installation

Installation

Requirements

Requirement	Notes
Windows 10 or later	x64 or ARM64; use the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime
Linux	x64 or ARM64; libfuse3 (e.g. sudo apt install libfuse3-3 fuse3) and /dev/fuse
macOS	Intel or Apple silicon; macFUSE installed
.NET 10 Runtime	Required: the download bundles are framework-dependent and do not embed the runtime

Choose a mount core

A single CHDMounter executable supports every core and the one to use is selected in File → Settings → Mount core:

• Dokan (default, Windows) — uses Dokany (Dokan.sys).
• WinFsp (Windows) — uses WinFsp.
• FUSE (Linux/macOS) — uses libfuse3 on Linux and macFUSE on macOS.

On Windows you only need to install the driver you actually use; Dokan is the default. On Linux and macOS the FUSE core is always used. See Mount Cores for help choosing.

Important: always install the latest driver release. Outdated driver versions can be missing functions that the application bindings require.

Download

Grab the latest bundle from the Releases page. Each bundle is a framework-dependent, single-file executable:

Bundle	Platform	Architecture
release_<version>_win-x64.zip	Windows	x64
release_<version>_win-arm64.zip	Windows	ARM64
release_<version>_linux-x64.zip	Linux	x64
release_<version>_linux-arm64.zip	Linux	ARM64
release_<version>_osx-x64.zip	macOS	Intel
release_<version>_osx-arm64.zip	macOS	Apple silicon

Every bundle contains:

• CHDMounter (CHDMounter.exe on Windows)
• LICENSE.txt
• README.md
• WhatsNew.md

Extract the bundle anywhere and run CHDMounter (./CHDMounter or open CHDMounter on macOS). No installer is required. If the executable permission bit was lost during extraction, run chmod +x CHDMounter once.

The bundles are portable: settings, logs and screenshots are written to the application data folder (see below), not next to the executable.

Installing Dokan (Windows)

1. Download the latest Dokany release from https://github.com/dokan-dev/dokany/releases.
2. Run the installer (accept the driver installation prompts).
3. Reboot if the installer asks you to.

Installing WinFsp (Windows)

1. Download the latest WinFsp release from https://github.com/winfsp/winfsp/releases.
2. Run the installer and choose a standard installation.
3. Reboot if the installer asks you to.

CHDMounter checks the installed native DLL (winfsp-a64.dll, winfsp-x64.dll or winfsp-x86.dll), resolves the entry points the .NET bindings need and verifies the version match before mounting. If the driver is missing or outdated, CHDMounter shows a dialog with a link to the WinFsp download page.

Installing FUSE (Linux / macOS)

• Linux: install FUSE 3 with your package manager, for example sudo apt install libfuse3-3 fuse3 (Debian/Ubuntu), sudo dnf install fuse3 fuse3-libs (Fedora) or sudo pacman -S fuse3 (Arch). Make sure the fuse kernel module is available (/dev/fuse exists).
• macOS: install macFUSE. On macOS 15.4 or later choose the FSKit backend when prompted (no kernel extension required).

If the library is missing, CHDMounter shows a dialog with the download/install page.

Verifying the installation

1. Start CHDMounter. The main window opens without an error dialog.
2. The window title is CHDMounter; the active mount core is shown in Settings and in the log pane when you mount.
3. Mount any .chd file. The status bar shows Mounted and the drive letter/folder.
4. If the driver is missing, a dialog offers to open the driver download page; the log pane explains the exact reason.

Where are settings, logs and screenshots stored?

Data	Location
Settings and logs	Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\CHDMounter · Linux: ~/.local/share/CHDMounter · macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/CHDMounter
Screenshots (F8)	Primary: Screenshot folder next to the executable · Fallback: the application data folder above

Use Help → Open AppData Folder in the application to open the application data folder. On Windows the settings file is DPAPI-encrypted; on Linux/macOS it is plain JSON. See Settings and Screenshots for details.

Uninstalling

CHDMounter is portable — delete the extracted files to remove the application, and delete the application data folder to remove settings, logs and screenshots. Driver packages (Dokan, WinFsp, macFUSE) are installed separately and are removed through your system's software manager.

Next steps

• Getting Started — mount your first image
• Troubleshooting — driver and mount problems
• Building from Source — build your own binary