CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"/> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"/> <meta http-equiv="last-modified" content="Thursday, 20 2025 14:32:16 GMT"/> <title>Postgres.app – the easiest way to get started with PostgreSQL on the Mac</title> <meta name="author" content="Jakob Egger and Mattt Thompson"/> <meta name="description" content="Postgres.app is a full featured PostgreSQL installation packaged as a standard Mac app."/> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"/> <link rel="license" href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/postgresql" title="PostgreSQL License"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/postgresapp.css"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/releases.css"/> <meta content="Postgres.app – the easiest way to get started with PostgreSQL on the Mac" property="og:title"/> <meta content="http://postgresapp.com/" property="og:url"/> <meta content="http://postgresapp.com/img/PostgresAppIconLarge.png" property="og:image"/> <meta content="Postgres.app" property="og:site_name"/> <meta content="Postgres.app is a full featured PostgreSQL installation packaged as a standard Mac app." property="og:description"/> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="/de/"> </head> <body> <div class="container"> <header> <hgroup> <a id="title-link-1" href="/"></a> <a id="title-link-2" href="/"> <h1 itemprop="name">Postgres.app</h1> <h2 itemprop="description">The easiest way to get started with PostgreSQL on the Mac</h2> </a> <ul class="buttons"> <li class="current"><a href="/">Introduction</a></li> <li><a href="/downloads.html">Downloads</a></li> <li><a href="/documentation/">Documentation</a></li> <li> <a href="https://github.com/PostgresApp/PostgresApp">GitHub <span class="note">7445 Stars</span></a> </li> </ul> </hgroup> </header> <ul id="lang-links"> <li class="lang-link current"><a href="/">en</a></li> <li class="lang-link"><a href="/de/">de</a></li> </ul> <div class="body"> <div class="index"> <p>Postgres.app is a full-featured PostgreSQL installation packaged as a standard Mac app. It includes everything you need to get started, and we’ve even included the popular extension <a href="http://postgis.net">PostGIS</a> for geo data.</p> <p>Postgres.app has a beautiful user interface and a convenient menu bar item. You never need to touch the command line to use it – but of course we do include all the necessary <a href="/documentation/cli-tools.html">command line tools</a> and header files for advanced users.</p> <p>Postgres.app can install minor updates automatically, so you get bugfixes as soon as possible.</p> <h2 id="installing-postgresapp">Installing Postgres.app</h2> <ul class="instructions"> <li> <p>Download   ➜   Move to Applications folder   ➜   Double Click</p> <p class="subdued">If you don't move Postgres.app to the Applications folder, some features may not work (<a href="/documentation/relocation-warning.html">more info</a>)</p> </li> <li> <p>Click "Initialize" to create a new server</p> </li> <li> <p>Configure your <tt>$PATH</tt> to use the included command line tools (optional):</p> <pre><code>sudo mkdir -p /etc/paths.d &&<br />echo /Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/latest/bin | sudo tee /etc/paths.d/postgresapp</code></pre> </li> </ul> <p>Done! You now have a PostgreSQL server running on your Mac with these default settings:</p> <table class="settings"> <tr> <td>Host</td> <td>localhost</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Port</td> <td>5432</td> </tr> <tr> <td>User</td> <td class="light">your system user name</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Database</td> <td class="light">same as user</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Password</td> <td class="light">none</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Connection URL</td> <td>postgresql://localhost</td> </tr> </table> <p>To connect with psql, double click a database. To connect directly from the command line, type <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">psql</code>. If you’d rather use a graphical client, see below.</p> <p>NOTE: These instructions assume that you’ve never installed PostgreSQL on your Mac before. If you have previously installed PostgreSQL using homebrew, MacPorts, the EnterpriseDB installer, consider <a href="documentation/remove.html">removing other PostgreSQL installations</a> first. We also have <a href="documentation/update.html">instructions for upgrading from older versions of Postgres.app</a>.</p> <h2 id="graphical-clients">Graphical Clients</h2> <p>Postgres.app includes <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">psql</code>, a versatile command line client for PostgreSQL. But it’s not the only option; there are plenty of great graphical clients available for PostgreSQL. Two popular tools are:</p> <ul class="clients"> <li id="pgadmin"><a href="https://www.pgadmin.org">pgAdmin 4</a></li> <li id="postico"><a href="https://eggerapps.at/postico/">Postico</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="https://www.pgadmin.org">pgAdmin 4</a> is a feature rich open source PostgreSQL client. It has support for almost every feature in PostgreSQL. The only downside is that the cross-plattform UI really doesn’t live up to the expectations of a native Mac app.