Download and install Meta AI on your Mac, step by step.
It takes about five minutes and costs nothing. The only two things that catch people out are where the real installer lives not the Mac App Store, and not any of the copycat sites and the permissions macOS asks for afterwards. Both are covered below.
Independent guide not affiliated with Meta. We do not host the installer; every download link here points to Meta’s official site.
Three things to check before you download
None of these are negotiable, and checking now saves you downloading a file you cannot run. If your Mac fails the first one, stop here and read Intel Mac support instead.
Your Mac has an Apple silicon chip
Apple menu → About This Mac. If the Chip line reads Apple M1, M2, M3, M4 or newer, you are fine. If it says Intel, the app will not install there is no Rosetta build.
You are on macOS 15 or later
The same About This Mac panel shows the macOS version. Older than 15 and the installer refuses. Software Update will take you there if the Mac itself is supported.
You know which Meta account you want
Sign-in uses a Facebook, Instagram or Meta account. Decide before you start which one this app should be tied to switching later means signing out and back in.
There is exactly one place the real installer lives
Meta distributes the Mac app directly from ai.meta.com/meta-ai/download. It is not in the Mac App Store, and it never has been App Store apps run sandboxed, and window attachment needs permissions the sandbox will not grant. That means the usual safety net is missing, and a crop of look-alike download sites has grown up around the gap.
If a site offers you Meta AI for Mac as a .zip, an “installer helper”, a version for Intel Macs, or anything that asks for payment, close the tab. All four are signs of something that is not Meta’s app.
What you should see when the download is genuine: a file named something like MetaAI.dmg, roughly 16 MB, which mounts to a window containing one app and an Applications shortcut. macOS checks Meta’s developer signature and Apple’s notarisation before it opens; a tampered copy fails that check and is blocked outright.
We deliberately do not mirror the file. Any page on this site that offers a download sends you to Meta see the about page for why that policy exists.
Install Meta AI on a Mac in eight steps
Steps one to six get you a working app. Seven and eight are the ones people skip and then come back for, because the app feels half-broken without them.
Confirm the Mac can run it
Apple menu → About This Mac. You want an Apple M-series chip and macOS 15 or later. The full requirements, and what to do on an Intel Mac.
Open Meta’s download page
Go to ai.meta.com/meta-ai/download and choose the macOS download. Searching for it instead is how people land on the copycats.
Open the disk image
Double-click MetaAI.dmg in Downloads. Safari may have opened it for you already. It mounts as a small window with the app on the left and an Applications shortcut on the right.
Drag the app into Applications
Drag the Meta AI icon onto the Applications folder in that window. Running it from the mounted image instead is the single most common cause of “it stopped working after a restart”.
Eject the image and bin the .dmg
Click the eject arrow next to Meta AI in the Finder sidebar, then delete the downloaded file. Nothing is lost the app now lives in Applications.
Launch it and approve the first-run prompt
Open it from Applications or Launchpad. Because it came from outside the App Store, macOS asks once whether you are sure. If it refuses outright, see first-run errors below.
Sign in with your Meta account
The app hands you to your browser to sign in with Facebook, Instagram or a Meta account, then returns you to the app. Stuck in a loop? Login problems.
Grant permissions and check the shortcut
Approve Screen Recording and Accessibility if you want window sharing, and Microphone for dictation. Then press ⌥Space to confirm Quick Invoke opens.
The permissions macOS will ask for
None of these are granted by installing. macOS asks the first time you use a feature that needs one, and you can say no to all of them and still have a working chat app. Each toggle lives in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it unlocks | Where to change it | Safe to skip? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Recording | Attaching a single window so Meta AI can read the text and take one screenshot of it. | System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording | Yes you lose window sharing only. |
| Accessibility | Typing dictated or generated text into whichever app has focus. | System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility | Yes text then has to be copied and pasted by hand. |
| Microphone | Voice input and system-wide dictation. | System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone | Yes typing still works normally. |
| Notifications | Alerts when a long generation finishes while you are in another app. | System Settings → Notifications → Meta AI | Yes, and most people do. |
| Connected accounts | Instagram, Facebook and Google Workspace context inside answers. | In-app, under your account settings each is authorised and revoked separately. | Yes. Connect them when you need them, not on day one. |
What each permission actually exposes, and what Meta says it does with the data, is set out in permissions and privacy. If granting Screen Recording is a step too far, the web version covers the chat side without any of this.
