Ledger Live | Official App to Manage Your Crypto Wallet Securely

A concise presentation-style guide to what Ledger Live does, why it matters for self-custody, and where to find official resources.

What is Ledger Live?

Ledger Live is the official desktop and mobile companion application for Ledger hardware wallets. It provides a single, secure interface to view balances, manage accounts, send/receive crypto, swap, stake, and access supported decentralized apps — while ensuring private keys remain on your Ledger device.

Core principles

Ledger Live emphasizes three things: self-custody (you control the keys), hardware-backed signing (transactions are signed on the device), and a local-first design (no password login or cloud-stored secret required).

Security features

Hardware-backed signing

All sensitive operations are confirmed on the Ledger device itself. That separation reduces remote attack surface and prevents apps from extracting private keys.

Advanced options: passphrases & recovery

Ledger documents advanced protections such as optional passphrases (adds a custom secret word to your recovery seed) and clear recovery procedures to restore on a new device if needed.

In-app protections

Ledger Live regularly adds layers like transaction protection and MEV/transaction-safety tools to help guard users when interacting with DeFi or swaps inside the app.

Getting started

Download & install

Always download Ledger Live from the official Ledger website or app stores. Installation guides and signed downloads are available for Windows, macOS, Linux and mobile platforms.

First-time setup

Initialize your Ledger device following the in-app prompts: set a PIN, write your 24-word recovery, and never share the recovery phrase. Ledger’s support pages walk through step-by-step onboarding and troubleshooting.

Download Ledger Live

Developer & power-user tools

Ledger maintains a developer portal and CLI tools for integrations, testing and building apps that interact with Ledger Live — useful for teams building wallets, services and advanced workflows.

Best practices

Always verify sources

Only install Ledger Live from official links, verify signatures when available, and never enter your seed phrase into any app or website. Ledger support and academy content contain up-to-date guidance and security tips.

Keep software updated

Regularly update Ledger Live and your device firmware to benefit from security patches and feature improvements.