Windows Install

Installation

You can install Kavita on Windows either from GitHub releases or using Scoop

GitHub Release

Go to https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita/releases/latest and scroll down untill you see the 'assets' section Here there's a list of files that you can download

You should download the one that says kavita-win-x??.

  • Download the x64 if you have a 64-bit system (usually the preferred version)
  • Download the x86 if you have a 32-bit system (usually older devices)

Unzip the archive to a writable directory.

Important Do not place it in Program Files/ or Program Files (x86)/.

Note: Kavita's releases are made to be used out of the box. This means there's no need to install extra requirements

The asset files are compressed in a .tar.gz file. You can use free software like 7zip to extract the files. Once the files are extracted to a location, you just need to run Kavita.exe to launch the server.

Scoop

1. Install Scoop (skip this if you've installed Scoop)

Go here for latest Scoop installation instructions.

2. Install Kavita

Run scoop bucket add extras and then run scoop install kavita.

Updating Kavita

IMPORTANT: If you are updating from a really old version you need to upgrade every 2 versions at a time. Doing otherwise you risk to having to restart with a fresh db.

Before updating Kavita, stop the program/service from running.

Github Release

  1. Download the latest version from the same link in the installation section (always points to latest)
  2. Extract all Files to a temp folder
  3. Copy/paste all files EXCEPT config/ to your Kavita install directory. When prompted, overwrite the files with the new copies.

Warning: If you replace config/, you will lose your data.

Scoop

Run scoop update kavita

Start Kavita

Run the Kavita executable. If you've installed Kavita using Scoop, you can search Kavita on you Windows Start Menu and then open it.

Alternate methods to run Kavita upon Windows startup are available instead of running the program each time you log in.

  • Add a shortcut to Kavita to your Startup Folder in Windows.
  • Use the Non-Sucking Service Manager aka NSSM to make Kavita a Windows Service. A user has written a nice guide on Reddit that might be beneficial.
  • Shawl is a more updated option to run programs as a service on windows.

View Kavita

Note: localhost should be replaced with the IP address of the machine that is running Kavita when accessing from inside your network from a different device like a phone or tablet.

For more instructions on how to make Kavita accessible from outside your home network... see the Reverse Proxy page.

Open http://localhost:5000 and set up your user accounts and Libraries in the UI.

To get your machines IP address you can use the powershell command:

Get-NetIPAddress | Format-Table

It will likely list a lot of different adapters but your IP should be within the list. Most likely one that starts with 192.168.. or 10...*

If you want to start using Kavita from any device inside your network, a Windows Firewall rule allowing incoming access to port 5000 may be required. The first time you run kavita.exe it will prompt you to allow connections. If you missed the prompt or it's not working, you can use this powershell command to open port 5000:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Kavita' -Profile @('Private') -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort @('5000')