Download Cold Open

Cold Open is a screenwriting app: write scripts in standard screenplay format, exchange .fdx files, track changes and revisions, and export PDFs. It's free, with no account and no activation. Install it on every computer you have.

Cold Open runs on Windows, macOS and Linux computers. Open this page on your computer to download it, or pick a file below to save for later.

Cold Open 0.1.0-alpha.3, a pre-release of 2026-11-07. Release notes · SHA256SUMS.txt

Which file is yours

• Windows 10 or 11: the installer for most PCs is x64. Laptops with a Snapdragon chip, and the Surface Pro X, need ARM64. Settings ▸ System ▸ About ▸ System type says which yours is. The .zip runs without installing.
• macOS 12 or later: the universal disk image, from 0.1.0-alpha.3 on, runs on every Mac, Apple chip or Intel. The Apple chip and Intel ones are smaller: Apple menu ▸ About This Mac shows Chip for an Apple chip and Processor for Intel.
• Linux: the AppImage runs on any distribution without installing. The .deb suits Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and Pop!_OS, and the Flatpak any distribution with Flatpak. Most PCs are x86-64; ARM64 is for ARM computers.

Installing

The builds aren't signed by Microsoft or notarized by Apple yet, so your system warns you the first time you start Cold Open. Install says what to click on each system, and how to check a download against its checksum.

Code signing policy

Windows builds are to be signed through SignPath Foundation's free program for open-source projects. Until the project is accepted, they're unsigned. See the code signing policy.

Older versions and the source

Every release, with its notes, is on the releases page. The source code is on GitHub.