Grok desktop app for Mac and Windows

Popular sites · October 18, 2026 · 6 min read

xAI lists the Grok chat on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, and its desktop download, Grok Bot, is a separate agent product. A Pake app puts grok.com in its own window with a Dock or Start menu icon, for when you want the chat itself on your computer. Check sign-in before relying on it.

What xAI ships for each platform

The Grok website and apps FAQ describes the consumer apps as grok.com, iOS and Android, and the App Store listing is for iPhone and iPad. The Google Play app covers Android.

The desktop app xAI does offer is Grok Bot, downloaded from x.ai/bot. Its documentation says the desktop app runs on macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows (x64 and Arm64) and Linux (x64 and Arm64), with mobile apps on iPhone, iPad and Android. It is built for agents: each Bot works on a persistent cloud computer with a browser, a filesystem and a terminal, and it needs a plan, either a paid Cursor plan or a linked SuperGrok subscription. If that is what you want, use it. If you want the ordinary chat in a window, read on.

Client	Platforms
Grok chat	grok.com in a browser, iPhone, iPad, Android
Grok Bot	macOS, Windows and Linux desktop, iPhone, iPad, Android

Make a grok.com app

On the Create tab, type Grok into Search apps or paste a web address to open its gallery tile under AI, or paste https://grok.com. If the tile is missing, paste the address instead. The gallery entry carries only the address, name and icon, so the window size is yours to choose. Choose a Size (Window size on Windows) that suits a chat, then click Create App. Every option is described in Create an app.

With the CLI, after the setup guide:

pake https://grok.com --name Grok --always-on-top --activation-shortcut "CmdOrControl+Shift+G"

The shortcut is empty unless you pass one, and the CLI options list the accepted key names.

Settings that matter for a chat window

Always on top in the Window section keeps the chat above other windows, which suits a question you keep returning to while you work in another app. Keep a web app always on top covers the trade-offs, such as the window covering what you are typing into. A narrower window, for instance 900 by 1000, gives a chat the shape it usually has on a phone, and resizing it by hand afterwards is remembered until you change Size again from Edit in My Apps.

Zoom and reload are built in. Cmd = and Cmd - zoom on Mac, Ctrl = and Ctrl - on Windows, Cmd 0 or Ctrl 0 resets, and Cmd R or Ctrl R reloads; the shortcut list has the rest. Find in page adds Cmd F or Ctrl F for searching a long answer. Hide on close keeps the app running behind a closed window, and on Windows it also turns on the tray icon, as A website in the menu bar or tray explains.

The app form has no global shortcut, which is why the command above uses the CLI.

Grok may send you to a shared xAI sign-in page, and the FAQ lists Apple, X and Google among the ways in, so an X account is one choice, not a requirement. If you pick Sign in with X, xAI says to finish any phone or SMS verification shown. The same page says signing out of Grok does not sign you out of X, because X keeps its own session. The FAQ also notes that a subscription bought with an Apple private relay address needs Sign in with Apple, using the same Apple sign-in you bought it with.

On Windows, if the sign-in opens in your browser or never comes back, turn on Open new windows in the app under Behavior; for an app you already made, use Edit in My Apps, then Save Changes. On a Mac, sign-in other than Sign in with Apple already runs in the app's own window, so the option does not change it. Google sign-in can still be refused inside an app, which the sign-in guide explains, so Apple or X may be the easier route here. Keep Incognito off so you stay signed in after quitting, then quit and reopen once to confirm.

How the window works

The app is a small native shell around the system web view, WKWebView on Mac and Microsoft Edge WebView2 on Windows. It loads grok.com and nothing else, so any new Grok feature appears when the page loads, with nothing to update on your side. What Pake itself updates is the shell: Update available in My Apps means a newer runtime, and Update keeps the name, icon and sign-in (Updates). The sign-in cookie sits in the app's own storage, separate from your browser, so being signed in to grok.com in Chrome does not carry over to the app.

Keep Grok and X apart

Point the app at https://grok.com, not at X, so this window stays the chat. If you also want X on the desktop, make it a second app, as described in X on the desktop. A second Grok account is a second app too: open the ⋯ menu in My Apps and choose Add Another Account, as covered in Two accounts on one website.

When something goes wrong

The window opens, but sign-in loops back. On Windows, turn on Open new windows in the app, and try another sign-in method.
You are signed out after every launch. Check whether Incognito is on; if it is, open Edit, turn it off and save. If it is already off, check whether the site has expired the session or requires sign-in again.
The page looks cramped or stale. Try a wider Size, or reload with Cmd R or Ctrl R.
Something works in Chrome but not here. The window uses the system web view, not Chrome, so test the feature you need before relying on the app, and see User agents in web apps for when a user agent helps.

FAQ

Is this the same as Grok Bot?

No. Grok Bot is xAI's desktop agent that works on a cloud computer. A Pake app is a window onto the grok.com chat.

Do I need an X account?

No. The FAQ lists Apple, X and Google as ways to sign in.

Will my conversations be there?

They belong to your Grok account, so they appear after you sign in. The app only has to keep you signed in.