Updated8 August 2014

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• Pidgin is a free and open source client that lets you organize and manage your different Instant Messaging (IM) accounts using a single interface. The Off-the-Record (OTR) plug-in designed for use with Pidgin ensures authenticated and secure communications between Pidgin users. Required reading. Keep your online communication private.
• Pidgin is a universal chat client, allowing you to consolidate all your different messaging apps into a single tool.
• Pidgin for Mac is a chat program which lets you log in to accounts on multiple chat networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on MSN, talking to a friend on Google Talk, and sitting in a Yahoo chat room all at the same time.

This guide is no longer being maintained

Pidgin is a free and open source client that lets you organize and manage your different Instant Messaging (IM) accounts using a single interface. The Off-the-Record (OTR) plug-in designed for use with Pidgin ensures authenticated and secure communications between Pidgin users.

• The ability to organize and manage some of the most popular instant messaging services through a single program.
• The ability to have private and authenticated chat sessions.

1.0 Other tools like Pidgin and OTR

GNU Linux, Mac OS and other Microsoft Windows Compatible Programs:

Note: We recommend Jitsi as a replacement for Pidgin. As well as being able to use Jitsi for secure text chat (including with Pidgin users), you can also use it to have secure voice and video communications with other Jitsi users. Jitsi is available for Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS and more.

Both Pidgin and OTR are available for Microsoft Windows and for GNU/Linux. Another multi-protocol IM program for Microsoft Windows that supports OTR is Miranda IM. For the Mac OS you can use Adium, a multi-protocol IM program that supports the OTR plugin.

1.1 Things you should know about Pidgin and OTR before you start

Before you can start using Pidgin you must have an existing IM account, after which you will register that account to Pidgin. For instance, if you have an Google Account, you can use their IM service GoogleTalk with Pidgin. The log-in details of your existing IM account are used to register and access your account through Pidgin.

Note: All users are encouraged to learn as much as possible about the privacy and security policies of their Instant Messaging account provider.

Pidgin supports the following IM services: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MXit, MySpaceIM, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, Yahoo!, Zephyr and any IM clients running the XMPP messaging protocol.

Pidgin does not permit communication between different IM services. For instance, if you are using Pidgin to access your Google Talk account, you will not be able to chat with a friend using an ICQ account.

However, Pidgin can be configured to manage multiple accounts based on any of the supported messaging protocols. That is, you may simultaneously use both Gmail and ICQ accounts, and chat with correspondents using either of those specific services (which are supported by Pidgin).

Off-the-Record (OTR) messaging is a plugin developed specifically for Pidgin. It offers the following privacy and security features:

• Authentication: You are assured the correspondent is who you think it is.
• Deniability: After the chat session is finished, messages cannot be identified as originating from either your correspondent or you.
• Encryption: No one else can access and read your instant messages.
• Perfect Forward Security: If third party obtains your private keys, no previous conversations are compromised.

Note: Pidgin must be installed before the OTR plugin.

Both Pidgin and its associated Off-the-Record (OTR) automated encryption and authentication plugin must be installed properly for either program to work. Fortunately, the installation process for both the programs is easy and quick.

2.1 Install Pidgin

Step 1. Double click ; the Open File - Security Warning dialog box may appear. If it does, click to display the following screen:

Figure 1: The Install Language confirmation box

Step 2. Click to display the Welcome to the Pidgin 2.10.9 Setup Wizard screen.

Step 3. Click to display the License Agreement screen; after you have read the License Agreement, click to display the Pidgin 2.10.9 Setup - Choose Components window.

Step 4. Click to display the Pidgin 2.10.9 Setup - Choose Install Location window.

Step 5. Click to accept the default installation path, and display the Pidgin 2.10.9 Setup - Installing window to begin installing the Pidgin software.

A number of folders and files will begin installing themselves in rapid succession; after the installation process has been completed, the Pidgin 2.10.9 Setup - Installation Complete window will appear.

Step 6. Click to display the Completing the Pidgin 2.10.9 Setup Wizard.

