Windows Desktop Version

This article introduces how to download, install and use ComfyUI Desktop for Windows

ComfyUI Desktop is a standalone installation version that can be installed like regular software. It supports quick installation and automatic configuration of the Python environment and dependencies, and supports one-click import of existing ComfyUI settings, models, workflows, and files. You can quickly migrate from an existing ComfyUI Portable version to the Desktop version.

ComfyUI Desktop is an open source project, please visit the full code here

ComfyUI Desktop hardware requirements:

• NVIDIA GPU

This tutorial will guide you through the software installation process and explain related configuration details.

As ComfyUI Desktop is still in Beta status, the actual installation process may change

ComfyUI Desktop (Windows) Download

Please click the button below to download the installation package for Windows ComfyUI Desktop

Download for Windows (NVIDIA)

ComfyUI Desktop Installation Steps

Double-click the downloaded installation package file, which will first perform an automatic installation and create a ComfyUI Desktop shortcut on the desktop

Double-click the corresponding shortcut to enter ComfyUI initialization settings

ComfyUI Desktop Initialization Process

1. Start Screen

   Normal Start

   Click Get Started to begin initialization

   Maintenance Page

   There are many reasons you might have issues installing ComfyUI. Maybe a network connection failed when installing pytorch (15 GB). Or you don’t have git installed. The maintenance page automatically opens when it detects an issue and provides a way to resolve the issue.

   You can use it to resolve most issues:

   • Create a python virtual environment
   • Reinstall all missing core dependencies to your Python virtual environment that’s managed by Desktop
   • Install git, VC redis
   • Choose a new install location

   The default maintenance page displays the current error content

   

   Clicking All allows you to view all the content that can be operated on currently

   
2. Select GPU

   

   The three options are:

   1. Nvidia GPU (Recommended): Direct support for pytorch and CUDA
   2. Manual Configuration: You need to manually install and configure the python runtime environment. Don’t select this unless you know how to configure
   3. Enable CPU Mode: For developers and special cases only. Don’t select this unless you’re sure you need it

   Unless there are special circumstances, please select NVIDIA as shown and click Next to proceed

3. Install location

   

   In this step, you will select the installation location for the following ComfyUI content:

   • Python Environment
   • Models Model Files
   • Custom Nodes Custom Nodes

   Recommendations:

   • Please select a solid-state drive as the installation location, which will increase ComfyUI’s performance when accessing models.
   • Please create a separate empty folder as the ComfyUI installation directory
   • Please ensure that the corresponding disk has at least around 15G of disk space to ensure the installation of ComfyUI Desktop

   Not all files are installed in this directory, some files will still be installed on the C drive, and if you need to uninstall in the future, you can refer to the uninstallation section of this guide to complete the full uninstallation of ComfyUI Desktop

   After completing this step, click Next to proceed to the next step

4. Migrate from Existing Installation (Optional)

   

   In this step you can migrate your existing ComfyUI installation content to ComfyUI Desktop. As shown, I selected my original D:\ComfyUI_windows_portable\ComfyUI installation directory. The installer will automatically recognize:

   • User Files
   • Models: Will not be copied, only linked with desktop version
   • Custom Nodes: Nodes will be reinstalled

   Don’t worry, this step won’t copy model files. You can check or uncheck options as needed. Click Next to continue

5. Desktop Settings

   

   These are preference settings:

   1. Automatic Updates: Whether to set automatic updates when ComfyUI updates are available
   2. Usage Metrics: If enabled, we will collect anonymous usage data to help improve ComfyUI
   3. Mirror Settings: Since the program needs internet access to download Python and complete environment installation, if you see a red ❌ during installation indicating this may cause installation failure, please follow the steps below

   

   Expand the mirror settings to find the specific failing mirror. In this screenshot the error is Python Install Mirror failure.

   For different mirror errors, you can refer to the following content to try to manually find different mirrors and replace them

   The following cases mainly apply to users in China.

   Python Installation Mirror

   If the default mirror is unavailable, please try using the mirror below.

   https://python-standalone.org/mirror/astral-sh/python-build-standalone
   

   If you need to find other alternative GitHub mirror addresses, please look for and construct a mirror address pointing to the releases of the python-build-standalone repository.

   https://github.com/astral-sh/python-build-standalone/releases/download
   

   Build a link in the following pattern

   https://xxx/astral-sh/python-build-standalone/releases/download
   

   PyPI Mirror

   • Alibaba Cloud: https://mirrors.aliyun.com/pypi/simple/
   • Tencent Cloud: https://mirrors.cloud.tencent.com/pypi/simple/
   • University of Science and Technology of China: https://pypi.mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/simple/
   • Shanghai Jiao Tong University: https://pypi.sjtu.edu.cn/simple/

   Torch Mirror

   • Aliyun: https://mirrors.aliyun.com/pytorch-wheels/cu121/
6. Complete the installation

   If everything is correct, the installer will complete and automatically enter the ComfyUI Desktop interface, then the installation is successful

   

Important: Do not modify the resource/ComfyUI folder

Do not add or modify any content in the /resource/ComfyUI folder. All content in this folder will be reset when ComfyUI Desktop updates.

