Windows

Minimum system requirements

1. At least 3GB free space for the Neurodesktop base image.
2. Docker requirements (see Docker install docs).
3. If installing Docker using WSL, minimum 20GB space recommended for WSL with Ubuntu.

Quickstart

Install Docker or Podman

Install Docker from the Docker install docs.

Note

The Docker installation will reboot your computer a few times. There might be warnings regarding WSL2 and this also might require a few more installation steps that unfortunately differ for every system. Please get in touch if you are stuck and have a look at our troubleshooting page. Here is a detailed instruction on how Neurodesk was installed on Windows VMs from the team at Technion: Detailed Docker and Neurodesk installation instruction Windows.

Alternatively, Neurodesk also works with Podman: follow the Podman installation instructions.

Run Neurodesktop

Use one of the following options to run Neurodesktop:

Neurodesk App (recommended)

See the Neurodesk App instructions for installing and using the app.

Terminal

1. Open a terminal (e.g. PowerShell), and type the following commands to automatically download the Neurodesktop container and run it.

   docker volume create neurodesk-home
   # This creates a docker volume to store your /home/jovyan data inside a docker volume

   docker run --shm-size=1gb -it --privileged --user=root --name neurodesktop -v C:/neurodesktop-storage:/neurodesktop-storage --mount source=neurodesk-home,target=/home/jovyan --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway -e OLLAMA_HOST="http://host.docker.internal:11434" -p 8888:8888 -e NEURODESKTOP_VERSION=2026-04-28 vnmd/neurodesktop:2026-04-28

2. Once Neurodesktop is downloaded, leave the terminal open and check which server Neurodesktop is running on (avoid pressing Ctrl+C). Look for the URL containing ?token=...:

   [I 2025-04-10 01:49:14.301 ServerApp] Serving notebooks from local directory: /home/jovyan
   [I 2025-04-10 01:49:14.301 ServerApp] Jupyter Server 2.15.0 is running at:
   [I 2025-04-10 01:49:14.301 ServerApp] http://localhost:8888/lab?token=90b9a934f6a76e87e88a9718aada4c6520984694ff853cf2
   
       To access the server, open this file in a browser:
           file:///home/jovyan/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jpserver-69-open.html
       Or copy and paste one of these URLs:
           http://localhost:8888/lab?token=90b9a934f6a76e87e88a9718aada4c6520984694ff853cf2
           http://127.0.0.1:8888/lab?token=90b9a934f6a76e87e88a9718aada4c6520984694ff853cf2

3. To access Neurodesktop, open your web browser and type in one of the URLs provided in your terminal (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8888/lab?token=your_unique_token).

   Note

   We do not recommend the use of the Firefox browser for accessing Neurodesktop on Windows 10, as Firefox is not able to access localhost where Neurodesk is running.

4. Press on “Desktop Auto-Resolution” under “ALL CONNECTIONS”.

5. If it is the first time you use Neurodesktop, wait until the desktop appears (it may take a few seconds). Otherwise, it should appear instantaneously.

6. Neurodesk is ready to use. See the tutorials page for advice on how to use Neurodesk.

7. For an optimal experience, switch your browser to full-screen mode by following the instructions for your browser.

Note

The browser can be closed anytime, and Neurodesktop will continue running in the background. To reconnect to Neurodesktop, simply start over from step 3 above.

Note

If you are using conda environments and you are installing packages or even new kernels, make sure to read the conda tutorial.

Deleting Neurodesktop

When done processing your data it is important to stop and remove the container, otherwise the next start or container update will give an error (”… The container name ‘/neurodesktop’ is already in use…”).

Note

Any data that were saved outside of /neurodesktop-storage would be lost. Please make sure to move all your data to that folder before deleting Neurodesktop.

1. Click on the terminal from which you ran Neurodesktop.

2. Press Ctrl+C.

3. Type:

   docker stop neurodesktop

4. Type:

   docker rm neurodesktop