# Questions & answers > Desktop Pals FAQ: installing on Mac and Windows, Gatekeeper and SmartScreen, how to quit, how to uninstall, and where settings are kept. Installing on a Mac or Windows, where your pal goes, how to quiet it, quit it and uninstall it. ## Installing ### Which Mac file do I need? Click the Apple menu → **About This Mac**. If it says **Chip: Apple M1** (or M2, M3, M4…), download the **Apple silicon** file. If it says **Processor: … Intel**, download the **Intel** one. (The Intel version will also run on an Apple silicon Mac, via Apple’s Rosetta, but the Apple silicon one is easier on your battery. The Apple silicon version won’t open on an Intel Mac.) ### How do I install it on a Mac? 1. Open the `.dmg` file you downloaded. 2. Drag the pal into your **Applications** folder. 3. Open it from Applications (or Launchpad / Spotlight). The first time, macOS may ask *“… is an app downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?”* – that’s the normal question for anything you download. Click **Open**. ### Will macOS (Gatekeeper) block it? No. The Mac versions are signed with WhiteFish Creative Limited’s Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so Gatekeeper recognises them and lets them open. If you ever see a message saying the app is from an unidentified developer or “can’t be checked for malicious software”, don’t override it – you’ve got a file that didn’t come from this site. Download it again from here. ### How do I install it on Windows? There’s nothing to install. Download the `…-1.0.0-Portable.exe`, put it wherever you like (your Desktop or Documents is fine), and double-click it whenever you want your pal. It takes a moment to start the first time, because it unpacks itself. It needs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. Want pals to start with Windows, or several pals at once? That’s what [PalPlayer](https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/palplayer/) is for – it has a proper installer and adds pals from small pal packs. ### Windows says “Windows protected your PC”. Is it safe? That’s Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. It appears because the Windows versions aren’t code-signed yet – a Windows signing certificate is a separate (and pricey) thing from the Apple one, and we haven’t got one. It doesn’t mean anything was found in the file. To carry on, click **More info**, then **Run anyway**. If you’d like to be sure the file is the one we built, compare its fingerprint with the one listed under the download buttons. In PowerShell: `Get-FileHash Dot-1.0.0-Portable.exe` – the long string should match exactly. ### Why is the download so big for a little character? A standalone pal is built on Electron – the same framework behind lots of desktop apps – which brings its own copy of a web engine to draw and animate the character. That’s nearly all of the size: the pal itself is often under a megabyte. There’s nothing else hiding in there. If you’d like more than one pal, get [PalPlayer](https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/palplayer/) instead: it carries that engine once, and each pal after that is a small pal pack – Dot is under a megabyte. ## Living with a pal ### I've started it – where is it? It walks on near the bottom right of your main screen and says hello. It doesn’t have a Dock icon (Mac) or a taskbar button (Windows); instead there’s a small icon in the **menu bar** at the top of your Mac screen, or in the **system tray** by the Windows clock (click the **^** arrow if it’s hidden). Click that icon for the pal’s menu. ### How do I change its settings? Right-click the pal (or click its menu bar / tray icon). From there you can make it talk now, stop it wandering, keep it quiet for 30 minutes, call it over to your mouse, switch the podcast feed on or off, choose light or dark, change the sound (Creatures pals), add or swap Creatures, and see its About box. ### I'm presenting / on a call. How do I make it behave? Right-click it and choose **Quiet for 30 minutes**, and untick **Let … wander** so it stays put. Pals sit on top of your other windows (including full-screen apps on a Mac), so for a big presentation the simplest thing is to close it and open it again afterwards. ### Do the pals make noises? Dot and The Cynical Developer are silent – everything they say is in the speech bubble. The Norns, Grendels and Ettins make the original Creatures 2 sounds: babbling, giggles, sneezes, snores. Click the 🔊 on any creature to mute them all, or use the **Sound** menu for volume and quiet hours. ### Does it start when my computer starts? No – it only runs when you open it. If you *want* it every morning, add it yourself: on a Mac, **System Settings → General → Login Items → +**; on Windows, press Win+R, type `shell:startup` and put a shortcut to the pal in that folder. ### Does it work offline? Yes. The Creatures pals never go online anyway. Dot and The Cynical Developer just won’t mention new episodes until you’re connected again. ### Is this Clippy? No – Desktop Pals are made by WhiteFish Creative and aren’t connected with Microsoft or its Office Assistant. They’re very much inspired by that era, though. And they’re a lot less keen on helping you write a letter. ## Quitting & uninstalling ### How do I close it? Right-click the pal (or click its menu bar / tray icon) and choose **Close …**. You can also press ⌘+Q / Alt+F4 while it’s selected, or click the **×** that appears when you hover over it. Your pal will slide in from the side of the screen and ask if you’re sure. Click **Yes, close …** and it says goodbye and quits completely – nothing keeps running. (Press Esc or the other button if you’ve changed your mind.) With several Creatures on screen, the **×** sends just that one home; closing the last one brings up the plea. ### It won't go away! It will – the plea is a joke, and **Yes, close** always works. If something’s gone wrong and it isn’t responding, you can force it: **Mac** – open Activity Monitor, find the pal, and click the ⊗ (Stop) button, then **Force Quit**. **Windows** – press Ctrl+Shift+Esc for Task Manager, pick the pal and click **End task**. ### How do I uninstall it? **Mac** 1. Close the pal. 2. Drag it from your **Applications** folder to the **Bin**. 3. Optional – to remove its settings too: in Finder choose **Go → Go to Folder…**, type `~/Library/Application Support/` and move the folder whose name starts with `DesktopPals-` to the Bin. **Windows** 1. Close the pal. 2. Delete its `.exe`. 3. Optional – to remove its settings too: press Win+R, type `%APPDATA%`, and delete the folder whose name starts with `DesktopPals-`. **PalPlayer** To remove one pal, choose **Remove** on its card in PalPlayer’s Library. To remove PalPlayer and every pal in it: on a Mac, drag PalPlayer to the Bin; on Windows, **Settings → Apps → Installed apps → PalPlayer → Uninstall**; on Linux, delete the AppImage. That’s everything – there are no background services, browser extensions or leftovers anywhere else. ### Where are my settings kept? In a small folder on your computer whose name starts with `DesktopPals-`: - **Mac:** `~/Library/Application Support/` - **Windows:** `%APPDATA%` (usually `C:\Users\you\AppData\Roaming\`) Inside, `prefs.json` holds your choices (appearance, sound, which Creatures you’ve picked) and `feeds.json` remembers which episodes your pal has already mentioned. The rest is Electron’s own housekeeping. None of it leaves your computer. Delete the folder and the pal starts fresh. ## Privacy ### Does it collect any data about me? No. No accounts, no analytics, no telemetry, no crash reports, nothing uploaded. The only thing any pal fetches from the internet is a public podcast feed (Dot and The Cynical Developer only). The full, specific version is on the [Safe & honest](https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/safe/) page, and in our [privacy policy](https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/privacy/). ### Is it mining Bitcoin or showing me ads? No and no. It draws a little character about 30 times a second and says something every minute or two. That’s the job. ### Dot has a microphone. Is it listening? No – it’s a drawing of a microphone. None of the pals ask for (or could use) your microphone or camera. --- From PalStudio – Desktop Pals by WhiteFish Creative Limited. Web page: https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/faq/ · The whole site for AI assistants: https://palstudio.whitefishcreative.co.uk/llms.txt