Unlike other ComfyUI versions, the Desktop version manages this folder automatically. During installation, you chose a custom location for your models, custom nodes, and other user files - please use that location instead.

First Image Generation

After successful installation, you can refer to the section below to start your ComfyUI journey~

First Image Generation

This tutorial will guide you through your first model installation and text-to-image generation

How to Update ComfyUI Desktop

Currently, ComfyUI Desktop updates use automatic detection updates, please ensure that automatic updates are enabled in the settings

You can also choose to manually check for available updates in the Menu —> Help —> Check for Updates

Adding Extra Model Paths

If you want to manage your model files outside of ComfyUI/models, you may have the following reasons:

• You have multiple ComfyUI instances and want them to share model files to save disk space
• You have different types of GUI programs (such as WebUI) and want them to use the same model files
• Model files cannot be recognized or found

We provide a way to add extra model search paths via the extra_model_paths.yaml configuration file

Open Config File

Portable/Manual Install

For the ComfyUI version such as portable and manual, you can find an example file named extra_model_paths.yaml.example in the root directory of ComfyUI:

ComfyUI/extra_model_paths.yaml.example

Copy and rename it to extra_model_paths.yaml for use. Keep it in ComfyUI’s root directory at ComfyUI/extra_model_paths.yaml. You can also find the config example file here

ComfyUI Desktop

If you are using the ComfyUI Desktop application, you can follow the image below to open the extra model config file:

Or open it directly at:

Windows

C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\ComfyUI\extra_models_config.yaml

macOS

~/Library/Application Support/ComfyUI/extra_models_config.yaml

You should keep the file in the same directory, should not move these files to other places.

If the file does not exist, you can create it yourself with any text editor.

Example Structure

Suppose you want to add the following model paths to ComfyUI:

📁 YOUR_PATH/
  ├── 📁models/
  |   ├── 📁 loras/
  |   │   └── xxxxx.safetensors
  |   ├── 📁 checkpoints/
  |   │   └── xxxxx.safetensors
  |   ├── 📁 vae/
  |   │   └── xxxxx.safetensors
  |   └── 📁 controlnet/
  |       └── xxxxx.safetensors

Then you can configure the extra_model_paths.yaml file like below to let ComfyUI recognize the model paths on your device:

my_custom_config:
    base_path: YOUR_PATH
    loras: models/loras/
    checkpoints: models/checkpoints/
    vae: models/vae/
    controlnet: models/controlnet/

or

my_custom_config:
    base_path: YOUR_PATH/models/
    loras: loras
    checkpoints: checkpoints
    vae: vae
    controlnet: controlnet

For the desktop version, please add the configuration to the existing configuration path without overwriting the path configuration generated during installation. Please back up the corresponding file before modification, so that you can restore it when you make a mistake.

Or you can refer to the default extra_model_paths.yaml.example for more configuration options. After saving, you need to restart ComfyUI for the changes to take effect.

Below is the original config example:

#Rename this to extra_model_paths.yaml and ComfyUI will load it


#config for a1111 ui
#all you have to do is change the base_path to where yours is installed
a111:
    base_path: path/to/stable-diffusion-webui/

    checkpoints: models/Stable-diffusion
    configs: models/Stable-diffusion
    vae: models/VAE
    loras: |
         models/Lora
         models/LyCORIS
    upscale_models: |
                  models/ESRGAN
                  models/RealESRGAN
                  models/SwinIR
    embeddings: embeddings
    hypernetworks: models/hypernetworks
    controlnet: models/ControlNet

#config for comfyui
#your base path should be either an existing comfy install or a central folder where you store all of your models, loras, etc.

#comfyui:
#     base_path: path/to/comfyui/
#     # You can use is_default to mark that these folders should be listed first, and used as the default dirs for eg downloads
#     #is_default: true
#     checkpoints: models/checkpoints/
#     clip: models/clip/
#     clip_vision: models/clip_vision/
#     configs: models/configs/
#     controlnet: models/controlnet/
#     diffusion_models: |
#                  models/diffusion_models
#                  models/unet
#     embeddings: models/embeddings/
#     loras: models/loras/
#     upscale_models: models/upscale_models/
#     vae: models/vae/

#other_ui:
#    base_path: path/to/ui
#    checkpoints: models/checkpoints
#    gligen: models/gligen
#    custom_nodes: path/custom_nodes

For example, if your WebUI is located at D:\stable-diffusion-webui\, you can modify the corresponding configuration to

a111:
    base_path: D:\stable-diffusion-webui\
    checkpoints: models/Stable-diffusion
    configs: models/Stable-diffusion
    vae: models/VAE
    loras: |
         models/Lora
         models/LyCORIS
    upscale_models: |
                  models/ESRGAN
                  models/RealESRGAN
                  models/SwinIR
    embeddings: embeddings
    hypernetworks: models/hypernetworks
    controlnet: models/ControlNet

Add Extra Custom Nodes Path

Besides adding external models, you can also add custom nodes paths that are not in the default path of ComfyUI

Please note that this will not change the default installation path of custom nodes, but will add an extra path search when starting ComfyUI. You still need to complete the installation of custom node dependencies in the corresponding environment to ensure the integrity of the running environment.

