Install on Windows

Install

If you're on Windows 10, a 32-bit version of MuseScore can be installed from the Windows Store. Clicking here will open MuseScore's page in the Store app. There you will only have to click Get the app > and MuseScore will be downloaded, installed and subsequently automatically updated.

Otherwise you can get the Windows installer from the download page of the MuseScore website. Click on the link to start the download (pick your choice of 64-bit or 32-bit). Your Internet browser will ask you to confirm that you want to download this file. Click Save File.

When the download finishes, double-click on the file to start the installation. Windows may prompt you with a security window to confirm this before running the software. Click Run to continue.
The installation process will now start

If you click Cancel, here or later, you'll see:

If instead you click Next to continue, the setup wizard displays the terms of the free software license.

Read the terms of the license, make sure the box next to "I accept the terms in the License Agreement" is checked, and click Next to continue. Next the installer will ask you to confirm the location in which to install MuseScore.

If you are installing a newer version of MuseScore but still want to keep the old version on your computer, then you should change the folder (note that MuseScore 3 can coexist with MuseScore 2 and 1 with no changes needed). Otherwise click Next to continue.

Click Install to continue.

Give the setup wizard a few minutes to install the necessary files and configurations. You'll see

and finally

Click Finish to exit the installer. You may delete the installer file you downloaded.

Start MuseScore

To start MuseScore, from the menu, select Start→All Programs→MuseScore 3→MuseScore 3.

Advanced users: Silent or unattended install

• You can install MuseScore silently with the following command

  msiexec /i MuseScore-X.Y.msi /qb-
  

Uninstall

You can uninstall MuseScore from the menu by selecting Start→All Programs→MuseScore 3→Uninstall MuseScore; or via Windows' Control Panel. Note that this will not remove your scores nor your MuseScore settings.

Troubleshooting

The installer might be blocked by the system. If you don't manage to install MuseScore, right-click the downloaded file and click Properties. If there is a message "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer", click on "Unblock", "OK" and double-click on the downloaded file again.

External links

• How to install MuseScore on Windows without administrator rights (MuseScore HowTo)
• How to run MuseScore as Administrator on Windows (MuseScore HowTo)
• How to fix MuseScore installation error on Windows (MuseScore HowTo)
• MSI command-line options
• Standard installer command-line options

Install on macOS

Install

You will find the DMG (disk image) file on the download page of the MuseScore website. Click on the macOS link to start the download. When the download is complete, double-click the DMG file to mount the disk image.

Drag and drop the MuseScore icon to the Applications folder icon.

If you are not logged in as administrator, macOS may ask for a password: click Authenticate and enter your password to proceed.

When the application has finished copying, eject the disk image. You can now launch MuseScore from the Applications folder, Spotlight, or Launchpad.

Note: As of macOS 10.15 "Catalina", the system has to be told to permit MuseScore to be allowed to access user parts of the file system. The first time you use it on Catalina, it will ask you if you wish to permit it; of course, answer "yes", but if you bypass this by accident, you can set it via System Preferences > Security and Privacy > Privacy > Files and Folders. Unlock with your Admin credentials, then navigate to MuseScore (whichever version(s) you have and want), add it or them to the list of apps, and select "Documents" and "Downloads" folders, or as you prefer.

Uninstall

Simply delete MuseScore from Applications folder (Admin access will be required to do that, however).

Install with Apple Remote Desktop

You can deploy MuseScore to multiple computers with the "Copy" feature of ARD. Since MuseScore is a self-contained application you can simply copy the application to the '/Application' folder on the target machines. It is also possible to install multiple versions of the application as long as their names differ.

Install on Linux

As of MuseScore 2.0.3 you can, for the first time, get hold of a copy for Linux straight from the download page, just like Windows and Mac users. This is possible thanks to the AppImage packaging format, which runs on pretty much all Linux distributions. If you prefer, there is still the option to get it the traditional way via your distribution's package manager (but you may have to wait for it to get packaged by the relevant maintainer). Of course, you can always build from source.

AppImage

The AppImage format is a new way of packaging Linux applications. AppImages are portable - they don't have to be installed - and they run on pretty much any Linux distribution. Dependencies are included in the one AppImage file.

