Install OrbStack ​

Follow the Quick Start guide to get started.

Replacing Docker Desktop ​

Switching from Docker Desktop is 100% seamless: just open OrbStack and get started.

Everything will continue to work like normal.

More details ​

We recommend stopping Docker Desktop to save resources, and uninstalling its command-line tools to make sure you continue receiving updated versions from OrbStack.

If you have admin access, OrbStack will automatically update the /var/run/docker.sock symlink to point to its own Docker engine. This improves compatibility with some third-party tools.

Data migration ​

After installation, OrbStack will offer to migrate your Docker Desktop data automatically, including containers, volumes, images, and more. This is optional and you can always migrate later from File > Migrate Docker Data, or from the command line:

orb migrate docker

orb migrate docker

This makes a copy of your old data, so feel free to reset data in Docker Desktop if everything went well.

Side-by-side ​

You can use Docker contexts to run OrbStack and Docker Desktop side-by-side. Switching contexts affects all commands you run from that point on:

# Switch to OrbStack
docker context use orbstack
# Switch to Docker Desktop
docker context use desktop-linux

# Switch to OrbStack
docker context use orbstack
# Switch to Docker Desktop
docker context use desktop-linux

You may also need to change the credential store.

Reverting ​

If you're leaving OrbStack, please let us know why! We're always looking for ways to improve.

To switch back, stop OrbStack and start Docker Desktop, then run docker context use desktop-linux to restore the context.

Replacing Colima ​

Switching from Colima is similarly seamless: just open OrbStack and get started.

Optionally, stop Colima to save resources.

Side-by-side ​

You can use Docker contexts to run OrbStack and Colima side-by-side. Switching contexts affects all commands you run from that point on:

# Switch to OrbStack
docker context use orbstack
# Switch to Colima
docker context use colima

# Switch to OrbStack
docker context use orbstack
# Switch to Colima
docker context use colima

Reverting ​

If you're leaving OrbStack, please let us know why! We're always looking for ways to improve.

To switch back to Colima, stop OrbStack and restart Colima. The context will be reverted automatically.

Command-line tools ​

The orb and orbctl commands are included to manage and use OrbStack and its Linux machines from the command line. The latest Docker command-line tools (docker, docker compose, docker buildx, etc.) are also included.

When you start OrbStack, these commands are automatically installed if you don't already have them. However, if you already have them installed from another source (such as Docker Desktop or Homebrew), they will be left alone. To switch to OrbStack's versions, uninstall or delete the old ones (e.g. /usr/local/bin/docker*) and restart the app.

Tools will be installed by linking them to /usr/local/bin (for compatibility) and adding ~/.orbstack/bin to your PATH (for flexibility). If you don't want to install them globally, you can always find them at ~/.orbstack/bin.

Uninstalling ​

If you're leaving OrbStack, please let us know why! We're always looking for ways to improve.

To uninstall OrbStack, delete the app from your Applications folder. You can also delete the ~/.orbstack directory to remove all data.

If you're returning to Docker Desktop, change the Docker context back to desktop-linux. No action is needed for Colima.

docker context use desktop-linux

docker context use desktop-linux