Arduino IDE

Arduino IDE 2 is a desktop development environment for writing Arduino sketches, compiling them for a selected board and uploading them to connected hardware. It is a rewrite based on Theia and Electron, with backend compilation and upload operations performed through Arduino CLI in daemon mode. It is distinct from the legacy Arduino IDE 1.x line.

Boards, libraries and sketches

Select the board model and port before compiling or uploading. Board Manager installs the platform tools needed for supported boards, while Library Manager helps add and update sketch dependencies. The editor and its serial tools support development and observation of connected devices. Hardware-specific debugging requires a supported board and configuration; installing the IDE does not make every board support a debugger.

An Arduino-compatible board, suitable data cable and the required board package are separate from the IDE download. Some devices require drivers or a particular bootloader mode. Use the official board instructions and confirm the selected port before uploading, because an upload replaces the device's program. A cable that supplies power only may not provide a data connection. Extra libraries and board toolchains consume additional disk space and may require downloads.

Mac installation and requirements

The publisher offers separate Intel and Apple Silicon Mac artifacts. The current catalog selects the 2.3.10 Apple Silicon DMG, sized 195168554 bytes in the official release asset. Its catalog URL uses ARM64 capitalization while the official asset name uses arm64; the official GitHub redirect was verified to resolve to that same file. Read-only inspection confirms this exact 2.3.10 package has an arm64 main executable for Apple Silicon. The app Info.plist declares macOS 10.15, but the main executable’s LC_BUILD_VERSION sets minimum macOS 11.0. Use macOS 11.0 or later for this ARM64 build rather than applying the older bundle declaration to Apple Silicon. The bundled Electron framework is version 30.1.2; board toolchains, drivers and optional integrations retain their own requirements. No app or installer was executed during the check.

Local source editing does not require an Arduino Cloud subscription. Board packages, libraries, update checks and optional connected features need network access. Arduino Cloud products and physical hardware have separate terms and costs. The IDE and its distributed code are licensed under GNU AGPLv3, with compatible third-party licenses documented by the project.

Version 2 workflow

Version 2.3.10 adds a clean compile/verify action using Shift-click on Verify, addresses stale compilation caching after code changes and fixes startup with missing CLI directory defaults. The bundled Arduino CLI version changes between IDE releases; a separately installed CLI is not automatically the same one used by the IDE. Keep sketches under backup or version control and verify the compiled behavior on the intended hardware, especially before connecting motors, power electronics or other devices that react to outputs.

Official software · Official IDE 2 project · Exact current release