How To Install NinjaTrader 8 on a MAC (2024) - Easy Step By Step Tutorial

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This video will show you how to get NinjaTrader 8 working on a MAC and will take you approx 30 minutes (depending on how fast your computer is and your download speeds of course) ... but the process is NOT hard and this video will walk you through the very simple steps.

If you have any questions, ask in the comments. I'm not a MAC user and thus might not be able to help out with the specifics but others who visit this probably are so i'd encourage you to write any questions.

So how were we able to get this all up and running for less than 15usd? First of all, windows 10 and vmware both have 30 day trials. So you can do this for 1 month and make sure everything works the way you want. You can purchase your software keys from wherever you wish but we found the cheapest way (and still apparently very much legal) is to buy the keys off ebay (new and unused) which you can typically find them for around $5. Do a search, you'll find many of them with some highly rated sellers / Microsoft partners.

==========Chapters==========
00:00 - Intro - What you need
00:27 - Disclaimer
00:44 - Download Windows and Fusion
01:41 - Indicators You'll Want After Setting Up
02:10 - XABCD Pattern Suite works on Mac
02:55 - Installing VMWare Fusion
04:08 - Giving VMWare Fusion Permission
05:25 - Setting up the Virtual Machine
10:30 - Setting up Windows on the Virtual Machine
11:35 - Download and Install NinjaTrader 8
14:20 - Start Unity using VMware Tools
14:55 - Questions?

INDICATORS (some free - marked as free below)
========================

XABCD News Indicator Pro:(Included with Membership):

NT8 Sonar Indicator (Included with Membership):

NT8 Hurst Indicator (Included with Membership):

NT8 Position Sizing Tool (Add-on - Not Included with Membership):

XABCD News: (Free):

XABCD Priceline (Free):

Copyright © 2020 XABCD Trading Corp. All Rights Reserved.

[brendendel]

Hey this video worked great for the most part however I ran into a few issues that you did not seem to encounter and required extra research. First, when I went to install windows the first time it said “No images are available” and would not let me click to the next screen. The fix for that was to go into the settings and remove the floppy disk. Once you restart the VM, press any key to boot from the CD/DVD (SATA) drive. This should fix the no images available message. My second issue was the unity function was not selectable. The fix for that was to update the VMware tools which can be found in the virtual machine drop down menu on the top of your Mac. Thanks for the video I really appreciate it!

[Rubded]

Thank you so much. I have been struggling to get VMWare working period! I appreciate that.

[valeriavalencia]

Thank you so much for the video! Everything worked exactly as you showed! I could not find any cheap product key on Ebay but I did on other websites for approx. $6.

[Xabcdtrading]

YES - This video is still relavent in 8.1 and i've updated this comment in December of 2023. This works on every mac which is supported by fusion - which as long as its not 10 years old, you'll be good to go! Yes you can run NinjaTrader on an M1/M2 chip too. If you have a question, enter it below - i WILL respond to everyone. We're happy to answer your questions - as you can see from many in the comments this does work still in 2023 and we constantly keep this video updated and have updated our simple blog walkthrough.


If this video helped, wack that thumbs up button so I know it did you some good? Also helps those youtube algos so more people can see how easy this is .... I put more details in the description about cost (~$15 dollars) how to go about doing all that and getting it going. I'm not a mac user, so if I can manage this I'm sure you familiar with those machines will be able to do it too :) Took me approx 30 minutes to get this all up and running, most of which was waiting for the download and doing the install. Otherwise there was very little configuration. I really hope that NinjaTrader never comes out with a mac version because its easy to do this and allows their development team to focus on one platform and to keep creating amazing features and a better program. Happy to answer any questions below :)
0:17 <-- Downloading VMware (acts as the translator)
1:05 <-- WIll show you what it looks like running on a mac ... spoiler alert ... it's what you would expect if you had a native app.
1:22 <-- Downloading Windows 10 (to run ninjatrader 8 code)
2:58 <-- Installing VMware
5:27 <-- Installing WIndows 10
11:46 <-- Downloading NinjaTrader 8 + Installing
13:40 <-- Integrating NinjaTrader 8 with your MAC to make it seamless using Unity

[AC-fjcv]

Thanks so much for this video. It was a bit of a process but worth it ..quick question, i tried to go into unity mode through clicking 'view' and it is not highlighted as an option for me to click, what could this be?

