# no app to open balenaetcher

**URL:** <https://forums.balena.io/t/no-app-to-open-balenaetcher/350058>\
**Category:** balenaEtcher\
**Created:** [November 10, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/no-app-to-open-balenaetcher/350058 "2021-11-10T23:02:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![daryanmae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@daryanmae](https://forums.balena.io/u/daryanmae)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/no-app-to-open-balenaetcher/350058/1 "2021-11-10T23:02:53Z")

</div>

I am trying to download ubuntu and balenaEtcher on my windows laptop, then put them on a flash, to put them on my outdated iMac 1, 5. When I download balenaEtcher for OS, my windows laptop is asking me which app I want to open it with & prompting me to go to the app store. Any ideas what is going on?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dtischler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/dtischler/32/2483_2.png) [@dtischler](https://forums.balena.io/u/dtischler)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/no-app-to-open-balenaetcher/350058/2 "2021-11-11T23:58:19Z")

</div>

Hi Daryan, I’m not real sure what’s going on there, when I download a fresh copy of Etcher for Windows it’s prompts me to install it. However, an alternative option is to perhaps try downloading the “Portable” version of etcher, which is a standalone file. Go to [balenaEtcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives](https://www.balena.io/etcher/), select the drop-down arrow on the right side of the green download button, and choose “Etcher for Windows (x86|x64) (Portable)”. Once it is downloaded, simply double click it, and give it a second to launch. Then, you can flash your file like normal. Hope that helps.