Download MicroBlocks for
Download MicroBlocks for
Current version: , released on . Release notes
All versions and release notes
Getting started is as easy as:
1. Download and install Microblocks. See below for any additional setup steps for your system.
2. Plug in your board and install the MicroBlocks firmware.
3. Start coding!
Windows 8 and 10 should find and install drivers automatically. Windows 7 users may need to manually install drivers using one of the links below. Be sure to plug in your board before installing the drivers.
Serial drivers for BBC micro:bit and Calliope mini (mbed)
Serial drivers for Circuit Playground Express (Adafruit boards)
On Mac OS, you need to confirm that MicroBlocks was downloaded from the internet the first time you run it.
Right-click on MicroBlocks.app and select "Open" from the menu:
Then click the "Open" button in the confirmation dialog:
The dialog box will close. Now, double-click on MicroBlocks.app to open it.
On Linux systems, users don’t have access to the USB serial port by default.
To fix that, just add yourself to the "dialout" group by running this in a terminal:
sudo usermod -G dialout -a `whoami`
Log out and back in to make the change take effect. You should see "dialout" when you list your groups.
Start MicroBlocks, plug in your board, click the MicroBlocks menu (gear icon), and select "update firmware on board":
Note: If you have an Adafruit board such as the Circuit Playground Express click the small boot button in the middle of the board twice quickly to prepare the board before installing firmware. The NeoPixel(s) on the board will turn green when the board is ready.
It MicroBlocks cannot tell what kind of board is plugged in, it will present a menu:
It takes five or ten seconds to install MicroBlocks. When that's done, some boards unmount their USB drive, causing a notification to appear. That's normal; you can just close the notification window.
Note: The process is slightly different on Chromebooks; follow the on-screen instructions.
Once the firmware is installed, the connection indicator should turn green:
If it doesn't, try unplugging and the re-plugging the board. As a quick test, click on the block:
The user LED on your board should light up, showing that the board is connected. You're ready to code!
MicroBlocks also runs on ESP8266 boards (e.g. NodeMCU) and ESP32 boards.