DarkWire data too.
Updates. DarkWire tells you when a new version is out and installs it for you, after checking that it's signed by DarkWire (see below).
Messages arrive while DarkWire runs. Closing the window keeps it running in the notification area next to the clock; Quit in its menu there stops it. While it's not running, your contacts' phones keep retrying, just like with a phone that's switched off.
Why not Windows 7 or 8? DarkWire runs on Chromium, the engine behind Chrome, which stopped supporting Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 in 2023. On those, DarkWire would run on an engine without security fixes, and a secure messenger can't do that.
Updates. DarkWire tells you when a new version is out and installs it for you, after checking that it's signed by DarkWire (see below).
Messages arrive while DarkWire runs. Closing the window keeps it running in the notification area next to the clock; Quit in its menu there stops it. While it's not running, your contacts' phones keep retrying, just like with a phone that's switched off.
Why not Windows 7 or 8? DarkWire runs on Chromium, the engine behind Chrome, which stopped supporting Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 in 2023. On those, DarkWire would run on an engine without security fixes, and a secure messenger can't do that.
Portable: nothing installed. Rather not install anything, or want DarkWire on a USB
drive? Take one of the two portable files instead of the setup. Everything stays together: your
profile, messages, contacts and received files go in a DarkWire folder next to the program,
locked with a password you choose the first time. Take it along on a USB drive and use it on any
Windows 10 or 11 computer.
- The .exe is one file. Put it in a folder of its own, or on a USB drive, and start it. It unpacks itself every time it starts, which takes a few seconds.
- The zip starts faster. Unpack it once and start DarkWire.exe in its DarkWire folder. Keep DarkWire portable.txt next to it: it tells DarkWire it's the portable version.
Checking a download. Every Windows file is signed with DarkWire's own update key
(Ed25519), the same one as the Linux packages. DarkWire's updater refuses anything that isn't.
To check a file by hand, compare its SHA-256 below with
certutil -hashfile <file> SHA256 in a Command Prompt. To check its signature
you need OpenSSL (it comes with Git for Windows): save
the public key next to the file, put the file's signature from
below in darkwire.sig with echo '<signature>' | base64 -d > darkwire.sig,
and run
openssl pkeyutl -verify -pubin -inkey darkwire-update-key.pem -rawin -in <file> -sigfile darkwire.sig.
It answers Signature Verified Successfully for a genuine file. The public key:
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MCowBQYDK2VwAyEAc/+PTEOQxH5f3EaLAoMTg8585ADIT0+9GnDE1feal5o=
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
Each release lists its size and SHA-256. To check a downloaded file, compare its SHA-256 with:
sha256sum <file>(Linux)shasum -a 256 <file>(Mac)certutil -hashfile <file> SHA256(Windows)
| Version | Date | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| v0.19.74 Latest | Oct 07, 2026 |
Fixed: adding a contact or connecting could fail without a message on some computers.
|
| v0.19.69 | Oct 04, 2026 |
Report a problem, straight from Settings → About.
|
| v0.19.67 | Oct 04, 2026 |
New: DarkWire portable, as a single .exe or a zip. Plus open-source licenses in Settings → About.
|
| v0.19.62 | Oct 04, 2026 |
The first DarkWire for Windows.
|