Title: Installation Guide
Description: Flash GhostESP with the recommended web flasher
URL: /latest/getting-started/installation-guide/
Version: latest
Section: Getting Started
Search index: /search-index.json

# Installation Guide

> Flash GhostESP with the recommended web flasher

## On this page

- [Which variant do I pick?](#which-variant-do-i-pick)
- [Flash with the web flasher](#flash-with-the-web-flasher)
- [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)
- [Related tasks](#related-tasks)

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The web flasher installs GhostESP firmware on a compatible ESP32 board directly from your browser, and is the recommended method for most users. You need a compatible ESP32 board (see [Supported Hardware](/latest/getting-started/supported-hardware/)), a USB data cable (Micro USB or USB-C; must be a data cable, not charge-only), and Chrome, Brave, or Edge - Firefox doesn’t support WebSerial.
## Which variant do I pick?
The flasher asks for your chip family, not your board name. Look your board up in the [Supported Hardware](/latest/getting-started/supported-hardware/) table and use its Chip column:
If your board is… |
Pick |
Cardputer, T-Deck, TEmbed, CrowPanel Advance, Lolin S3 Pro, Banshee S3, ACE S3, Waveshare/Crowtech/Sunton 7″ |
ESP32-S3 |
Marauder V8, Marauder Pancake, Poltergeist, T-Dongle-C5, Banshee C5, ACE C5, NM-CYD-C5 |
ESP32-C5 |
GhostBoard |
ESP32-C6 |
MarauderV4, Marauder V6, CYD boards, Minion, JCMK DevBoardPro, Feberis Pro |
ESP32 |
Awok V5, AwokMini, Flipper JCMK GPS |
ESP32-S2 |
CrowPanel Advanced P4 |
ESP32-P4 |
GhostLink P1 Peer |
ESP32-C3 |
Getting this wrong is the most common cause of a board that flashes successfully but never boots. If you are unsure, check the table before flashing - don’t guess.
## Flash with the web flasher
- Open [ghostesp.net/flasher](https://ghostesp.net/flasher) in Chrome, Brave, or Edge.
- Close any app that is using the board’s serial port.
- Enter bootloader mode: hold BOOT, connect USB, then release BOOT.
- If that does not work, hold BOOT, tap RESET, wait 1-2 seconds, then release BOOT.
- Select the chip family from the table above, click Connect, and follow the browser prompts.
- When flashing finishes, unplug and reconnect the board.
GhostESP then boots and creates a Wi-Fi access point named GhostNet with password GhostNet.
## Troubleshooting
- The board is not detected: Confirm the cable supports data, close other serial apps, then enter bootloader mode again.
- The web flasher times out: Reconnect the board and repeat the bootloader steps. Clear the browser cache only if the flasher page itself fails to load correctly.
- GhostNet does not appear after flashing: Verify the selected firmware matches your board and restart the device. Use a [serial console](https://ghostesp.net/serial) at 115200 baud to inspect boot output.
## Related tasks
- [Connect to GhostESP](/latest/getting-started/control-methods/)
- [Try your first scan](/latest/getting-started/first-scan/)
- [Manual USB flashing](/latest/getting-started/manual-flashing/)
- [Flash with Flipper Zero](/latest/getting-started/flipper-flashing/)