The definitive, all-in-one desktop application for securing, managing, and growing your digital assets. Ledger Live combines industry-leading security with an intuitive, seamless user experience, putting you in full control of your financial future. It is not just a wallet interface; it is your gateway to the decentralized web.
Unlike software wallets, Ledger Live never exposes your private keys. The true security lies in the combination of the hardware wallet (Ledger Nano S/X) and the Ledger Live interface. The hardware wallet utilizes a certified Secure Element (SE), a chip built to withstand sophisticated attacks, similar to those used in high-end bank cards and passports. This separation is foundational: your keys remain offline, even when transacting. Every transaction is signed within the SE, confirmed on the trusted display of your device, and only the finalized, signed transaction is broadcast to the network by Ledger Live.
Desktop environments are often vulnerable to malware, keyloggers, and phishing. Ledger Live is engineered to negate these software-based risks entirely. Since transaction details (address, amount) must be confirmed directly on the Ledger device's screen, even if your computer is compromised, a malicious party cannot hijack the final approval process.
Your PIN and recovery phrase are entered directly into the Ledger device, bypassing the computer's operating system and making keylogging irrelevant to asset security.
Ledger Live Desktop is built with cross-platform compatibility, ensuring a consistent and secure experience whether you are using Windows, macOS, or Linux, adhering to native security standards for each OS.
Ledger Live automatically performs a cryptographic check on your connected device to verify its authenticity, ensuring it is a legitimate Ledger product and has not been tampered with.
Ledger Live supports over 5,500 coins and tokens, including major assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Polkadot (DOT), and thousands of ERC-20 tokens. The application manages the installations of necessary apps on your device, simplifying multi-chain management from a single interface. Your portfolio view aggregates all these assets into a clean, real-time total valuation.
Earn passive income securely through Ledger Live's native staking features. Supported chains like Ethereum (via Lido), Tezos, Polkadot, and Solana can be staked directly through validated, trusted nodes. Crucially, your assets remain in your custody throughout the staking process; you never relinquish control of your private keys to a third party.
Use trusted third-party partners (like Changelly, Wyre, MoonPay) integrated directly into Ledger Live to buy crypto using fiat or swap assets seamlessly. The flow is designed for security: even trades require hardware confirmation, protecting you from man-in-the-middle attacks during the exchange process. This convenience eliminates the need to expose your seed on high-risk third-party sites.
Access a full, filterable history of every transaction across all your supported accounts. Ledger Live provides detailed breakdowns, including fees paid, date stamps, and network confirmations. This feature is indispensable for tracking portfolio performance, preparing for tax season, and maintaining complete financial oversight.
The integrated approach of Ledger Live is engineered to minimize the "context switching" risk, where users move assets between insecure software wallets and exchanges. Everything you need is secured by your Ledger hardware.
To ensure maximal security, Ledger Live requires you to verify your receiving address on the Ledger hardware device itself. After selecting "Receive" and choosing the asset, the application will display the address and prompt you to confirm it matches the address shown on your hardware screen. This critical step prevents address substitution malware, a common attack where clipboard content is swapped for a hacker's address. Only after device confirmation does the address become usable. This meticulous verification process is essential for large transfers and is non-negotiable.
The sending process involves entering the recipient address and amount into Ledger Live. Once confirmed in the software, the transaction data is cryptographically prepared and sent to the Secure Element on your Ledger device. The device then displays the final summary (amount, address, and network fee) on its small, trusted screen. The user must manually review and physically press the buttons on the device to approve. This physical interaction ensures that the human operator explicitly validates the transaction details, making remote fraudulent initiation impossible.
Ledger Live facilitates secure interaction with the broader Web3 ecosystem through its "Discover" tab and the Ledger Connect feature (formerly Ledger Live Bridge). This allows users to connect their hardware-secured accounts to decentralized applications (DApps) and DeFi protocols while maintaining the device as the final gatekeeper. Every smart contract interaction—whether it’s approving a token spend, swapping on a DEX, or minting an NFT—still necessitates the physical, trustless confirmation on the Ledger device. The Ledger Live interface acts as a transparent window into complex contract calls.
While Ledger Live Desktop is primarily an interface for your offline hardware wallet, an optional account allows you to manage settings, push notifications, and access advanced services.
Ledger Live is an enabler for complex DeFi transactions without compromising on security. Through the **Discover** section, users can interact with popular decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols, and yield aggregators. The key advantage here is **What You See Is What You Sign (WYSIWYS)**. When executing a complex smart contract function, Ledger Live strives to parse the transaction data to display a human-readable summary on the computer screen before the final, critical confirmation is made on the device.
This feature is crucial because malicious smart contracts can hide functions that drain your wallet. Ledger's verification process forces transparency. Users can safely participate in yield farming, providing liquidity, and token governance, knowing that the hardware security model is constantly protecting the underlying assets, even while they are actively deployed in smart contracts.
The explosion of NFTs demands a secure management solution. Ledger Live allows users to view, send, and receive Ethereum and Polygon-based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 NFTs directly within the desktop application's dedicated **NFTs** section. This eliminates the need to expose your seed phrase to browser extensions or potentially compromised marketplaces just to check your collection.
The interface renders your digital art and collectibles clearly, alongside their current floor prices (where data is available). When transacting NFTs, the secure process remains the same: the hardware wallet signs the transaction, ensuring that unauthorized sales or transfers of high-value digital assets are physically impossible without your explicit, on-device consent. This extends the benefit of cold storage to your most valuable digital collectibles, which are often targets of social engineering and malware.
Ledger Live Desktop also serves as the essential management tool for your Ledger device itself. It facilitates secure **firmware updates**, a critical process that patches vulnerabilities and adds new coin support. All updates are cryptographically verified by Ledger's servers before being applied to the device. Furthermore, Ledger Live allows you to install and uninstall coin applications (e.g., Bitcoin app, Ethereum app) onto the limited storage of your device, all managed easily through the desktop interface. This single-point management system ensures that the most up-to-date and secure versions of the underlying operating system and coin apps are always utilized. The ability to manage applications without jeopardizing your seed phrase highlights the software's convenience and security partnership with the hardware.