Note: During Step 3 of the installation process, Pidgin was configured to be included in the Start > All Programs list, and can be launched from there in the future.

Step 7. Click to complete installing Pidgin.

2.2 Install the Off-The-Record (OTR) Plugin

Step 1. Double click ; the Open File - Security Warning dialog box may appear. If it does, click to display the following screen:

Figure 2: The Welcome to the pidgin-otr 4.0.0-1 Setup Wizard

Step 3. Click to display the License Agreement screen; after you have completed reading the License Agreement, click to display the pidgin-otr 4.0.0-1 Setup - Choose Install Location screen.

Step 4. Click to begin the installation process.

Step 5. Click to complete installing the Pidgin-OTR messaging software plugin.

After you have completed installing both Pidgin and OTR. The following icon will appear in the Windows task bar when Pidgin is started from the Start > All Programs list:

Figure 3: The Pidgin-OTR icon outlined in black

Congratulations! You have successfully completed installing both the Pidgin and OTR programs!

2.3 Overview of Account Registration and Setup Process

There are four basic steps in the Pidgin account registration and setup process; registering an existing IM account to Pidgin, adding a correspondent or buddy, getting your buddy to do the same, and lastly accessing the chat window for your first chat session.

Given that chat or IM sessions take place between two parties, the examples on this page describe how the various forms and windows appear to both buddies/correspondents (represented by two fictional characters, Salima and Terence) at different stages of the account registration and set up process. All examples are based on the Riseup.net IM service.

Note: Before you can start using Pidgin, you must already have an Instant Messaging (IM) account with one of the providers listed in Figure 6 below. If you would like to create an IM account, we recommend using Riseup email account which can be later used for XMPP communication. Please refer to chapter RiseUp - Secure Email Service for information and instructions on how to create a Riseup account. You can also use XMPP account providers listed in the How to Add Accounts in Jitsi section, like: Jit.si or a Google Account.

2.4 Register Your Instant Messaging Account with Pidgin

To register your IM account to Pidgin, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Click or select Start > All Programs > Pidgin to launch Pidgin. The first time you use Pidgin, the following screen will appear:

Figure 4: The Accounts confirmation window

Step 2. Click to display a blank Add Account window as follows:

Figure 5: The Add Account screen displaying Basic, Advanced and Proxy tabs

Step 3. Click the Protocol drop-down list to view the IM service protocols supported by Pidgin as follows:

Figure 6: The Add Account window displaying a list of supported IM protocols

Step 4. Select the appropriate IM protocol.

Note: Different IM service providers will display their specific text fields for you to fill in. Some of them are automatically partly filled in. However, all services require that you to enter a username and a password.

Step 5. Type in your email address (for example, terencethetester@riseup.net) in the Username field.

Step 6. Type in your password for this specific account in the Password field.

Step 7. Type a nickname you would like to be identified by in the Local Alias field. (This field is optional.)

Important: To optimise your privacy and security, do not enable the Remember password option. It means that Pidgin will prompt you for your password whenever you log in to chat on-line. Doing this prevents imposters from logging in and pretending to be you, if you happen leave your computer unattended for some time. Also, remember to select the Quit item from the Buddies drop-down menu after finishing your chat session!

A completed Add Account screen would resemble the following:

Figure 7: An example of a completed Add Account form

Step 8. Click to complete adding your account, and simultaneously display an updated Accounts the Buddy List screens as follows:

Figure 8: An updated Accounts window;Figure 9: The Buddy List in Active mode

After completing these steps, you are now ready to register your Pidgin buddies, by entering their contact information.

2.5 Add a Buddy in Pidgin

Adding buddies or correspondents in Pidgin involves adding and saving their contact information. In the example that follows, Terence will add Salima as his buddy.

To add a buddy to your IM account in Pidgin, perform the following steps:

Step 1. ClickBuddies to display its corresponding menu, and then select the + Add Buddy... item as follows:

Figure 10: The Buddy List menu with the 'Add Buddy...' item selected

Pidgin For Mac

This will display the following screen:

Figure 11: The Add Buddy window

Step 2. If you have multiple accounts, select the account that corresponds to the same messaging service as your 'buddy'.

