Installing Neo4j Graph Database Desktop Version

By Bruce Nielson
ML & AI Specialist
Posted January 7, 2025

In a previous post, I covered how to install Neo4J. For the Mindfire stack, we’re aiming to stick with open-source software, and Neo4J Server Community Edition fits the bill. However, there’s also an Enterprise edition available. Interestingly, you can install and use the Enterprise edition for free—with some limitations.

Introducing Neo4J Desktop

Neo4j Desktop is free to download and includes a personal Neo4j Enterprise Edition Developer license. This allows you to access all the capabilities and features of the Neo4j Enterprise Edition, with the limitation that it can only be used by you and on a single machine. Unfortunately, this means the desktop version of Neo4j isn’t suitable for use in a production environment. However, it’s a much easier way to download, install, and get started with Neo4j, and it even lets you use the full Enterprise version for free. It also comes with some useful tools built-in to a convenient UI.

Recall where we downloaded Neo4J originally. If you scroll down a bit, you’ll find a download for Desktop version of Neo4J Graph Database. (You can also find a download page here. Find install instructions here.)

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Click the download button and you’ll download and then run a file named something like this: Neo4j Desktop Setup 1.6.1.exe. Running this file will prompt you for where you want to store the database. Then you will be prompted to register your software:

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Fill out the above form and you’ll get a registration key that you can fill in the software key here:

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You may then be prompted for updates:

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After the install is completed, you’ll see an interface like this:

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Neo4J has some excellent documentation about the desktop version.

The Neo4J Desktop Interface

The Neo4J Desktop interface is a convenient way to work with Neo4J. Here you can see how I’m looking at my test databases via the UI:

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The Desktop UI also has a number of built-in tools:

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Select the top option, the Neo4J Browser, and you’ll get the Neo4J browser interface we introduced in the previous post:

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And you’re ready to go!

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