Installing, updating and uninstalling Octoolo

#System requirements

Octoolo is a desktop app for Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit (x64). Every release is built as one 64-bit Windows installer.

• Windows: Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit. There is no 32-bit version, no separate version for ARM PCs, and no version for macOS, Linux, iPhone, iPad or Android.
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime: Octoolo's window is drawn by WebView2, the part of Windows that shows web pages inside apps. Windows 11 and up-to-date Windows 10 PCs usually have it. When a PC does not, the Octoolo installer downloads Microsoft's WebView2 installer and runs it, so an internet connection is needed for that install.
• Graphics card:
  • The full, layered Photo Editor draws with the graphics card through WebGPU. Where WebGPU is not available (a remote desktop, a virtual machine, a blocked graphics driver), the Photo Editor opens a simpler editor instead, which says "The simple editor: this PC's graphics card is not available". See Photo Editor.
  • The AI features (object selection and removal, upscaling, depth, the vocal remover) run on the graphics card through DirectML when the PC has a DirectX 12 graphics card, and on the processor otherwise. The background remover and the translator always run on the processor.
  • Video export and video conversion use the graphics card's encoder (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel) when there is one, then Windows' own encoder, then the processor.
• Internet: needed to download and install Octoolo, for the parts that download the first time a tool needs them, for updates, and for Octoolo Cloud's license checks. Everything else works offline. How long the paid apps keep working offline is in Prices and limits.
• Administrator rights: not needed. Octoolo installs for the current Windows user only.
• Disk space: the program itself is small (a few tens of megabytes). The bigger parts are not in the installer; each downloads once, the first time a tool needs it, after you click its download button. Their download sizes, as Octoolo's download buttons show them (in binary megabytes; Downloads on first use gives the same sizes in decimal megabytes, which look a little larger): FFmpeg (video and sound tools) 77 MB, the AI runtime 15 MB, the background remover 175 MB, object selection 74 MB, the object remover 27 MB, the upscaler 4.6 MB, depth 47 MB, the vocal remover 87 MB, and each translator language direction about 105 to 130 MB. The video and audio editors also keep working copies (cleaned sounds, separated parts) in Octoolo's data folder. Details: Downloads on first use.

#Downloading Octoolo

Octoolo is downloaded from its website:

• The Download buttons on https://octoolo.com give the newest installer.
• The direct link is https://octoolo.com/download/Octoolo-Setup.exe. It is always the newest version.
• The installer file is called Octoolo-Setup.exe. It is the same program as Octoolo_<version>_x64-setup.exe, the name each version is also published under.
• Checksums: https://octoolo.com/download/SHA256SUMS.txt lists the SHA-256 checksum of the newest installer. To compare, open PowerShell in the folder with the download and run Get-FileHash .\Octoolo-Setup.exe; the Hash it prints must match the line for Octoolo-Setup.exe.

Octoolo is free to download and install. A few apps work without a subscription; the others need Octoolo Cloud or its free trial. Which apps are free, the trial and the prices are in Prices and limits; how the subscription is turned on is in License and account.

#Installing Octoolo step by step

1. Run Octoolo-Setup.exe (if Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", see the next section).
2. The installer speaks the language Windows uses when it is English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil) or German, and English otherwise. There is no language picker.
3. Welcome page: click Next.
4. If Octoolo is already on the PC, an Already Installed page asks what to do (see "Reinstalling Octoolo or installing over an older version" below).
5. Choose Install Location: the default folder is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Octoolo (for example C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\Octoolo), or the folder of the earlier installation. Another folder can be chosen here (Browse...). Click the button at the bottom right to go on (Next or Install); the installation starts.
6. The installer copies Octoolo. If the PC has no WebView2, it shows "Downloading WebView2 bootstrapper..." and "Installing WebView2..." first.
7. Click Next when it is done, then on the last page leave Create desktop shortcut and Run Octoolo ticked (both are ticked by default) or untick them, and click Finish.

What the installer does:

• Installs for the current Windows user only, without asking for administrator rights. Other people who use the same PC with their own Windows account install it for themselves.
• Adds Octoolo to the Start menu (always) and to the desktop (if the box stays ticked).
• Adds Octoolo to Windows' list of installed apps (Settings > Apps), with the publisher Getiket Technologies, so it can be uninstalled from there.
• It does not add anything to File Explorer's right-click menu itself: Octoolo adds its menu when it starts (see Files), and it can be turned off in Settings.
• It does not ask to accept a license agreement and does not install anything else, apart from Microsoft's WebView2 when it is missing.

#"Windows protected your PC" when running the installer (SmartScreen)

Windows' SmartScreen can stop a program it has not seen many people download yet. A new Octoolo version can get this warning, especially when its installer is not code-signed (then the publisher shows as "Unknown publisher").