Note: Both your buddy and yourself must be using the same messaging service, even if he/she is not using Pidgin. You cannot add an ICQ or MSN buddy to a Google Talk account. However, you can register and use multiple accounts based on these supported protocols in Pidgin. Whereby you may chat with one buddy using your XMPP account and with another using your ICQ or MSN accounts.

Step 3. Type in your buddy's email address in the Username field.

The following step is optional.

Step 4. Type in an Alias or nickname for your buddy in the (Optional) Alias field, so that your Add Buddy form resembles the following screen:

Figure 12: An example of a completed Add Buddy form

Step 5. Click to add your buddy.

Note: This will send a message to your buddy requesting approval or authorisation of your request, and will appear for your correspondent Buddy List as follows:

Figure 13: The Authorize buddy request as it appears on Salima's Buddy List

At this point, your buddy must perform the following step:

Step 6. Click to add this person as your buddy and display her/him in your Buddy List as follows:

Figure 14: Terence's Buddy List displaying Salima as his buddy

Note: In the example above, Salima's Alias or nickname is displayed, adding yet another level of identity protection.

Figure 15: Terence's Buddy List window displaying Salima's as his newly created buddy

After you have added, authorised and confirmed your Pidgin chat buddy, he/she must now do the same with your IM contact information by repeating steps 1 through 6 from their own account.

2.6 Open an IM window in Pidgin

To open an IM chat window in Pidgin, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Right click your buddy's name in the Buddy List to display a pop-up menu listing all the tasks you can perform as follows:

Figure 16: The Buddy tasks menu

Step 2. Select the IM item from the pop-up menu to activate a typical chat window as follows:

Figure 17: A typical chat window in Pidgin

Now you are almost ready to chat with your buddy using Pidgin. First, however, you must configure the OTR encryption to ensure that your chat sessions will be private and secure. Seen next page for this.

2.7 Re-enable an Account in Pidgin

From time to time, you might find that your IM account has disabled itself in Pidgin; perhaps because Pidgin program was improperly closed due to Internet connection being interrupted, or your computer frozen. Fortunately, Pidgin offers a way to re-enable your account. To do this, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Click or select Start > Pidgin to launch Pidgin.

Step 2. Open the Accounts menu, and then select the Manage Accounts item as follows:

Figure 18: The Accounts menu with the Manage Accounts item selected (re-sized)*

This will open the following screen:

Figure 19: The Accounts window (re-sized) displaying a disabled account

Step 3. Click the check box next to your account to activate the Pidgin password prompt as follows:

Figure 20: The Pidgin password prompt dialog box

Step 4. Type in your password so your own Pidgin password prompt dialog box resembles the following:

Figure 21: The Pidgin password prompt dialog box with the Enter password field completed

Step 5. Click to complete re-enabling your account as follows:

Figure 22: An example of a successfully re-enabled account

Step 6. Click to close the Accounts window.

Both your correspondent and yourself must configure the OTR plugin before you can enable private and secure Instant Messaging (IM) sessions. OTR plugin will automatically detect when both parties have installed and properly configured the OTR plugin.

Note: If you request a private conversation with a friend who has neither installed nor configured OTR, it will automatically send a message explaining how they can obtain the OTR plugin.

3.1 Configure the Pidgin-OTR Plugin

To enable the OTR plugin, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Double click or selectStart > All Programs > Pidgin to launch Pidgin and activate the Buddy List window (please refer to Figure 1).

Step 2. Open the Tools menu, and then select the Plugins item as follows:

Figure 1: The Buddy List window with the Plugins item selected from the Tools menu

This will activate the Plugins window as follows:

Step 2. Scroll down to the Off-the-Record Messaging option, then click its associated check box to enable it.

Figure 2: The Pidgin Plugins window with Off-the-Record Messaging selected

Step 3. Click to begin configuring the Off-the-Record Messaging windows.