</p> <p><a href="https://eggerapps.at/postico/">Postico</a> on the other hand, is a very modern Mac app. It’s made by the same people that maintain Postgres.app, and we think you’ll like it! We put a lot of effort into making it a joy to use. However, it doesn’t have the extensive feature set of pgAdmin, and it’s a commercial app rather than open source.</p> <p>Aside from those two options, there are a lot more to choose from! Check the documentation for a <a href="/documentation/gui-tools.html">list of amazing Mac apps for PostgreSQL</a>.</p> <h2 id="how-to-connect">How to connect</h2> <p>After your PostgreSQL server is up and running, you’ll probably want to connect to it from your application. Here’s how to connect to PostgreSQL from popular programming languages and frameworks:</p> <dl class="connect-info"> <dt class="active" onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">PHP</dt> <dd> <p> To connect from PHP, make sure that it supports PostgreSQL. The version included with macOS doesn't support PostgreSQL. We recommend <a href="https://www.mamp.info">MAMP</a> for an easy way to install a current version of PHP that works. </p> <p> You can use PDO (object oriented): </p> <pre><code><?php $db = new PDO('pgsql:host=localhost'); $statement = $db->prepare("SELECT datname FROM pg_database"); $statement->execute(); while ($row = $statement->fetch()) { echo "<p>" . htmlspecialchars($row["datname"]) . "</p>\n"; } ?></code></pre> <p> Or the <tt>pg_connect()</tt> functions (procedural): </p> <pre><code><?php $conn = pg_connect("host=localhost"); $result = pg_query($conn, "SELECT datname FROM pg_database"); while ($row = pg_fetch_row($result)) { echo "<p>" . htmlspecialchars($row[0]) . "</p>\n"; } ?></code></pre> </dd> <dt onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">Go</dt> <dd> <p> To connect to postgres from Golang, you can download this library. </p> <pre><code>go get github.com/jackc/pgx/v5</code></pre> <p>Then you can connect like this: </p> <pre><code> package main import ( "database/sql" "fmt" _ "github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/stdlib" ) func main() { dsn := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable", <host>, <port>, <user>, <password>, <dbname>) db, err := sql.Open("pgx", dsn) if err != nil { panic(err) } defer db.Close() ... } </code></pre> <p>Be sure to replace the placeholders with your actual connection details.</p> <h3>GORM</h3> <p>If you are using <a href="https://gorm.io" target="_blank">GORM</a>, you can connect like this:</p> <pre><code> package main import ( "gorm.io/driver/postgres" "gorm.io/gorm" ) func main() { dsn := fmt.Sprintf("host=%s port=%s user=%s password=%s dbname=%s sslmode=disable", <host>, <port>, <user>, <password>, <dbname>) db, err := gorm.Open(postgres.Open(dsn), &gorm.Config{}) if err != nil { panic(err) } defer db.Close() ... } </code></pre> </dd> <dt onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">Python</dt> <dd> <p> To connect to a PostgreSQL server with Python, please first install the psycopg2 library: </p> <pre><code> pip install psycopg2 </code></pre> <h3>Django</h3> <p>In your settings.py, add an entry to your DATABASES setting:</p> <pre><code> DATABASES = { "default": { "ENGINE": "django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2", "NAME": "[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]", "USER": "[YOUR_USER_NAME]", "PASSWORD": "", "HOST": "localhost", "PORT": "", } } </code></pre> <h3>Flask</h3> <p>When using the <a href="https://packages.python.org/Flask-SQLAlchemy/">Flask-SQLAlchemy</a> extension you can add to your application code:</p> <pre><code> from flask import Flask from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy app = Flask(__name__) app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'] = 'postgresql://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]' db = SQLAlchemy(app) </code></pre> <h3>SQLAlchemy</h3> <pre><code> from sqlalchemy import create_engine engine = create_engine('postgresql://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]') </code></pre> </dd> <dt onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">Ruby</dt> <dd> <p>To install the pg gem, make sure you have set up your <tt>$PATH</tt> correctly (see <a href="documentation/cli-tools.html">Command-Line Tools</a>), then execute the following command:</p> <pre><code>sudo ARCHFLAGS="-arch x86_64" gem install pg</code></pre> <h3>Rails</h3> <p>In config/database.yml, use the following settings:</p> <pre><code> development: adapter: postgresql database: [YOUR_DATABASE_NAME] host: localhost </code></pre> <h3>Sinatra</h3> <p>In config.ru or your application code:</p> <pre><code> set :database, "postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]" </code></pre> <h3>ActiveRecord</h3> <p>Install the activerecord gem and require 'active_record', and establish a database connection:</p> <pre><code> ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection("postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]") </code></pre> <h3>DataMapper</h3> <p>Install and require the datamapper and do_postgres gems, and create a database connection:</p> <pre><code> DataMapper.setup(:default, "postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]") </code></pre> <h3>Sequel</h3> <p>Install and require the sequel gem, and create a database connection:</p> <pre><code> DB = Sequel.connect("postgres://localhost/[YOUR_DATABASE_NAME]") </code></pre> </dd> <dt onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">Java</dt> <dd> <ol> <li> Download and install the <a href="https://jdbc.postgresql.org/download/">PostgreSQL JDBC driver</a> </li> <li> Connect to the JDBC URL <tt>jdbc:postgresql://localhost</tt> </li> </ol> <p>For more information see the official <a href="https://jdbc.postgresql.org/documentation/head/index.html">PostgreSQL JDBC documentation</a>.</p> </dd> <dt onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">C</dt> <dd> <p> libpq is the native C client library for connecting to PostgreSQL. It's really easy to use: </p> <pre><code>#include <libpq-fe.h> int main() { PGconn *conn = PQconnectdb("postgresql://localhost"); if (PQstatus(conn) == CONNECTION_OK) { PGresult *result = PQexec(conn, "SELECT datname FROM pg_database"); for (int i = 0; i < PQntuples(result); i++) { char *value = PQgetvalue(result, i, 0); if (value) printf("%s\n", value); } PQclear(result); } PQfinish(conn); }</code></pre> <p>Now compile the file with clang and run it:</p> <pre><code>clang main.c -I$(pg_config --includedir) -L$(pg_config --libdir) -lpq ./a.out</code></pre> </dd> <dt onclick="this.parentElement.getElementsByClassName('active')[0].className='';this.className='active';">Swift</dt> <dd> <p> You can just use the C API in Swift! First include libpq in your bridging header: </p> <pre><code>#import <libpq-fe.h></code></pre> <p> Then make sure to link with libpq. </p> <p> On iOS, you'll need to build libpq yourself. </p> <p> On macOS you can use the system provided libpq (does not support SSL) or use libpq provided by Postgres.app by adding the following build settings: </p> <table> <tr> <th>Other Linker Flags</th> <td><tt>-lpq</tt></td> </tr> <tr> <th>Header Search Paths</th> <td><tt>/Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/latest/include</tt></td> </tr> <tr> <th>Library Search Paths</th> <td><tt>/Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/latest/lib</tt></td> </tr> </table> <p> Now you can use the <a href="https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq.html">libpq C library</a> to connect to PostgreSQL: </p> <pre><code>let conn = PQconnectdb("postgresql://localhost".cString(using: .utf8)) if PQstatus(conn) == CONNECTION_OK { let result = PQexec(conn, "SELECT datname FROM pg_database WHERE datallowconn") for i in 0 ..< PQntuples(result) { guard let value = PQgetvalue(result, i, 0) else { continue } let dbname = String(cString: value) print(dbname) } PQclear(result) } PQfinish(conn)</code></pre> </dd> </dl> <h2 id="support">Support</h2> <p>We have a list of common problems in the <a href="/documentation/troubleshooting.html">troubleshooting section</a> in the documentation.</p> <p>For general questions concerning PostgreSQL, have a look at the <a href="https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/">official PostgreSQL documentation</a>.</p> <p>If you have a question concerning Postgres.app that is not answered by the <a href="/documentation/">Postgres.app documentation</a>, please <a href="https://github.com/postgresapp/postgresapp/issues">open an issue</a> on GitHub.</p> <p>When reporting bugs, let us know which version of Postgres.app & macOS you are using, and be sure to include detailed error messages, even if your issue seems similar to another one.</p> <h2 id="license">License</h2> <p>Postgres.app and PostgreSQL are released under the <a href="http://www.postgresql.org/about/licence/">PostgreSQL License</a>. The released binaries also include extensions and dependencies that are licensed under various open-source licences.</p> <p>Postgres.app is maintained by <a href="https://github.com/jakob">Jakob Egger</a> and <a href="https://github.com/tbussmann">Tobias Bussmann</a>. It was originally created by <a href="https://github.com/mattt">Mattt Thompson</a>.</p> </div> <div class="metadata" hidden style="display:none"> <link itemprop="url" href="https://github.com/PostgresApp/PostgresApp/"/> <span itemprop="applicationCategory">Application</span> <span itemprop="applicationSubCategory">Utility</span> <span itemprop="applicationSuite">PostgreSQL</span> <span itemprop="operatingSystem">macOS</span> <span itemprop="requirements">macOS 10.10+</span> </div> </div> </div> <ul class=footer> <li> Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/PostgresApp">@PostgresApp</a> </li> <li> Find us on <a href="https://github.com/PostgresApp/PostgresApp">GitHub</a> </li> <li> Do you have suggestions for improving the docs? <a href="https://github.com/PostgresApp/PostgresApp/edit/master/docs/index.md">edit this page</a> </li> </ul> </body>   </html>