To install anyway:

1. In the blue "Windows protected your PC" box, click More info.
2. Check that the app is Octoolo-Setup.exe, downloaded from octoolo.com.
3. Click Run anyway.

Some browsers also warn that a file "isn't commonly downloaded" and hide it until you choose to keep it. To be sure the file is the one Octoolo published, compare its SHA-256 checksum with https://octoolo.com/download/SHA256SUMS.txt (see "Downloading Octoolo" above). Only download Octoolo from octoolo.com.

#Antivirus warnings about the Octoolo installer or Octoolo.exe

New installers, and installers that are not code-signed, are sometimes flagged by antivirus programs (Microsoft Defender included) by mistake, because the file is new and few people have it yet. Octoolo itself contains no advertising and installs nothing besides itself (and Microsoft's WebView2 when it is missing).

If an antivirus stops or quarantines the installer or Octoolo.exe:

1. Check that the file came from https://octoolo.com/download/ and that its SHA-256 checksum matches https://octoolo.com/download/SHA256SUMS.txt (PowerShell: Get-FileHash .\Octoolo-Setup.exe).
2. If it matches, Microsoft Defender lets you restore it: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Protection history, open the entry and choose to restore or allow it. Other antivirus programs have their own quarantine list.
3. Tell Octoolo's support (Help and feedback in the app, or hello@octoolo.com) which antivirus flagged it and the name of the detection, so it can be reported as a false detection.

If Octoolo was already installed and Octoolo.exe was removed, the Start menu shortcut no longer opens anything: reinstall from octoolo.com (your data stays, see "Reinstalling Octoolo" below).

#Microsoft Edge WebView2 and Octoolo

Octoolo's window is a WebView2 window: WebView2 is Microsoft's component, based on Microsoft Edge, that desktop apps use to show their interface. Octoolo does not run inside the Edge browser, and Edge does not need to be open or set as the default browser.

• The installer checks whether WebView2 is installed. When it is not, it downloads Microsoft's small WebView2 installer from Microsoft and runs it. If that fails, the installer stops with "Failed to install WebView2! The app can't run without it. Try restarting the installer.": check the internet connection and run Octoolo-Setup.exe again.
• Updates of Octoolo never install WebView2; Windows keeps WebView2 itself up to date.
• Octoolo keeps its window's own storage (for example drafts and home screen choices) in a WebView2 folder inside its data folder, separate from the Edge browser's data. See Privacy and data.

#Installing without questions (for IT and scripts)

The installer accepts these options on the command line (Tauri's NSIS installer):

Example: Octoolo-Setup.exe /S /D=D:\Apps\Octoolo.

• The install is always for the Windows user who runs it; there is no install for all users of a PC.
• Without a Start menu shortcut (/NS), Windows may not show Octoolo's notifications (reminders, alarms, timers), because Windows takes a desktop app's notification identity from its Start menu shortcut.
• Each installed Octoolo turns Octoolo Cloud on by itself: with the license key (I have a license key) or by a checkout started from that PC. Octoolo cannot sign in to an octoolo.com account; see License and account.
• The uninstaller is uninstall.exe in the install folder; uninstall.exe /S removes Octoolo silently and keeps its data.

#The first start of Octoolo

• Octoolo opens one window, titled Octoolo, 1360 × 800 pixels and centred on the screen. On a smaller screen (a 1366 × 768 laptop, say) it shrinks to fit. It does not remember where the window was: it opens centred each time.
• It speaks the language Windows uses when that is English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil) or German, and English otherwise. Settings > Language changes it (Home screen and Settings).
• The home screen shows a short note once: "Octoolo counts which apps and tools are used, without knowing who you are, so we know what to improve. Never your files or their names." with Settings (to turn usage statistics off) and OK. See Privacy and data.
• No account or sign-in is needed. The free apps (Prices and limits) open at once; the other apps show the Octoolo Cloud page with Start your free week and I have a license key (License and account).
• A few seconds after it starts, Octoolo checks octoolo.com for a newer version (after about 15 seconds, if automatic updates are on), begins sending usage statistics (after about 30 seconds, if they are on) and, if Octoolo Cloud is turned on, checks the license (after about 20 seconds).
• Octoolo adds its items to File Explorer's right-click menu (Compress to ZIP, Extract here, Lock with a password…, Unlock…). On Windows 11 they are under Show more options.

#How Octoolo updates itself

Octoolo keeps itself up to date. Installing again by hand is not needed (except from 0.1.0, see below).