Basically, there are 3 steps involved in configuring OTR properly to effectively enable private and secure IM sessions and they are explained below:

• The First Step: This involves generating a unique private key associated with your account, and displaying its fingerprint.

The next two steps involve securing the IM session and authenticating your buddies.

• The Second Step: This involves one party requesting a private and secure messaging session with another party currently on-line.

• The The Third Step involves authenticating or verifying the identity of your Pidginbuddy. (Note: In Pidgin, a buddy is anyone you correspond with during IM sessions.) This process of verifying a buddy's identity is referred to as authentication in Pidgin. This means establishing that your buddy is exactly the person who he/she is claims to be.

3.2 Generate a Private Key and Display its Fingerprint

Secure chat sessions in Pidgin are enabled by generating a private key for the relevant account. The Off-the-Record configuration window is divided into the Config and the Known fingerprints tabs. The Config tab is used to generate a key for each of your accounts and to set specific OTR options. The Known fingerprints tab contains a list of fingerprints of the keys of your contacts. You must possess a key for any buddy with whom you wish to chat privately.

Figure 3: The Off-the-Record Messaging screen displaying the Config tab

Step 1. To optimise your privacy, check the Enable private messaging, Automatically initiate private messaging and Don't log OTR conversations options in the Config tab as shown in Figure 3 above.

Step 2. Click to begin generating your secure key; a screen notifying you that a private key is being generated appears as follows:

Figure 4: The Generating private key confirmation box

Note: Your buddy must perform the same steps for his/her own account.

Step 3. Click after the private key (which resembles the following), has been generated:

Figure 5: An example of a fingerprint of the key generated by the OTR engine

Important: You have now created a private key for your account on your computer. This will be used to encrypt your conversations so that nobody else can read them, even if they do manage to monitor your chat sessions. The fingerprint is a long sequence of letters and numbers used to identify the key for a particular account, as shown in Figure 5 above.

Pidgin automatically saves your fingerprint, and those of your buddies, on the computer you are using, so that you will not have to remember them. If you reinstall Pidgin or if you change to another computer you will either have to regenerate your key and re-authenticate your buddies, or you will need to move your key and fingerprints of your buddies to the new computer. To do this you will need to copy content of %APPDATA%.purple folder (~/.purple on Linux or Mac) to similar folder on new computer.

3.3 Authenticate a Private Conversation

Step 1. Double-click the account of a buddy who is currently on-line to begin a new IM conversation. If both of you have the OTR plugin installed and properly configured, you will notice that a new OTR button appears at the bottom right corner of your chat window.

Figure 6: A Pidgin messaging window displaying the OTR icon outlined in black

Step 2. Click to activate its associated pop-up menu, and then select the Start private conversation item as follows:

Figure 7: The pop-up menu with the Start private conversation item selected

Your Pidgin IM window will then resemble the following screen:

Figure 8: The Pidgin IM window displaying the Unverified button

Note: Pidgin automatically begin communicating with your buddy's IM program, and generating messages whenever you attempt to enable a private and secure chat session. As a result of this, the OTR button changes to , indicating that you are now able to have an encrypted conversation with your buddy.

Warning! Although this conversation is now secure, the identity of your buddy has not been verified yet. Beware: Your buddy might actually be someone else pretending to be your buddy.

3.4 Authenticate the Identity of Your Pidgin Buddy

You may use one of three methods of identification to authenticate your Pidgin buddy; you could use any one of the following options:

1. A pre-arranged secret code phrase or word;
2. Pose a question, the answer to which is only known to both of you;
3. Manually verify the fingerprints of your key using a different method of communication.

The Secret Code Phrase or Word Method

You can arrange a code phrase or word in advance, either by meeting each other in person or by using another communications medium (like a telephone, voice chat by Jitsi or a mobile phone text message). Once you both type in the same code phrase or word, your session will be authenticated.

Note: The OTR secret code word recognition feature is case sensitive, that is, it can determine the difference between capital (A,B,C) letters and lower case (a,b,c) ones. Bear this in mind when inventing a secret code phrase or word!