Step 1 - Download

Before you download an AppImage, you need to know your processor's architecture. These terminal commands will show it:

    arch

or

    uname -m

The output will be something like "i686", "x86_64" or "armv7":

• i686 (or similar) - 32-bit Intel/AMD processor (found on older machines).
• x86_64 (or similar) - 64-bit Intel/AMD processor (modern laptop and desktop computers, most Chromebooks).
• armv7 (or later) - ARM processor (phones & tablets, Raspberry Pi 2/3 running Ubuntu Mate, some Chromebooks, usually 32-bit at present).

Now you can head over to the download page and find the AppImage that best matches your architecture. Once downloaded, the file will be named "MuseScore-X.Y.Z-$(arch).AppImage".

Step 2 - Give execute permission

Before you can use the AppImage you need to give permission for it to be run as a program.

From the Terminal:

This command gives the user (u) permission to execute (x) the AppImage. It works on all Linux systems.

    cd ~/Downloads
    chmod u+x MuseScore*.AppImage

Note: Use the "cd" command to change directory to wherever you saved the AppImage.

From a File Manager:

If you prefer to avoid the command line, there is usually a way to give execute permission from inside a File Manager.

In GNOME Files (Nautilus), simply:

1. Right-click on the AppImage and select "Properties".
2. Open the "Permissions" tab.
3. Enable the option labelled "Allow executing file as a program".

The process may be slightly different in other file managers.

Step 3 - Run it!

Now you should be able to run the program simply by double-clicking on it!

When you downloaded the AppImage it was probably saved in your Downloads folder, but you can move it somewhere else at any time (e.g. you could put it on your desktop for easy access). If you ever want to remove it then simply delete it.

Installing the AppImage (optional)

You can run the AppImage without installing it, but you must install it if you want it to be completely integrated with your desktop environment. This has the following benefits:

• Adds the AppImage to your Applications Menu or Launcher
• Sets the correct icons for MuseScore's files (MSCZ, MSCX) and for MusicXML files (MXL, XML)
• Makes the AppImage available via your File Manager's right-click "Open with..." menu

To install it, run the AppImage from the Terminal with the "install" option (see immediately below). This copies a desktop file and various icons to your computer. If you want to remove them you will need to run the "remove" option before you delete the AppImage. This does not affect any scores created with any version of MuseScore.

Using command line options

Running the AppImage from the Terminal allows you to use various command line options. The AppImage has some special options in addition to MuseScore's normal command line options.

You will need to change directory (cd) to wherever the AppImage is saved in your system, for example:

    cd ~/Desktop
    ./MuseScore*.AppImage [option...]

Or give the path to the AppImage:

    ~/desktop/MuseScore*.AppImage [option...]

Use the "--help" and "man" options to get more information about the available command line options:

    ./MuseScore*.AppImage --help   # displays a complete list of command line options
    ./MuseScore*.AppImage man      # displays the manual page (explains what the options do)

Distribution Packages

Debian

(Ideally before, otherwise while or after) installing MuseScore itself, you can install one or more soundfont packages (if none is installed, the dependencies will pull in a suitable soundfont automatically):

• musescore-general-soundfont-small: the standard MuseScore_General soundfont in SF3 format, as shipped with MuseScore for other operating systems
• musescore-general-soundfont: the MuseScore_General HQ soundfont in SF3 format, as available via the Extensions manager
• musescore-general-soundfont-lossless: the MuseScore_General HQ soundfont in uncompressed SF2 format: takes up a lot more space on your hard disc, but offers the highest sound quality and extremely fast startup times
• fluidr3mono-gm-soundfont: the old soundfont shipped with MuseScore 2.0 (antecessor of MuseScore_General), use only if resources are very tight or you need it
• timgm6mb-soundfont: the old soundfont shipped with MuseScore 1.3; cannot substitute the others; use only if you need it; extremely tiny

Note: only the MuseScore_General soundfont (HQ or regular) supports single-note dynamics (SND), and you need at least version 0.1.6 of those soundfonts (from unstable or backports) for SND support!

The command sudo update-alternatives --config MuseScore_General.sf3 can be used at any time to select the default soundfont used by MuseScore if you install more than one (note timgm6mb-soundfont cannot be selected here).