1. About 15 seconds after Octoolo starts, and then every 4 hours while it runs, Octoolo asks https://octoolo.com/download/latest.json whether there is a newer version.
2. When there is, it downloads the new installer in the background while you keep working.
3. It checks the download's signature against Octoolo's key, which is built into the app. The signature must also name that version, so an older installer cannot pass as a newer one. A download that is not signed by Octoolo is thrown away: "The download is not signed by Octoolo, so it was not kept."
4. When the download is ready, the home screen's sidebar shows a card "Octoolo <version> is ready", "Restart Octoolo to finish updating." with a Restart to update button, and the Settings gear in the sidebar gets a dot ("An update is ready").
5. Nothing is installed until you click Restart to update (see the next section).

If a check or download fails, Octoolo tries again on its own 30 minutes later. Updates only come from octoolo.com; Octoolo never installs anything else.

#Restart to update

Restart to update is in two places: the update card in the home screen's sidebar, and Settings > Updates (where it also shows What is new, the list of changes).

When you click it:

1. Octoolo closes the usual way. Anything running stops (conversions, exports, downloads in the download manager); a screen recording keeps the file it has recorded so far. Save open work first.
2. The new installer runs with a small progress window. There are no questions to answer.
3. Octoolo opens again, now on the new version.

If you close Octoolo without clicking Restart to update, the update is not installed and the downloaded installer is not kept: Octoolo downloads it again a little after its next start, and offers Restart to update again.

To check which version is running: Settings > Updates shows "Octoolo <version>", and so do the version tag next to "Octoolo Cloud" in the sidebar and Settings > About. The newest version is in Prices and limits, and what changed in each version is in What's new.

#Turning automatic updates off, and checking for updates by hand

• Settings > Updates > Download new versions on their own is on by default. When it is off, Octoolo does not check on its own at all; the status line says "Octoolo checks for updates when you ask." When it is on: "Octoolo checks for updates on its own."
• Check now (Settings > Updates) checks at once and, if there is a newer version, downloads it straight away.
• The version tag (for example "v0.8.0") next to "Octoolo Cloud" at the bottom of the home screen's sidebar is also a button ("Check for updates"). After a click, the sidebar says "Checking for updates…", "Downloading Octoolo <version>… <percent>%", "Octoolo is up to date.", or why it failed, for a few seconds.

What Settings > Updates can say:

#Update messages and what they mean

These messages appear in Settings > Updates (in full) and in the sidebar after a click on the version tag (the first part only; the reason shows when the mouse is over it):

If updates keep failing, the newest installer can always be downloaded from https://octoolo.com/download/Octoolo-Setup.exe and run over the installed Octoolo: settings and data stay.

#Updates when Octoolo is installed in another folder

Since version 0.6.1, an update always replaces the copy of Octoolo that is running, wherever it was installed (for example D:\Octoolo instead of the default %LOCALAPPDATA%\Octoolo). Versions before 0.6.1 sent updates to the folder Windows had registered for the last install, so a copy in another folder could stay old.

If a PC has two copies in two folders, each copy updates itself when it is the one running. Only one Octoolo runs at a time, so starting one while the other is in the tray shows the one already running. See "An old version of Octoolo keeps opening" in Troubleshooting.

#Octoolo 0.1.0 does not update itself

Version 0.1.0, the first release, has no updater. Download https://octoolo.com/download/Octoolo-Setup.exe and run it once; every version since 0.2.0 updates itself. The installer finds the old version and offers Uninstall before installing (the default) or Do not uninstall; either works.

#Uninstalling Octoolo

1. Quit Octoolo if it runs in the tray: right-click its icon in the corner of the taskbar and choose Quit Octoolo. (If you forget, the uninstaller says "Octoolo is running! Click OK to kill it": OK closes it, Cancel stops the uninstall.)
2. Open Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps (Windows 11) or Apps & features (Windows 10), find Octoolo, and choose Uninstall. (Control Panel > Programs and Features works too.)
3. The uninstaller's first page has a box, Delete the application data, which is not ticked. Leave it unticked to keep your passwords vault, Productivity lists, settings and downloaded parts for a later reinstall; tick it to delete them (see the next section).
4. Click Uninstall.

Before ticking Delete the application data: the Passwords vault is deleted with it and cannot be recovered. Save an encrypted backup first in the Passwords app (Import & export > Save an encrypted backup, see Passwords).

Uninstalling does not cancel an Octoolo Cloud subscription and does not take the PC off the account (Settings > Your plan > Remove this PC does, before uninstalling). See License and account and Plans and billing.