Step 1 . Click the OTR button in the chat window, then select the Authenticate Buddy item as follows:

Figure 9: The Unverified pop-up menu with the Authenticate buddy item selected

This will activate the Authenticate Buddy window, prompting you to select an authentication method.

Step 2. Click and selectShared Secret as follows:

Figure 10: The Authenticate buddy screen with the drop-down list revealed

Step 3. Enter the secret code word or phrase as follows:

Figure 11: The Shared Secret screen

Step 4. Click to activate the following screen:

Figure 12: The Authenticate Buddy window for a fictitious correspondent

Note: At this time your buddy will see window shown on figure 13 at his/her end and will have to enter the same code word. If they match, your session will be authenticated.

Figure 13: The Authenticate Buddy window for a fictitious correspondent

Once the session is authenticated, the OTR button will change to . Your session is now secure and you can be sure that you are really speaking with your buddy.

The Question and Answer Method

Another method of authenticating each other, is the question and answer method. Create a question and an answer to it. After reading the question, your buddy must type in the exact answer, and if their answer matches yours, your identity will be automatically authenticated.

Step 1. Click the OTR menu in active message window to activate its associated pop-up menu, and then selectAuthenticate Buddy item (please refer to Figure 9).

Figure 14: A Pidgin chat window displaying the OTR icon

An Authenticate Buddy window will pop up prompting you to choose the method for authentication.

Step 2. Click the drop-down menu and select the Question and Answer item as follows:

Figure 15: The Authenticate buddy screen

Step 3. Enter a question and its corresponding answer. This question will be sent to your buddy.

Figure 16: The Questions and Answer screen

If your buddy's answer matches yours, then your identities will have been mutually authenticated or verified, and both parties are who they claim to be!

Once the session has been authenticated, the OTR button will change to . Your session will now be secure and you can be certain of your chat buddy's identity.

Manual fingerprint verification

The third method of authenticating each other, is the fingerprint verification. In this method you need to exchange displayed fingerprints (see figure 17 below) for your buddy and yourself over another communication channel (like secure email or voice call). If exchanged fingerprints are the same you can select I have verified that this is in fact the correct fingerprint and Authenticate the session.

Figure 17: The Manual fingerprint verification screen

Notice that when you Select > Buddy List > Tools > Plugins > Off The Record Messaging > Configure Plugin, the Known fingerprints tab now displays your buddy's account, and a message that their identity has been verified.

Figure 18: The Off-the-Record Messaging screen displaying the Known Fingerprints tab

Congratulations! You may now chat privately. The next time you and your buddy chat (using the same computers), you should only have to request a secure connection (as on figure 7 above) and have your buddy accept it. Your session should already be authenticated.

4.1 Differences between the Installed and Portable Versions of Pidgin

Given that portable tools are not installed on a local computer, their existence and use will remain undetected. However, keep in mind that your external device or USB memory stick and portable tools are only as safe as the computer you are using, and may risk being exposed to adware, malware, spyware and viruses.

There are no other differences between Portable Pidgin and the version designed to be installed on a local computer.

Pidgin Application For Mac

4.2 Download and Extract Portable Pidgin

To begin downloading and extracting Portable Pidgin, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Clickhttp://portableapps.com/apps/internet/pidgin_portable to be directed to the appropriate download site.

Step 2. Click to activate its associated Source Forge download page.

Step 3. Click to save the installation file to your computer; then navigate to it.

Step 4. Double click ; the Open File - Security Warning dialog box may appear. If it does, click to activate the following screen:

Figure 1: The Language Installer window

Step 5. Click to activate the following screen:

Figure 2: The Pidgin Portable | PortableApps.com window

Step 6. Click to activate the following screen:

Figure 3: The Choose Components window

Note: Click to enable the option, and include multilingual support if you would prefer to use Portable Pidgin in a language other than English. Enabling this option will make the extraction process a little bit longer.

Step 7. Click to activate the Choose Install Location window, and then click to activate the following screen:

Figure 4: The Browse for Folder window

Step 8. Navigate to the destination external hard drive or USB memory stick, select it and then click to confirm its location, and to return to the Choose Install Location window.