Then, install the musescore3 package for MuseScore 3.x (the current stable version) or musescore for MuseScore 2.x (there’s also musescore-snapshot for the unstable developer preview). The packages are available in the following distributions:

• musescore3: sid (unstable), bullseye (testing/Debian 11), buster-backports (stable/Debian 10), stretch-backports-sloppy (oldstable/Debian 9)
• musescore: buster (stable/Debian 10), stretch-backports (oldstable/Debian 9), jessie-backports-sloppy (oldoldstable/Debian 8)
• musescore-snapshot: experimental (usable on unstable)

See https://backports.debian.org/Instructions/ for instructions on how to add an official Debian backports repository to your system and install packages from there.

Note: without the appropriate backports, older versions may be available: MuseScore 2.0.3 on stretch, MuseScore 1.3 on jessie. Using the latest 2.3.2 version for 2.x-format scores instead (or conversion to 3.x) is strongly recommended!

Fedora

1. Import the GPG key:

   su
   rpm --import http://prereleases.musescore.org/linux/Fedora/RPM-GPG-KEY-Seve
    

2. Go to the download page of the MuseScore website. Click on the link for the stable Fedora download and choose the correct rpm package for your architecture.

3. Depending on your architecture, use one of the two sets of commands to install MuseScore

   • for arch i386

     su
     yum localinstall musescore-X.Y-1.fc10.i386.rpm
      

   • for arch x86_64

     su
     yum localinstall musescore-X.Y-1.fc10.x86_64.rpm
      

If you have difficulty with sound, see Fedora 11 and sound.
See also the hints for the various distributions on the download page.

KDE neon 18.04 (bionic)

The KDE neon packages are built on a different repository than the normal Ubuntu PPAs, as this is the only way for us to build packages for KDE neon. Due to limitations of the OpenSuSE Buildservice used, this currently only provides amd64 (64-bit PC) packages, no ARM packages (Slimbook or Pinebook remix).

All commands listed below must be entered in a terminal, in one line each.

1. Remove the Ubuntu PPAs (all three of them) from your system if you’ve ever configured it before. This is generally in /etc/apt/sources.list or one of the files below /etc/apt/sources.list.d/; if you used add-apt-repository (the recommended way) to enable the PPA, you can remove them with: sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mscore-ubuntu-ubuntu-mscore*

   KDE neon is not compatible with the Ubuntu PPAs!

2. Install a few standard packages (usually they are already there, but just in case they aren’t) to be able to securely download the repository signature key:

  sudo apt-get install wget ca-certificates
 

3. Download (via secure HTTPS connection) and install the repository signing key:

  wget -O - https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mirabile:/mscore/bionic-neon/Release.key | sudo apt-key add -
 

4. Enable the repository:

  echo deb https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/mirabile:/mscore/bionic-neon ./ | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mscore.list
 

5. Make the new packages available:

  sudo apt-get update
 

Now, it’s time to install one or more soundfont packages (ideally install the one you want before installing MuseScore):

• musescore-general-soundfont-small: the standard MuseScore_General soundfont in SF3 format, as shipped with MuseScore for other operating systems
• musescore-general-soundfont: the MuseScore_General HQ soundfont in SF3 format, as available via the Extensions manager
• musescore-general-soundfont-lossless: the MuseScore_General HQ soundfont in uncompressed SF2 format: takes up a lot more space on your hard disc, but offers the highest sound quality and extremely fast startup times
• fluidr3mono-gm-soundfont: the old soundfont shipped with MuseScore 2.0 (antecessor of MuseScore_General), use only if resources are very tight or you need it
• timgm6mb-soundfont: the old soundfont shipped with MuseScore 1.3; cannot substitute the others; use only if you need it; extremely tiny

If you skip this step, a suitable soundfont will be automatically installed when you install MuseScore itself in the final step.

Note: only the MuseScore_General soundfont (HQ or regular) supports single-note dynamics (SND), and you need at least version 0.1.6 of those soundfonts (from our repository) for SND support!

The command sudo update-alternatives --config MuseScore_General.sf3 can be used at any time to select the default soundfont used by MuseScore if you install more than one (note timgm6mb-soundfont cannot be selected here).

