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Out now: Kiro v26.07.01 has landed — our first monthly release, with the Hyprland edition and a finished fish default.
Kiro

Get Started

From download to desktop

Everything you need to put Kiro on your machine — download the ISO, write it to a USB stick, boot it, and install. No prior Arch experience required; the steps below take you all the way to a working desktop.

Start with step 1 Jump to the download

Before you begin

What you'll need

A few minutes of prep makes the rest go smoothly. None of this is exotic — most people already have it.

A 64-bit PC

Kiro is x86_64 only — any modern desktop or laptop. There is no 32-bit build.

A USB stick

8 GB or larger. Writing the ISO erases everything on it, so use a spare or back it up first.

The ISO download

About 6 GB. A wired connection or solid Wi-Fi makes the download quicker.

A backup

Installing replaces what's on the target disk. Back up anything you care about before you start.

1

Download the ISO

The latest release lives on SourceForge. The download link always points to the newest build — you don't have to hunt for a version number.

Download Kiro See the release card & checksum

The Download card on the homepage lists the exact filename, date, size and MD5 for the current release — keep it open, you'll need the filename and checksum in the next steps.

2

Verify the checksum

A quick integrity check — it catches a corrupted or incomplete download before you write it to a stick. Run this in the folder where the ISO landed, then compare the output to the MD5 on the Download card.

On Linux or macOS

$ md5sum kiro-*.iso
# compare the output to the MD5 shown on the Download card

On macOS use md5 instead of md5sum. If the strings match, you're good; if they don't, download again. The expected value is on the homepage Download card.

3

Create a bootable USB

Write the ISO to your USB stick. Two ways — a friendly graphical tool if you're new, or the terminal if you live there. Both produce the same bootable stick.

Graphical tool

Easiest

A point-and-click writer is the safest choice if you've not done this before. Any of these work on Windows, macOS and Linux:

  • balenaEtcher — pick the ISO, pick the stick, flash.
  • Ventoy — set it up once, then just copy ISO files onto the stick.

Select the Kiro ISO as the source and your USB stick as the target — double-check you picked the stick, not your hard drive.

Terminal

Linux / macOS 
$ lsblk
# find your USB device, e.g. /dev/sdb
$ sudo dd bs=4M if=kiro-*.iso \
     of=/dev/sdX status=progress oflag=sync

Replace /dev/sdX with your stick (from lsblk). Get the device path right — dd silently overwrites whatever you point it at, with no undo.

4

Boot from the USB

Leave the stick plugged in and restart the machine. You need to tell the firmware to boot from USB rather than your normal drive.

  • Open the boot menu

    As the machine starts, tap the boot-menu key — commonly F12, F11, F9, Esc or Del depending on the maker. The splash screen usually tells you which. Pick your USB stick from the list.

  • Turn off Secure Boot if it won't start

    If the stick is ignored or errors out, enter the firmware setup (often Del or F2) and disable Secure Boot, then try the boot menu again.

  • Choose Kiro at the boot screen

    When the Kiro boot menu appears, select the default entry — it boots linux-cachyos — and let it load into the live desktop. On older hardware where that stalls, reboot and pick the linux-zen entry instead; it's the more conservative fallback.

5

Try it live first

The USB boots into a full, working Kiro desktop without touching your disk — a no-risk test drive. Have a look around before you commit.

  • Check that Wi-Fi, sound and display work the way you expect — this is the moment to find out, before installing.
  • Open a few apps and get a feel for the Xfce desktop Kiro boots into.
  • Nothing you do here is permanent — the live session resets on reboot. When you're happy, launch the installer.
6

Install with Calamares

Launch the Install Kiro icon on the live desktop. Calamares is a friendly graphical installer — it walks you through a handful of screens and does the rest.

  1. 01

    Language & location

    Pick your language, region and time zone.

  2. 02

    Keyboard

    Choose your keyboard layout and test it in the box provided.

  3. 03

    Partitions

    Erase the whole disk for a clean install, or partition manually if you're dual-booting. This is the step that writes to your drive — read it carefully.

  4. 04

    Your user

    Set your name, username, hostname and password.

  5. 05

    Review & install

    Check the summary, hit install, and let it run. When it finishes, remove the USB stick and reboot into your new system.

7

First boot & setup

You're in. A few minutes now and the system is yours — updated, tuned, and set up the way you like it.

Update everything

Pull the latest packages before anything else — Arch moves fast.

$ sudo pacman -Syu

Open the ArchLinux Tweak Tool

Launch ATT from the menu — the bundled control panel for tweaking Kiro. It's also where you install any of the 14 desktops on demand.

Add a desktop (optional)

Kiro boots into Xfce and Ohmychadwm. Want Plasma, GNOME, a tiling WM? Install it from ATT and pick it at the login screen.

Set up a Timeshift snapshot

Timeshift ships with Kiro. Take a snapshot now so you always have a known-good state to roll back to before big changes.

Your firewall (firewalld) is already enabled out of the box — nothing to configure to be protected from day one.

Kiro 145 — Kiro v26.07.01 install walkthrough and first boot

Latest installation video · Kiro 145

Watch the full install, start to finish

The newest walkthrough takes you through a complete Kiro install — boot the ISO, work through Calamares, and reach your first desktop. The quickest way to see exactly what to expect before you begin.

Watch on YouTube

Watch & learn

A curated list to start your journey

A hand-picked set of videos that walk you through Kiro from the ground up — press play and follow along.

Stuck?

Help is a click away

Every step on this page is also walked through on video, and the community is happy to help. Pick whichever suits you.

Watch on YouTube Ask in Discussions Read the FAQ