Step 9. Click to begin extracting Portable Pidgin to the specified folder; then click to complete the installation process.

Pidgin For Apple Mac

Step 10. Navigate to your destination external drive or USB memory stick, as shown in Figure 5 below, and then open it to confirm that the Portable Pidgin program was successfully extracted.

Figure 5: The Browse for Folder window

Before you may begin using Portable Pidgin in a safe and secure manner, you must first download and extract its complementary portable Off-the-Record (OTR) plugin.

4.3 Download and Extract Portable Pidgin OTR

Step 1. Clickhttp://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Pidgin-OTR%20Portable/Pidgin-OTR%20Portable%203.2%20Rev%202/ to be directed to the appropriate download site.

Step 2. Click to activate the Pidgin-OTR_Portable_3.2_Rev_2.paf.exe download window, and then click to save the installation file to your computer.

Step 3. Double click to Open File - Security Warning dialog box may appear. If it does, click to activate the Installer Language window (please refer to Figure 1).

Step 4. Click to activate the Pidgin-OTR Portable | PortableApps.com window (please refer to Figure 2 to which it resembles).

Step 5. Click to activate the Choose Install Location window (please refer to Figure 3 above to which it resembles).

Step 6. Click to activate its associated Browse for Folder window (please refer to Figure 4 above).

Step 7. Navigate to the destination external hard drive or USB memory stick, select it and then click to confirm its location, and to return to the Choose Install Location window.

Step 8. Click to begin extracting Portable Pidgin to the specified folder; click to complete the installation process.

Step 9. Navigate to your destination external drive or USB memory stick, as shown in Figure 5 above, and then open the Portable Pidgin program folder.

Step 10. Double click to launch Portable Pidgin.

Please refer to the Pidgin guide to begin configuring and using it.

Q: Can I use Pidgin-OTR to chat with friends in both MSN and Yahoo?

A: Although Pidgin-OTR supports a number of chat and messaging services, most of the time you have to use the same provider to initiate an IM session with your buddy. You both need to use an IRC or a ICQ account for example. However, services that use XMPP protocol (like RiseUp, Google Talk, Facebook, or other XMPP servers) may allow chatting between their accounts. Therefore you can chat between account on RiseUp and Google Talk. Also note that in Pidgin you can register and be on-line with several IM accounts simultaneously. That's the beauty of using a multi-protocol IM client.

Q: How may I access my Pidgin-OTR account on another computer?

A: One way is to generate a new private key to use with your IM account on that computer. You can start a conversation with your buddy using this new key, but you will need to authenticate your session again. Another option is to copy the encryption keys to the new computer (you can find them in %APPDATA%.purple on Windows and ~/.purple on Linux or Mac).

Q: What if I forget the login password for my IM account? Or what if someone steals it? Will they have access to my past and future conversations?

A: This is very important question. First of all, if you forget your password and you will not be able to reset it using options offered by the account provider, you will have to generate a new IM account. After that, you must inform your buddy about your new account using secure and authenticated email or voice-chat where you can recognise each other.

Furthermore, you must authenticate each other as buddies. If someone has somehow obtained your IM password, that person could attempt to impersonate you when using Pidgin. Fortunately, he/she won't be able to authenticate the session without having your encryption keys or knowing your shared code word. As such, your buddy may become suspicious. That's why authentication is so important.

Finally, if you followed the instructions above and set the recommended preferences in the OTR 'Config' tab, then even someone who steals your password or have access to your computer won't have access to your past conversations, since you chose not to record them.

• Latest Version:

  Pidgin 2.14.1 LATEST

• Requirements:

  Mac OS X

• Author / Product:

  Pidgin Team / Pidgin for Mac

• Old Versions:

• Filename:

  pidgin-2.14.1.tar.gz

• MD5 Checksum:

  949a11205b8853afc5d04fe2531935eb

• Details:

  Pidgin for Mac 2020 full offline installer setup for Mac