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Getting started

Install Halo, create your account and make it yours in a few minutes.

1. Install Halo

Download Halo for your computer from the download page, then follow the steps for Mac or Windows. The installers are not code-signed yet, so the first launch needs one extra click; both guides show exactly where.

2. Create your Halo account

The first time Halo opens, it asks you to sign in or create an account. Enter your email and choose Continue with email, or choose Continue with Google. For email, Halo sends a 6-digit code to that address; enter it, then your name.

There is no password. Halo makes a random account key on your computer and keeps it in the system keychain, so it opens without typing anything. Synquic never receives it.
Halo then shows your recovery key, once. Save it somewhere safe, such as a printed copy or another password manager, tick the confirmation and choose Continue to Halo. It is your way back in if you lose every device that is signed in. Synquic cannot reset it for you.

Read Accounts, sync and recovery key for how this works.

3. Walk through setup

A short guided setup follows. Every step can be skipped and changed later in Settings.

Welcome: what is encrypted and what stays on your device.
Import: bring bookmarks, history and passwords from another browser, or a passwords CSV. See Import.
On-device AI: Halo downloads its local model (about 1.1 GB) so Halo AI works without the cloud.
Connect your AI agents: one-click setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and Codex. See Connect AI agents.
Default browser: make Halo the browser that opens your links.

The first step of Halo's setup, Welcome to Halo, listing what is encrypted on the device. — The guided setup starts with what Halo keeps private.

4. Find your way around

Address bar: type a URL or a search. ⌘ L (Ctrl L on Windows) jumps to it.
New tab: ask Halo a question or enter a URL in the box in the middle.
Menu: the three dots at the top right hold every action, including private and Tor windows, profiles, passwords, extensions and settings.
Layouts: choose a sidebar, a compact bar or tabs along the top in Settings, Appearance.
Profiles: switch or add profiles from the switcher at the top of the sidebar. Each profile has its own data and its own Halo account.

Next, learn the keyboard shortcuts.