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How to install the WindowsHelper Companion

About 90 seconds, no admin password, no installer to babysit. The tricky part is the SmartScreen warning Windows shows for every new app — this guide walks you through it with screenshots of exactly what to click.

What to expect after you click Download

Read this first — takes 15 seconds, saves the panic when Windows asks if it's safe.

1
The .exe lands in Downloads (~70 MB, single self-contained file). Double-click it to launch.
2
Windows shows a blue dialog: "Windows protected your PC." This is normal for any app without millions of paid downloads. Don't click "Don't run" — that hides the workaround.
3
Click More info in the dialog, then click Run anyway at the bottom.
4
The companion launches and a green icon appears in your system tray (bottom-right). You'll only ever do this once per PC — Windows remembers your choice forever.

Download Companion (Windows)

~71 MB · single self-contained .exe · no installer wizard · no admin password

1Run the file you just downloaded

Open your Downloads folder and double-click WindowsHelperCompanion.exe. The companion is a single self-contained file (~71 MB — bundles a compressed .NET 8 runtime so you don't need to install anything else). There is no installer wizard, no Program Files entry, no admin password required. Running the file IS the install.

2The SmartScreen warning (the only tricky bit)

On the first launch, Windows shows a blue dialog called Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. This is normal for any app that hasn't been signed by a vendor with millions of paid downloads behind them. WindowsHelper is brand-new — to Microsoft's reputation database we look like every other indie app on day one.

code-signing in progress

We're procuring an EV code-signing certificate from DigiCert. Once that ships and the next companion build is signed, this warning disappears entirely on first launch. Until then, the workaround below is a one-time click.

Windows protected your PC

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.

More info

↑ This is what you'll see. Don't click Don't run — that hides the workaround.

What to click, in order:

Click the More info link in the dialog.
A second button appears at the bottom: Run anyway. Click it.
The companion launches. A green icon appears in your system tray (bottom-right of your screen, near the clock).

heads up

You only do this once per PC. Windows remembers your choice the moment you click Run anyway — future launches start instantly with no dialog.

3Pair your phone

Open the WindowsHelper app on your phone and tap the PC pill in the top-left of the home screen (or PC Control in the bottom nav). You'll see an 8-character pairing code with both letters and numbers (example: 9TN2YFNP). Type that code exactly into the companion window on your PC and press Connect — the input field accepts both letters and digits and auto-uppercases as you type.

Within a few seconds, both sides flip to Connected. From now on, every fix you tap on your phone runs automatically on your PC.

that's it

The companion sets itself to start with Windows automatically via Task Scheduler. Restart your PC and the green tray icon comes back on its own — your pairing survives reboots.

What does the companion do on my PC?

The short version: it listens for commands you tap on your phone, then runs them. The longer version:

Listens to a Firestore document tied to your pairing code. When your phone writes a command there, the companion sees it and executes it on your PC.
Runs PowerShell scripts with admin rights (inherited from the auto-start Task Scheduler entry — no per-command UAC popup).
Streams output back to your phone live so you see results as the script runs, not just at the end.
Sends a heartbeat every 30 seconds so your phone knows the PC is online. No telemetry beyond that.
Auto-creates a System Restore point before every fix that asks for one — so you can always roll back.

What does it not do?

No background screenshots, no keylogging, no clipboard reading.
No data leaves your PC except command results you explicitly triggered, plus the heartbeat.
No accounts, no email, no password collection — pairing is an 8-character code held in memory only.
No silent updates — when a new version is available, the companion asks before installing.

Optional: verify the download hash

For users who want to confirm the .exe wasn't tampered with in transit, every release publishes its SHA-256 in the companion-version.json manifest. Run this in PowerShell to compare:

(Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 ~\Downloads\WindowsHelperCompanion.exe).Hash

If the lower-cased output matches the sha256 field in the manifest, the download is byte-identical to the published binary. A mismatch means the file was modified between download and verification — redownload and retry.

Uninstalling

Right-click the green WindowsHelper icon in your system tray and pick Uninstall WindowsHelper. That:

Deletes the auto-start scheduled task.
Disconnects from your phone (the pairing key is wiped).
Closes the app.

After that, delete the .exe from your Downloads folder. Nothing stays on disk except the rolling diagnostic logs at %APPDATA%\WindowsHelper\ — those self-prune after 7 days, or you can delete the folder by hand.

Something went wrong?

Most install / pairing problems have a step-by-step recovery on the troubleshooting page. Common ones:

Antivirus quarantined the .exe → add an exclusion for ~\Downloads\WindowsHelperCompanion.exe + redownload.
Companion won't connect → close the companion, double-click the .exe again, retype the code.
"PC offline" on the phone → the companion needs to be running. Check the system tray.

Download Companion (Windows)