// Before you start
What you need
- A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
- Docker Desktop installed and running (docker.com/products/docker-desktop)
- At least 2 GB of free disk space
- A terminal or command prompt you can open
- No coding experience needed
Before anything else, confirm Docker is installed and awake. If this command prints a version number, you are good to go. If it errors, open Docker Desktop and wait for it to finish starting up.
What you should see
Docker version 24.x.x, build xxxxxxx
This might happen
Command not found or 'Cannot connect to the Docker daemon'
Open Docker Desktop from your Applications or Start menu, wait until the whale icon in your taskbar stops animating, then try again.
This command downloads the official CryptPad repository to a folder called 'cryptpad' on your computer. It includes the Docker configuration files you need to run the app. You only need to do this once.
$ git clone https://github.com/cryptpad/cryptpad.git && cd cryptpad
What you should see
Cloning into 'cryptpad'... done.
This might happen
'git' command not found
Install Git from git-scm.com, restart your terminal, and run the command again.
CryptPad ships with a sample configuration file. You need to copy it to the exact filename the app expects. This single command does that. You do not need to edit anything inside it for a local test run.
What you should see
No output means it worked. You can confirm with: ls .env
This might happen
File not found error on Windows
Use 'copy .env.example .env' instead (Windows Command Prompt) or 'Copy-Item .env.example .env' in PowerShell.
This command tells Docker to download the official CryptPad image from Docker Hub and start it. The first run downloads roughly 500 MB, so it takes a few minutes depending on your internet speed. Subsequent starts are much faster. The '-d' flag runs it in the background so your terminal stays free.
What you should see
Container cryptpad-cryptpad-1 Started
This might happen
'docker compose' not recognized — you may have an older Docker with 'docker-compose' (hyphen)
Run 'docker-compose up -d' (with a hyphen) instead. Or update Docker Desktop to a recent version.
Once the container is running, CryptPad is available on your local machine. Open your web browser and go to the address below. You should see the CryptPad home page with options to create documents, spreadsheets, whiteboards, and more — all encrypted.
What you should see
The CryptPad home page loads with a 'New' button and document type icons.
This might happen
Page does not load or shows 'connection refused'
Wait 30 more seconds — the app takes a moment to fully initialize. Then run 'docker compose logs cryptpad' to check for errors.
When you want to shut CryptPad down, run this command from inside the cryptpad folder. Your documents are saved in Docker volumes, so nothing is lost. Run 'docker compose up -d' again any time to bring it back.
What you should see
Container cryptpad-cryptpad-1 Stopped
Container cryptpad-cryptpad-1 Removed
// Status
cooked. baked. worked.
A fully working CryptPad instance running on your own computer at localhost:3000, where you can create and edit encrypted documents, spreadsheets, presentations, whiteboards, and more — with no data leaving your machine.
// the honest bit
The honest part
This guide sets up a local development instance only — it is not suitable for sharing with others over the internet without significant extra work (a domain name, HTTPS certificates, a reverse proxy like Nginx, and firewall configuration). The official admin installation guide covers all of that, but it requires real server administration experience. Also, the local instance does not enforce the full Content Security Policy that protects a production server, so do not store genuinely sensitive data on a local dev build.