Finally, you can install the latest stable version of MuseScore with sudo apt-get install musescore3 and the old 2.x version with sudo apt-get install musescore (the musescore-snapshot package with an instable developer preview is also available).

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, …

WARNING: these instructions are not for KDE neon users (see above)!

MuseScore 2.x (the old version) is available from 18.10 (cosmic) to 19.10 (eoan) out of the box. Older Ubuntu releases carry older versions (18.04 (bionic) has 2.1, 16.04 (xenial) has 2.0, 14.04 (trusty) and 12.04 (precise) have 1.3 and 1.2, respectively). Similar to the Debian instructions, we recommend using the latest 2.3.2 version for old 2.x scores instead, or migrating those scores to MuseScore 3.

Besides the versions supplied by the distribution itself, the MuseScore Debian packager provides newer versions of MuseScore for older Ubuntu releases in official PPAs (package archives).

Please activate the Stable releases of MuseScore 3 repository on your system and then install the musescore3 package, available for all releases from 18.04 (bionic) onwards. (It is not feasible to provide MuseScore 3 for older Ubuntu releases, as those lack the minimum Qt version required by MuseScore 3.)

If you wish to install the older MuseScore 2, activate the Stable releases of MuseScore 2 PPA and install the musescore package, available for 12.04 (precise), 14.04 (trusty), 16.04 (xenial), and 18.04 (bionic) onwards. (Some intermediate releases may have slightly older MuseScore versions still available, but it’s best to update to the next LTS.) On the ancient 12.04 (precise) and 14.04 (trusty) releases, this will upgrade the Qt library in your system, which may break unrelated software (and on 12.04 even the C++ libraries are upgraded), mind you; best to upgrade to a newer LTS.

There’s also a MuseScore Nightly Builds (unstable development builds) PPA, from which the daring can install the musescore-snapshot package, for LTS, that is, 18.04 (bionic) only.

WARNING: these PPAs are only suitable for Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/… but not for Debian or KDE neon!

As with Debian, you can install one or more soundfont packages (ideally install the one you want before installing MuseScore, but if you don’t, a suitable one will be installed alongside MuseScore):

• musescore-general-soundfont-small: the standard MuseScore_General soundfont in SF3 format, as shipped with MuseScore for other operating systems
• musescore-general-soundfont: the MuseScore_General HQ soundfont in SF3 format, as available via the Extensions manager
• musescore-general-soundfont-lossless: the MuseScore_General HQ soundfont in uncompressed SF2 format: takes up a lot more space on your hard disc, but offers the highest sound quality and extremely fast startup times
• fluidr3mono-gm-soundfont: the old soundfont shipped with MuseScore 2.0 (antecessor of MuseScore_General), use only if resources are very tight or you need it
• timgm6mb-soundfont: the old soundfont shipped with MuseScore 1.3; cannot substitute the others; use only if you need it; extremely tiny

Note: only the MuseScore_General soundfont (HQ or regular) supports single-note dynamics (SND), and you need at least version 0.1.6 of those soundfonts (possibly from the PPA) for SND support!

The command sudo update-alternatives --config MuseScore_General.sf3 can be used at any time to select the default soundfont used by MuseScore if you install more than one (note timgm6mb-soundfont cannot be selected here).

External links

• How to run the MuseScore AppImage on Linux (MuseScore HowTo, video)

Install on Chromebook

Desktop program

MuseScore's desktop program will work natively on Chrome OS's Linux machine called Crostini. Follow the steps described in the video:

1. Install Linux Virtual Machine called Crostini. Go to Settings > Linux > Turn On
2. Download Musescore AppImage package
3. Configure AppImage to run. Set chmod +x for the AppImage file
4. Run AppImage with ./ followed by the Musescore package file name

5. Install required libraries if necessary, e.g.:

   • sudo apt-get install libvorbisfile3
   • sudo apt-get install libnss3

6. Install AppImage (using the install command line option) to avoid running it from Linux command line each time

7. Enjoy!

External links

• Watch this interactive video for more details
• How To How to run MuseScore on ChromeOS (MuseScore HowTo)
• This lecture