The four things that go wrong on first run
Almost every failed install is one of these, and none of them mean the download is broken. Work through them in order, then try the general checklist.
“Meta AI cannot be opened”
The standard warning for an app from outside the App Store. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about Meta AI and choose Open Anyway, then launch it again.
The download stalls or vanishes
A VPN, a corporate proxy or an over-eager security tool will sometimes drop the file mid-transfer. Clear the partial download, turn the VPN off for a minute and fetch it again from Meta directly.
Sign-in loops back to the browser
Usually a stale cookie or a second Meta account already signed in. Sign out in the browser, then start the app sign-in again the full fix is in login problems.
Option-Space does nothing
Raycast, Alfred and several Spotlight replacements claim the same keys. Whichever app launched first wins. Change one of them the shortcuts guide shows where.
Updating, and getting rid of it cleanly
During the beta the app updates itself quietly in the background, so there is no separate installer to fetch each time. If you want to force the issue, quit and reopen it; a pending update applies on the next launch. The version number sits in Meta AI → About.
Removing it is the reverse of installing: quit the app, drag it from Applications to the Trash, then revoke the permissions in System Settings so the entries do not linger as ghosts in the Privacy & Security lists. Signing out first is worth doing if the Mac is shared, and disconnecting Instagram, Facebook or Google Workspace from the account side is a separate step that the update and uninstall guide walks through.
One thing worth knowing before you go hunting: Muse is a different app with a different installer. Removing Meta AI does not remove Muse, and the reverse is true too.
Downloading Meta AI for Mac: common questions
Where do I download Meta AI for Mac?
From Meta’s own page at ai.meta.com/meta-ai/download. The desktop app is not in the Mac App Store and no third-party site has a legitimate copy, however convincing the branding looks.
Is the download free?
Yes free, no trial, no card details at install. What is metered later is compute: image generation, video and other heavy features have limits on the free tier, which a Meta One subscription raises. See pricing and limits.
How big is the file, and how long does it take?
About 16 MB, so seconds on most connections. It is a native AppKit and SwiftUI app rather than an Electron wrapper, which is why it is a fraction of the size of comparable desktop AI apps.
Can I install it on an Intel Mac?
No. The build is Apple silicon only no Rosetta fallback, no universal binary. The Intel Mac page covers the options left to you, and system requirements has the full list.
macOS says the app cannot be opened. Is it broken?
No, that prompt is macOS being careful about an app downloaded outside the App Store. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, find the note about Meta AI and choose Open Anyway. If macOS instead says the file is damaged, the download itself failed delete it and fetch a fresh copy from Meta.
Do I have to grant Screen Recording permission?
Only for window sharing. Chat, drafting and file uploads all work without it, and you can withdraw the permission later in System Settings. Permissions and privacy explains exactly what it grants.
Do I need a Facebook account to sign in?
Not specifically Facebook a Meta account, which can be tied to Instagram or created on its own, is enough. Decide which one before you start, because switching later means a full sign-out and sign-in.
Is Muse included in this download?
No. Muse arrived on the Mac on September 17, 2026 as a separate app with its own installer and its own permissions. Meta AI reads a window you hand it; Muse acts inside your apps. See Muse vs Meta AI and download Muse.
How do I uninstall it later?
Quit the app, drag it from Applications to the Trash, then remove its entries under System Settings → Privacy & Security so nothing is left granted. Full steps, including disconnecting linked accounts, are in update and uninstall.
Is there a Windows installer?
Not yet, and Meta has promised nothing publicly. The desktop app launched on Mac first; on Windows the browser version is the only option for now. Desktop vs web sets out what you give up.
Requirements checked? Go and get it.
Download from Meta, drag it to Applications, sign in. Five minutes, nothing to pay, and this page is here if a step misbehaves.
Independent guide the installer itself comes from Meta’s official site. On an Intel Mac? Read this first. Not sure it is for you? Check the requirements.