Installing Money by Zaweba for one user, no admin needed

Installing Money by Zaweba doesn't need an administrator. Tools > Install for this user copies the app to a per-user folder, adds a Start menu shortcut and links .ozm money files to it, all without administrator rights. The same can be done from the command line with --install, and undone with --uninstall.

That suits the way most people use a finance app. It's personal, it's yours, and it shouldn't need anyone else's permission to set up.

Why install for one user

A per-user install lives in your own part of the PC. Nobody needs to type an administrator password, which matters on a work laptop you're allowed to use for personal things, or on a family PC where the account you use day to day isn't an administrator.

It also keeps Money to your own Windows account. Another person signing in to the same PC won't find it in their Start menu. Your money file itself is a separate matter: it lives wherever you save it, such as in your documents, and can be locked with a password if you want.

Installing step by step

Run Money, then choose Tools > Install for this user. The app copies itself into the per-user folder and adds the Start menu shortcut. From then on, start it from the Start menu like any other program.

The install also sets up the .ozm file association. Money files are single .ozm files, one per household or business, and after installing you can double-click one in File Explorer to open it in Money. That's handy if you keep a file for the household and a separate one for a sole trader business.

From the command line

If you prefer, or you're setting Money up for someone else while signed in as them, run the program with --install to do the same job without the menu. Running it with --uninstall removes it again.

Uninstalling removes the app. Your money files are your own data, so think about where they are and keep a copy before you tidy anything away.

After installing

First run, try File > Try the sample file to look around with example figures. When you're ready, press Ctrl+N for a new money file, add your accounts, and import your first statement with Ctrl+I.

There's no account to create and no sign-in. Money never connects to your bank; you download statements yourself as CSV, OFX, QFX or QIF files and import them. Nothing goes to the cloud, and every change saves straight away, with a backup copy made when you close the file, keeping the last 10.

Keeping your file safe

Because the file lives on your PC, looking after it is down to you. Keep it somewhere you'll remember, include it in whatever backup you already run, and if you lock it with a password, store the password safely. Money is plain about it: a lost password means lost data.

Money by Zaweba is free software under the EULA, and a one-user install keeps it as personal as your finances should be.