Below is a simple configuration example (MacOS), please modify it according to your actual situation and add it to the corresponding configuration file, save it and restart ComfyUI for the changes to take effect:

my_custom_nodes:
  custom_nodes: /Users/your_username/Documents/extra_custom_nodes

Desktop Python Environment

The desktop installation will create a Python virtual environment in your chosen installation directory, typically a hidden .venv folder.

If you need to handle dependencies for ComfyUI plugins, you’ll need to do so within this environment. Using the system command line directly risks installing dependencies to the system environment, so please follow the instructions below to activate the appropriate environment.

How to use the Desktop Python environment?

Desktop (Recommended)

You can use the built-in terminal in the desktop app to access the Python environment.

1. Click the icon in the menu bar to open the bottom panel
2. Click Terminal to open the terminal
3. If you want to check the Python installation location for the corresponding environment, you can use the following command

Windows

  python -c "import sys; print(sys.executable)"

macOS

which python

Unless you understand the meaning of your current operations, your actions may cause dependency issues in the corresponding environment. Please use this method with caution.

Terminal

You can also use your preferred terminal to access the Python environment, but you’ll need to activate the virtual environment first.

When using other terminals, if you’re not familiar with the operations, you may accidentally install dependencies to the system environment. Please use this method with caution.

In the screenshot, it shows a macOS terminal. If you are using Windows, please refer to the following steps to activate the virtual environment on your system.

1. Open Terminal

   Open your preferred terminal and use the cd command to navigate to your ComfyUI installation directory, for example:

   cd <your comfyui install directory>/ComfyUI
   
2. Activate Virtual Environment

   Type the following command in the terminal to activate the virtual environment

   Windows

   .venv/Scripts/activate
   

   macOS

   source .venv/bin/activate
   

   After activation, you should see a prompt like (ComfyUI) in the terminal, indicating that you’ve activated the virtual environment.

3. Confirm Current Python Environment

   Use which python to check the current Python installation location and confirm it’s not the system environment.

4. After completing these steps, you’ve activated the corresponding Python environment, and you can continue to perform dependency installation operations in this environment.

How to Uninstall ComfyUI Desktop

For ComfyUI Desktop you can use the system uninstall function in Windows Settings to complete software uninstallation

If you want to completely remove all ComfyUI Desktop files, you can manually delete these folders:

• C:\Users<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Local@comfyorgcomfyui-electron-updater
• C:\Users<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Programs@comfyorgcomfyui-electron
• C:\Users<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\ComfyUI

The above operations will not delete your following folders. If you need to delete corresponding files, please delete manually:

• models files
• custom nodes
• input/output directories

Troubleshooting

Display unsupported devices

Since ComfyUI Desktop (Windows) only supports NVIDIA GPUs with CUDA, you may see this screen if your device is not supported

• Please switch to a supported device
• Or consider using ComfyUI Portable or through manual installation to use ComfyUI

Antivirus flags uv.exe as malicious

ComfyUI Desktop bundles uv (from Astral) to manage the Python environment. Some antivirus products — including 360 Total Security, Windows Defender, BitDefender, and DeepInstinct — occasionally flag uv.exe as malicious. This is a known false positive affecting uv itself, not ComfyUI.

Symptoms:

• Antivirus quarantines or deletes uv.exe during installation or updates
• Installation fails partway through Python environment setup
• “Python environment failed to install” or similar errors after antivirus warnings

Solution: Add the ComfyUI installation directory to your antivirus’s trusted list / whitelist, then reinstall or repair the installation. The directories to whitelist are:

• Your selected ComfyUI install directory (chosen during the installation steps)
• C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Programs\@comfyorgcomfyui-electron
• C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\ComfyUI

Reference: Tracked upstream in the uv project — see astral-sh/uv#1587, #10079, #12621, and #15011.

​Error identification​

If installation fails, you should see the following screen

It is recommended to take these steps to find the error cause:

1. Click Show Terminal to view error output
2. Click Open Logs to view installation logs
3. Visit official forum to search for error reports
4. Click Reinstall to try reinstalling

Before submitting feedback, it’s recommended to provide the error output and log files to tools like GPT

As shown above, ask the GPT for the cause of the corresponding error, or remove ComfyUI completely and retry the installation.

Feedback Installation Failure

If you encounter any errors during installation, please check if there are similar error reports or submit errors to us through:

• Github Issues: https://github.com/Comfy-Org/desktop/issues
• Comfy Official Forum: https://forum.comfy.org/

When submitting error reports, please ensure you include the following logs and configuration files to help us locate and investigate the issue:

1. Log Files

Filename	Description	Location
main.log	Contains logs related to desktop application and server startup from the Electron process
comfyui.log	Contains logs related to ComfyUI normal operation, such as core ComfyUI process terminal output

2. Configuration Files

Filename	Description	Location
extra_model_paths.yaml	Contains additional paths where ComfyUI will search for models and custom nodes
config.json	Contains application configuration. This file should not be edited directly