Altium Designer is Altium’s PCB / schematic suite. Current public line in their “What’s new” docs is 26.1 (3 Dec 2025); the downloads board was still refreshed 5 Aug 2026. Official installers come from altium.com/products/downloads or my.altium.com after you sign in. Designer / Develop / Agile are licence SKUs, not three cracked EXEs. “AD 26.1 unlocked” is not Altium. Viewer is a separate free viewer. This is not KiCad. Windows 7 / 8 dropped when they moved to .NET 8. Workspace / 365 needs a real company seat.

Screenshots

Download Altium Designer for Windows

Official download from Altium.
Altium account. Download Designer (or Develop / Agile if that is your contract). Activate. Open a project you own.

Download Altium Designer 26.x for Windows

Windows 10/11 64-bit · 26.1 class · Subscription / term

Downloads: altium.com/products/downloads.
Account: my.altium.com downloads.
Requirements: System requirements.
Do not run Altium_Designer_26_Full.exe. That is not Altium.

Work / school: Altium sales, campus, or Infrastructure Server for offline farms. Don’t share a farm crack.

Install 26.1 · Need Viewer only? · Already licensed?

If you searched for “Altium 25 full,” “26.1 portable,” or “activated”

There is no extra unlocked setup.

• Sign in at altium.com
• Downloads → Altium Designer
• Install (side-by-side allowed if you pick New installation)
• Sign in / licence container

A “26.1 pre-activated” folder plus a patched licence service is stolen licensing. Grey-market keys are often recycled seats.

Develop / Agile are other product tiles on the same download page — use the one you paid for.

Your download should start on altium.com

If the EXE is 80 MB named AD_Pro_2026, leave. Full EDA media is large.

What to do next

1. Products / downloads.
2. Altium Designer (5 Aug 2026 tile / current installer).
3. Run as admin.
4. Sign in to Altium 365 / licence.
5. Help → About = 26.x.

Typical folder: C:\Program Files\Altium\AD…

Viewer: “Download Viewer” on the same page — view/print only.
MCAD CoDesigner: SolidWorks / Creo / Inventor / Fusion / NX plugins — NX needs Enterprise per their note.
Extensions: inside AD after a real seat.

Windows may warn you. Check the publisher.

• Publisher should read Altium.
• SmartScreen can appear on a multi-GB EDA suite. Use More info only if the signature is Altium.
• Do not turn off Defender to “register 26.1.”
• Internet for licence and 365 unless you run Infrastructure Server.

Pick the right Windows file

Not this download

• “AD 21 + crack”
• SnapEDA plugin as the whole suite
• macOS build (AD is Windows)

Altium Designer trial and licence

Altium trial from their site. Paid term / 365. Cancel in the Altium account. A $40 “Designer lifetime 2026” key is not Altium.

Will it run on this PC?

Official (updated May 2026): Windows 11 64-bit recommended, Windows 10 64-bit still supported. Min: i5, 4 GB RAM, 10 GB, DX11 GPU, 1680×1050. Recommended: i7 12th-gen+, 32 GB, SSD, GTX 1060 / RX 470 class, dual 2560×1440. Excel for BOM; Access engine for DbLibs. Numeric keypad for some shortcuts. Internet. No Win7/8 on 26.1.

Already installed? Extensions and Updates inside AD, or new install beside the old one. You do not hunt a second “full.”

Install, first board, and the seat

First run

1. Open Altium Designer.
2. Sign in.
3. New / open a project you own.
4. One schematic page. Save outside Program Files.
5. 365 only if your company pays for it.

Uninstall: Apps / Altium installer.

If it did not work

• Viewer only — not Designer.
• No licence — trial ended.
• 90 MB AD_Unlocked — leave.

Why teams still install official Altium

• Unified schematic + PCB + 3D
• 26.1 still on their download board in 2026
• Account licensing

It will not replace a fab house.

Questions before you trust the installer

Is this the official file?
Yes if it came from altium.com / my.altium.com and the publisher is Altium.

Is it free?
Viewer and trial only. Designer is paid.

Safe?
Official Altium installer. Forum “AD 26 full” files are the risk.

After you have the file

Install Altium Designer 26.x from altium.com/products/downloads. Activate a real seat.

Requirements: system-requirements

Publisher: Altium LLC. Report a page that wrapped this installer in a crack.