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Draft. This article depends on an open product question and is not ready to publish.
To install Elephas on your Mac, download the DMG from elephas.app, drag Elephas into your Applications folder, and open it. The whole install takes about a minute.

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Before you start

  • You need an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) with macOS 14 Sonoma or later. See system requirements.
  • You need an internet connection. The first time you open Elephas, it downloads about 50 MB of on-device components.
  • You do not need an account to install. You sign in later, when you ask your first question.

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Steps

1

Download Elephas

Go to elephas.app and download Elephas for Mac. Your browser saves a file ending in .dmg to your Downloads folder.
2

Open the DMG

Double-click the .dmg file. A Finder window opens with the Elephas icon and a shortcut to your Applications folder.
3

Drag Elephas to Applications

Drag the Elephas icon onto the Applications folder. Wait for the copy to finish, then eject the disk image (click the eject button next to it in the Finder sidebar).
4

Open Elephas

Open your Applications folder and double-click Elephas. macOS may ask whether you are sure you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Click Open.
5

Let Elephas finish setting up

The welcome screen appears and Elephas starts downloading its on-device components. A small line at the bottom of the window shows Getting Elephas ready and a percentage. You can keep going while it downloads. See first-run downloads.
Keep Elephas in your Dock: while it is open, right-click its Dock icon and choose Options › Keep in Dock.

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What happens next

Elephas walks you through adding a few documents and asking your first question. Follow the quick start. Elephas keeps your library in your user folder, not inside the app. Replacing or updating the app does not touch your documents or chats. Updates arrive inside the app, so you do not need to download a new DMG each time.

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Troubleshooting

This usually means macOS could not verify the app, or you opened it straight from the DMG. Make sure you dragged Elephas into Applications first, then open it from there. For more fixes, see Elephas won’t open after installing.
This message appears on Macs older than macOS 14. Elephas needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Update macOS from System Settings › General › Software Update, then open Elephas again.
Check your internet connection. If you are on a hotel or office Wi-Fi that asks you to sign in, sign in through your browser first, then click Try again. See first-run download failed.

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FAQ

Copying an app into the Applications folder may ask for an administrator password, depending on how your Mac is set up. Elephas itself does not need administrator rights to run.
See moving from classic Elephas before you install.

System requirements

First-run downloads

Create your account and sign in

Quick start