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Installation

Downloading MailCopilot​

Visit mailcopilot.io to download the latest version of MailCopilot for your platform.

Installing on Linux​

Ubuntu 23.10+ / 24.04 and other recent distributions

On Ubuntu 23.10 and later (including 24.04 LTS), and on other distributions that ship the same kernel hardening, install the .deb package (or the .rpm on Fedora/openSUSE) rather than the AppImage.

These kernels restrict unprivileged user namespaces by default (kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns=1). MailCopilot is built on Electron, whose chrome-sandbox helper needs that capability when it is launched from an AppImage — so the AppImage crashes on startup with a SIGTRAP. The .deb and .rpm packages do not have this problem: their install scripts configure the chrome-sandbox helper appropriately — using SUID-root (chmod 4755) where unprivileged user namespaces are restricted, or installing an AppArmor profile on newer Ubuntu systems (24.04+).

Do not work around this by launching with --no-sandbox or by globally disabling apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns — both weaken the security boundary that protects you from untrusted email content. Use the .deb or .rpm instead.

Deb (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint) — recommended​

  1. Download the .deb file from the website.
  2. Install it by double-clicking the file, or run in a terminal: 
    sudo dpkg -i mailcopilot-*.deb
  3. Launch MailCopilot from the application menu.

RPM (Fedora, openSUSE)​

  1. Download the .rpm file from the website.
  2. Install it by double-clicking the file, or run in a terminal: 
    sudo rpm -i mailcopilot-*.rpm
  3. Launch MailCopilot from the application menu.

AppImage​

The AppImage is a single self-contained file that does not require installation. It works well on older distributions, but see the warning above before using it on Ubuntu 23.10+ / 24.04.

  1. Download the .AppImage file from the website.
  2. Make the file executable:
    • Right-click the file, select Properties, go to the Permissions tab, and check Allow executing file as program.
    • Or run in a terminal: chmod +x mailcopilot-*.AppImage
  3. Double-click the AppImage to launch MailCopilot.

The AppImage runtime requires FUSE. On recent Debian/Ubuntu releases install the libfuse2t64 package (older releases call it libfuse2):

sudo apt install libfuse2t64
tip

You can move the AppImage to any convenient location, such as ~/Applications/. The application is fully self-contained and does not require installation.

Installing on Windows​

  1. Download the .exe installer from the website.
  2. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions. You can choose the installation directory.
  3. Launch MailCopilot from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

First Launch​

When you start MailCopilot for the first time, you will see the account setup wizard. The application will guide you through connecting your first email account.

Your passwords are securely stored in the system keychain (via keytar) and are never written to plain-text configuration files.

Automatic Updates​

MailCopilot checks for updates automatically. When a new version is available, a notification will appear in the application. You can download the update and restart with one click.

note

In-app self-update is available only when MailCopilot is installed in a writable location — for example, an AppImage stored in your home directory. When installed from a .deb or .rpm system package, the install directory is typically owned by root and is not writable by your user account, so MailCopilot disables the in-app updater automatically. In that case, update through your package manager (apt/dnf) or by downloading and reinstalling the latest package from the website.