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Old 06-01-2026, 03:05 PM   #1
Maumasaurus
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Calibre installs shortcut, not program. Won't open.

I have tried the download several times, restarted my machine, and downloaded again. Every time, it downloads a 2KB shortcut, not a program. Clicking on it doesn't open anything. Tried the download from the alternate location. Same thing.
I am on a Windows 11 computer.
Any help is appreciated.
Last edited by Maumasaurus; 06-01-2026 at 03:09 PM.
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Old 06-01-2026, 03:48 PM   #2
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Where did you download it from?
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Old 06-01-2026, 04:34 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maumasaurus View Post

I have tried the download several times, restarted my machine, and downloaded again. Every time, it downloads a 2KB shortcut, not a program. Clicking on it doesn't open anything. Tried the download from the alternate location. Same thing.
I am on a Windows 11 computer.
Any help is appreciated.
Download from the official website. https://calibre-ebook.com/download_windows
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Old 06-01-2026, 08:23 PM   #4
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A bit odd. When I go to calibre-ebook.com and click on the Download calibre button, it opens a page with various download options. I click on the Windows option and I get two download links. If I click on either the Download calibre 64-bit or Alternate download location button, I get a 212MB MSI file downloaded.

What browser are you using? Are you using a simple left-click to download or are you trying to right click and save link as or other option?
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Old Yesterday, 03:09 PM   #5
Maumasaurus
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I am using Chrome and downloaded it from the Calibre website. I get the installer, run through the set up wizard. When it is finished, I have the "Launch calibre" box checked. Nothing opens.


Here is the folder contents after the wizard is finished.
Last edited by Maumasaurus; Yesterday at 03:13 PM. Reason: Images didn't load
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Old Yesterday, 03:26 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maumasaurus View Post
I am using Chrome and downloaded it from the Calibre website. I get the installer, run through the set up wizard. When it is finished, I have the "Launch calibre" box checked. Nothing opens.


Here is the folder contents after the wizard is finished.
Do you see a Calibre2 directory in the Program Files directory? Do you see multiple executable files in that directory? Your image seems to be of the calibre directory in the all users Start menu folder (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs) which for this discussion is rather useless.

Can you try restarting your computer in Safe mode and then running the installer to see if another program (anti-virus/anti-malware/whatever) is interfering with the install.
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Old Yesterday, 06:11 PM   #7
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Try downloading with Edge. Maybe Chrome is the issue.
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Old Yesterday, 07:01 PM   #8
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I don't think the startup shortcuts would be there if their targets didn't exist, IIRC the installer creates them after it installs the executables.

It's probably interference from a yet another quidnunc feature in the Windows or a 3rd party security software.

@Maumasaurus - is there a calibre shortcut on the desktop?

BR
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Old Yesterday, 10:40 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf View Post
Try downloading with Edge. Maybe Chrome is the issue.
Well, they got the installer and installed it, so almost certainly not. The problem is with opening calibre, not with downloading or installing it.
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Old Yesterday, 10:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirtel View Post
Well, they got the installer and installed it, so almost certainly not. The problem is with opening calibre, not with downloading or installing it.
Personally, I think the issue might still be with the install. OTOH, since the installer runs as an administrator, it is entirely possible that the Calibre2 directory has a permissions issue so the install succeeds but the user has no access to the installed files.
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Old Today, 05:17 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BetterRed View Post
I don't think the startup shortcuts would be there if their targets didn't exist, IIRC the installer creates them after it installs the executables.

It's probably interference from a yet another quidnunc feature in the Windows or a 3rd party security software.

@Maumasaurus - is there a calibre shortcut on the desktop?

BR
It's not due to some wonky feature in Windows 11. I use Windows 11 and I've never had any trouble installing calibre.
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Old Today, 08:20 AM   #12
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Could it be that Calibre opens off screen?
What does task manager show?
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Old Today, 02:59 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BetterRed View Post

@Maumasaurus - is there a calibre shortcut on the desktop?

BR

Yes, there is a shortcut on my desktop. I double click, nothing happens. I right click, open, nothing happens. I right click run as administrator. I get the popup confirming that I will allow it to make changes. Nothing happens.
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Old Today, 04:50 PM   #14
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What do you find if you open the Program Files\Calibre2 directory and dounle-click on the calibre.exe (or just calibre if you have known extensions hidden) icon?
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