excalidraw-desktop

Unofficial desktop client for Excalidraw on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is just an electron wrapper for the website, I made this because I don't want to use it in a tab.

Note: This loads the live excalidraw.com website — an internet connection is needed for the first launch. Subsequent launches may work offline thanks to browser caching.

Installation

Head over to the Releases page and download the appropriate installer for your operating system:

Platform	Format
macOS	.dmg (Apple Silicon)
Windows	Setup .exe or Portable .exe
Linux	.AppImage or .deb

macOS

If you get the error "Is Damaged and Can't Be Opened. You Should Move It To The Bin", run:

xattr -c /Applications/Excalidraw.app

This is because I don't have a developer certificate and it's not notarized.

Linux (AppImage)

After downloading, make the AppImage executable:

chmod +x Excalidraw-*.AppImage
./Excalidraw-*.AppImage

File Association

The app registers itself as a handler for .excalidraw files. You can double-click any .excalidraw file to open it directly in the app. On Windows (NSIS installer), you'll be prompted during installation; on macOS and Linux, it's automatic.

Development

Before building the project, ensure you have the following prerequisites installed:

• Node.js (version 22.12.0 or higher)
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/pgkt04/excalidraw-desktop.git
cd excalidraw-desktop

Install the dependencies:

npm install

Running

To run the app in development mode:

npm start

Building

To create a production build:

Command	Platform	Output
npm run dist	Current OS	Depends on platform
npm run dist:mac	macOS	.dmg (arm64)
npm run dist:win	Windows	Portable .exe + NSIS Setup .exe
npm run dist:linux	Linux	.AppImage + .deb

The generated installers will be in the dist/ folder.