Flow Launcher can be installed several ways, including Windows package managers Winget, Scoop, and Chocolatey. The most popular method is to download the installer file from the main Flow Launcher website. This downloads the latest release package from the Flow Launcher GitHub repository (repo).
When installing Flow Launcher, you will get the Microsoft Defender SmartScreen installer window warning:
This appears as Flow Launcher has not been downloaded enough times, or users have not flagged this as "safe", for Microsoft to yet allow the installer to run without this warning. Over time we are hoping this becomes a trusted app with Microsoft; however this does not mean Flow Launcher is dangerous or malicious. As you should do with all software, you should be satisfied of the pedigree of the installation executable. For Flow Launcher you should ensure you download from flowlauncher.com, or the official repo. Flow Launcher is open source so anyone can download and review the source code. Any issues or concerns are welcome in the Issues part of the repo.
You may also get false positives from third-party antivirus and antimalware applications. As above, once you are sure you have downloaded the installer from an official source, and asked any questions you have with GitHub Issues, we ask that you submit a false-positive report to the AV vendor.
Flow Launcher installs with a set of "core" plugins that are maintained by the Flow Launcher team. These are:
- Browser Bookmarks
- Calculator
- Explorer
- Plugin Indicator
- Plugins Manager
- Process Killer
- Program
- Shell
- System Commands
- URL
- Web Searches
- Window Settings
There are also over 200 third-party plugins that extend Flow Launcher's functionality and these can be browsed and installed in the Plugin Store settings page.