Getting started

Installation

How to install vivePDF on Windows 10/11 and macOS 14+, get past the SmartScreen and Gatekeeper warnings, receive updates and uninstall it.

vivePDF is a free PDF editor for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) and for Macs with Apple silicon on macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Download the installer from the releases page on GitHub and open it; you do not need an account, and the app does not need to stay online.

Install on Windows

  1. Download vivePDF_<version>_x64-setup.exe from the latest release page.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file and follow the installer.
  3. When it finishes, open vivePDF from the Start menu. The first screen is Home, where you can open a PDF or go to the tools.

The SmartScreen warning

The installer carries no code signature, so the first time you run it Windows may show Windows protected your PC. Click More info, then Run anyway. The warning is only about the installer; the app itself does not ask again.

Office conversions

Word, Excel and PowerPoint conversions use LibreOffice. It comes with the Windows installer and is set up without internet on the first start (about 900 MB on disk). You can remove or reinstall it in Settings › Tools.

Updates

vivePDF checks for new versions itself. At start-up it only fetches version information; downloading and installing always ask you first. Updates are signed and arrive in small packages.

  • To check by hand, open Settings › Updates and click Check for updates.
  • When a new version is ready, choose Download and install; once the download finishes, Restart moves the app to the new version.
  • If you do not want automatic checks, turn off Check automatically at startup. While Offline mode is on, no check is made at all.

What changed in each version is on the Release notes page.

Install on macOS

  1. Download vivePDF_<version>_aarch64.dmg from the latest release page.
  2. Open the DMG and drag vivePDF to Applications.
  3. Open vivePDF from Applications or Launchpad.

The Gatekeeper warning

The app is not notarised by Apple, so macOS may block the first start. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway next to the vivePDF message. If you prefer Terminal, xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/vivePDF.app does the same. You only need this the first time.

Office conversions use the LibreOffice in Applications; if it is not installed, the app downloads it when you ask. Scanning needs SANE (brew install sane-backends).

Linux

On Linux, vivePDF is built from source. The same steps work for development on Windows and macOS.

Uninstall

On Windows, remove vivePDF from Settings › Apps › Installed apps; on a Mac, drag it from Applications to the Bin. If you also want to delete the settings and recent-file list the app keeps on this computer, use Settings › Data in vivePDF before uninstalling; Help › Privacy shows what is stored.