[RicherThanIeverbeen]

Awesome tutorial. I was trying this setup with virtualbox and couldn't figure out the last part regarding using the app on the mac side.

[gabrielsousavelarde]

hello, great video. Thw. only part i'm struggling with is to get the windows key. I dont know which one to buy, one says windows 10 home key and the other one says windows 10 pro key...

If you know which one i should buy, i'll appreciate a reply

[amuzikpro]

How reliable is NinjaTrader running on Mac ? I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a Mac but iffy on running Ninjatrader on it

[tahertouil]

Hey Thanks for the video ! can we upload ninja trader for Mac Pro M1 ?

[MrDgbr]

Hello! Thank you for this great video! I have a couple of questions

1- How/where do I get a VMware Fusion 11 or 12 license for $6 or so as you say in the video?
2- When downloading the VMware Fusion 12 free trial, should I download the Fusion or the Fusion Pro version?
3- I have a 2007 Windows laptop that I haven't used in over 10 years. Can I use its license key as my windows key? Will it work with Windows 10?

Thank you in advance for your reply!

[dailyjuice]

another qtn - Windows 11 OR Windows 11 ARM? Is there a difference and which is better?

[zacharydaugherty]

Does this video work the same with setting up Windows 11 as well or only Windows 10? Also I saw you allotted 2gb of memory to VMWare Fusion, does it only take 2gb of your Mac's memory when the program is open or all of the time? Basically what I'm saying is if you allot 2gb to VMWare Fusion and you have a 64gb Mac, is 2gb of my Mac's memory allotted to VMWare all of the time, or only when the program is open? Also how much should I allot to it if I am just trying to run the Ninjatrader desktop with a couple of indicators, while running ThinkorSwim open on my Mac at the same time?

[lanceroehrig]

What about parallels, seems way cheaper than Fusion which is $149 for player and $199 for pro. I know this is 3 years old video so presumably parallels didn't work back then as you state its the only software that runs NinjaTrader on a Mac.

[Max]

Would you be able to right click on the charts and trigger bracket orders (Automated trading strategy) to trigger orders? Thanks for the video!

[wallstprofitsplan]

Hey! 5:47 at this spot of the video my mac wouldnt let me drag and drop the windows 11 arm file to the vm ware 13 ? Any other way to get it on there besides dragging?

[nicholasroach]

Hello, thanks for the video. I am operating an M2 chip - I just downloaded Windows 11 ARM after I was unable to progress using Windows 10 like on the video. The file downloaded is VHDX and I am not able to drag and drop intoVM Fusion. I have read the blog post link posted in these comments but, unless I am seeing the incorrect landing page, I am not seeing a resolution to this. Are you able to help resolve this hurdle so I can finish the install?

[seanknowles]

Do we need VMware fusion player or Pro, I can see that player is free for non commercial use? Or do we need Pro, what would you suggest, which one do you use?

[jerseyboy]

Once in the VM can I open a second, third ect.. screen/box, drag it to another display/monitor and run multiple displays/monitors in the VM? I am running 4 external monitors on my M1, unfortunately I can't run the APPS I need in IOS and need Windows 10/11 to run them. Case in point; so I can see all my charts! THANKS GREAT VIDEO

[lorenamoncadabecerra]

Hi, does this process still work now July 2023 and with the new ninja trader update?

Does wmware work perfectly no any problems like parallels? Or wmware also present problems with ninja trader and MacBook?

If I do this can I still use my MacBook normal or it doesn’t allowed me to switch back to apple once I installed windows?
Could this damage my MacBook Pro? Could I lose all my info already saved in my macbookpro?

And if I want to do all of this not trials, how much would cost me all of this today on 2023?

Thanks ⚡️

[turntowater]

Hi, I am looking to buy the new MacBook Air 15” M2 but I saw a video where using a MacBook Pro 16” Intel and Parallels it was creating lagging / delays which are not nice. The MacBook Air 14” with VM will fix this?