Install the Dabble desktop app

Some writers want Dabble as a proper app: its own icon in the Dock or the taskbar, its own window, no browser tabs anywhere near the manuscript.

That’s the desktop app. You download it once, and from then on Dabble opens like any other program on your computer, online or off.

Here’s how to install it on Windows, Mac, or Linux, how it keeps itself current, and what to do on the rare occasion an install or an update digs in its heels.

Prefer not to download anything? Dabble can also install itself straight from your browser. See Install Dabble from your browser.

We’ll cover:

Before you begin: what to know before you download
Steps: install on Windows, Mac, or Linux
How updates work: what the app does on its own
Tips: checking your version, and using the app alongside the browser
Troubleshooting: a Windows install that won’t finish, and an update that never lands

Before you begin

Every download lives at dabblewriter.com/downloads. Pick Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Installing doesn’t move your work anywhere. The desktop app signs in to the same account as the browser, loads your projects, and then keeps a local copy so you can write offline.
Already have an older version installed? Run the new installer anyway. It replaces the old app, so there’s nothing to uninstall first.

Steps

Windows

Go to dabblewriter.com/downloads and click Windows. The download is a file named Dabble Setup followed by a version number.
Open the downloaded file. There are no options to choose: the installer runs on its own, adds Dabble to your Start menu and desktop, and opens Dabble when it’s done.
Sign in. Your projects load, and you’re writing.

The installer puts Dabble under your own Windows account, so it doesn’t normally ask for an administrator password. If it stops with an error instead of finishing, see Troubleshooting below.

Mac

Go to dabblewriter.com/downloads and click Mac.
Open the downloaded disk image, then drag Dabble onto the Applications folder shown beside it. If you’re replacing an older copy, click Replace when macOS asks.
Open Dabble from your Applications folder or Launchpad, then sign in.

You can eject the disk image and delete the download once Dabble is in Applications. The same app runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Linux

Go to dabblewriter.com/downloads and click Linux. The download is an AppImage.
Mark the file as executable. In most file managers, right-click it, open Properties, and turn on the option to run it as a program. From a terminal, chmod +x on the file does the same.
Open the file to run Dabble, then sign in.

A note on input methods

If your desktop runs an input method framework such as fcitx5 or IBus, check that the GTK_IM_MODULE environment variable is set to match it. Some distributions set the related variables (QT_IM_MODULE, XMODIFIERS) but leave this one out. Without it, Dabble and other desktop apps built on the same framework fall back to an older input path that can drop the occasional keystroke, leaving words with a letter missing.

To fix it, add the variable to your session’s environment, then log out and back in:

fcitx5: GTK_IM_MODULE=fcitx
IBus: GTK_IM_MODULE=ibus

Where that setting lives depends on your desktop. On many distributions it’s a file such as ~/.config/environment.d/im.conf containing the line above (the file name must end in .conf). On Hyprland, it’s an env = GTK_IM_MODULE,fcitx line (or ibus) in your Hyprland config.

How updates work

The desktop app checks for a new version on its own and downloads it in the background. When one is ready, the update icon in the top-right of the header turns green, and its tooltip reads Update ready — click to restart. Click it and Dabble relaunches on the new version. Leave it alone and the update applies the next time you open the app.

That’s the same routine the browser uses for Dabble itself, described in Update Dabble. Most of the time you’ll never think about it.

Occasionally, though, the desktop app gets stuck partway through and can’t update itself. When that happens, a manual install is the fix: download the current installer from dabblewriter.com/downloads and run it over your existing app, exactly as in the Steps above. Nothing to uninstall, and your projects and settings stay in your account.

Dabble will tell you when this is needed. If it opens a window titled Update your Dabble desktop app, your version is too old to update itself. Click Download for Windows or Download for Mac in that window, run what you downloaded, and you’re current again.

Tips

Check which version you have. Click the Help icon (the ?) in the top-right of the header. The last line of the menu reads Desktop v followed by your version number. It’s only there in the desktop app, so it’s also a quick way to tell the app from a browser tab.
Use the app and the browser together. Both open the same account and the same projects, and everything syncs between them. Write in the app at your desk and open app.dabblewriter.com on someone else’s laptop; it’s all one book.
It works offline. Once you’ve signed in, the desktop app keeps a local copy of your work, so a dropped connection doesn’t stop you. See Working offline.

Troubleshooting

On Windows, the installer says Dabble cannot be closed, but Dabble isn’t open. Or it stops with Error opening file for writing. Both mean the installer couldn’t write to the folder where Dabble lives. Right-click the Dabble Setup file you downloaded, choose Run as administrator, and let it finish. That clears it nearly every time. If Windows asks for a password rather than a simple Yes, use your own account’s if it has one: Dabble installs for whichever account answers that prompt. And if Dabble really is open, close it before you retry.
The update icon has been spinning for ages, or the same update keeps failing. Download the current installer from dabblewriter.com/downloads and run it over your existing app. See How updates work.
Dabble keeps asking you to update the desktop app. That window means your version can no longer update itself. Install the current version from the downloads page and the reminder stops.
On a Mac, the app won’t open after you drag it to Applications. Make sure you dragged Dabble into Applications rather than opening it from inside the disk image. Eject the disk image, then open Dabble from Applications.
On Linux, letters go missing from words as you type. Check your input method setup. See A note on input methods.