#What uninstalling Octoolo removes and what it keeps

Always removed:

• Octoolo's program files (Octoolo.exe and uninstall.exe) and its install folder, when empty.
• The Octoolo shortcuts in the Start menu and on the desktop that point to this copy.
• Octoolo's entry in Windows' list of installed apps.
• Start Octoolo when you sign in to Windows, including its line in Task Manager's startup apps.
• Octoolo in File Explorer: the right-click menu on files, folders, archives and locked files, double-click to unlock .olock files, and Octoolo in archives' Open with list. What opens ZIP and other archives by default is not changed.
• Installers that earlier updates left in the Windows temporary folder.

Removed only with Delete the application data ticked:

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.octoolo.app: the Passwords vault, Productivity's to-dos, reminders, notes, habits, timers, subscriptions and screen time, the downloaded parts (FFmpeg, AI models, translator languages), Octoolo Cloud's activation on this PC, Help and feedback conversations, recent files, settings, drafts and the window's own storage, and the log.
• %APPDATA%\com.octoolo.app, if it exists.

Never removed:

• Your own files: documents, pictures, videos, exports, converted files, archives, and screen recordings (saved by default in Videos\Octoolo).
• Locked .olock files. They stay where they are and open again once Octoolo is installed again (with their password).
• Your Octoolo account and subscription on octoolo.com.

The full list of Octoolo's folders is in Privacy and data.

#Reinstalling Octoolo or installing over an older version

Running Octoolo-Setup.exe on a PC that has Octoolo is safe: settings and data stay unless you tick Delete the application data in an uninstaller.

• Same version installed ("Already Installed"): choose Add/Reinstall components to repair (copies Octoolo again), or Uninstall Octoolo.
• Older version installed: the page says an older version is installed and offers Uninstall before installing (the default) or Do not uninstall. Both end with the new version. Uninstall before installing runs the uninstaller first: leave Delete the application data unticked to keep your data. It also turns off Start Octoolo when you sign in to Windows; turn it on again in Settings > Reminders and the background if you used it.
• Newer version installed (installing an older installer): the page warns that a newer version is installed and recommends uninstalling first. The newer version is what automatic updates install anyway.

The installer suggests the folder of the earlier installation, so a reinstall replaces the same copy. Choosing another folder makes a second copy (see "Updates when Octoolo is installed in another folder").

#Moving Octoolo to a new PC

Install Octoolo on the new PC from https://octoolo.com/download/Octoolo-Setup.exe. What moves and how:

Do not copy Octoolo's whole data folder to another PC: it holds the old PC's own activation.

#Only one Octoolo runs at a time

Only one Octoolo runs at a time for a Windows user. Starting Octoolo again (from the Start menu, the desktop or the taskbar) while it runs, even hidden in the tray, brings the running Octoolo's window to the front instead of opening a second one. A request from File Explorer's right-click menu goes to the running Octoolo too, and opens in a Files window of its own.

#Octoolo in the tray (the corner of the taskbar) and starting with Windows

Reminders, alarms, timers, the shutdown timer and screen time (in the Productivity app) only work while Octoolo runs. So:

• While something is planned, closing the window leaves Octoolo running, with its icon in the corner of the taskbar. The first time, Windows shows a notification: "Octoolo is still running", "So your reminders, alarms and screen time keep working. Quit it from its icon in the corner of the taskbar."
• With nothing planned, closing the window closes Octoolo as usual.
• Clicking the icon opens the window. Right-clicking it shows Open Octoolo, Productivity, the shutdown timer's line and Cancel the shutdown timer (when one is set), and Quit Octoolo.
• Settings > Reminders and the background > Keep running after the window closes, while something is planned (on by default) turns this off; then reminders only ring while the window is open.
• Settings > Reminders and the background > Start Octoolo when you sign in to Windows (off by default) starts Octoolo without its window at sign-in, so reminders and screen time work after a restart. If nothing is planned, it closes again after two minutes. It can also be switched off in Task Manager's startup apps.

More in Productivity.

#Octoolo's command-line options

Octoolo.exe (in the install folder, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Octoolo by default) takes these options, for shortcuts and scripts:

• A view uses lowercase letters, digits, dashes and slashes, under 64 characters. App ids and task ids are listed in All apps and tasks. Old views such as --open=tool/qr-code still open where that tool is now.
• Example of a shortcut target that opens the screen recorder: "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Octoolo\Octoolo.exe" --open=app/video/screen-recorder.

#Limits and what Octoolo's installer and updater cannot do

• Octoolo cannot be installed for all users of a PC at once; each Windows user installs it.
• There is no portable (zip) version and no 32-bit, ARM, macOS or Linux version.
• The installer cannot be switched to another language; it follows Windows.
• Octoolo cannot go back to an older version by itself; updates only go forward.
• Updates cannot be scheduled. They download on their own (or only when asked) and install when you click Restart to update.
• Uninstalling cannot keep some data and delete the rest: Delete the application data deletes all of Octoolo's data folder.