Getting started with Bento
How to get from the downloaded file to a planned week. It takes about five minutes. Last updated August 28, 2026.
Install it
The free download is on the home page, under the tour video. Paid or free, you download the same app.
If you bought a license, the download link is also in your purchase email and on the page after checkout. Both installers are linked there; pick the one for your computer.
Bento runs on a Mac with macOS 11 or later (Apple silicon or Intel), and on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. The same license works on either.
On a Mac
- Open the downloaded Bento.dmg. A window appears with the Bento icon.
- Drag Bento into your Applications folder, then open it from Applications (or Spotlight: press ⌘ Space, type “Bento”, press Enter).
- You can eject and delete the .dmg afterwards.
- Updates install themselves from here on. Bento asks before it restarts.
On Windows
- Open the downloaded Bento-Setup.exe. It installs for your own Windows account, so it never asks for an administrator password, and it opens Bento by itself when it’s done.
- Usually it just runs. If Windows shows a blue “Windows protected your PC” panel instead, click More info, check that the publisher reads West End Studios, then Run anyway.
- Bento is added to your Start menu and desktop. The installer can be deleted afterwards.
- Closing the window keeps Bento running in the tray, by the clock, so reminders still fire. To quit fully, right-click the tray icon.
- Same as on the Mac: updates install themselves, and Bento asks before it restarts.
First launch
- Bento opens by asking for a license key, the “plnr_” key from your purchase email. Paste it once and the app is unlocked on that computer; it doesn’t ask again. Haven’t bought one? Carry on with the free version instead: the planner runs without a key, and the AI features stay off. (A license key is not an API key; if you bought a License, the API key step comes later, under Turn on the AI. And buy or not, there is no Bento account to create.)
- Then it asks for a name and country. Country matters for the AI: study questions and feedback follow your region’s grammar and conventions. Both can be changed later in Settings.
- It also shows where your data will be saved: a folder on your computer, backed up automatically. Pick a folder inside iCloud Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox if you want a copy off the machine too. Used Bento before? Point it at your old folder and everything comes back. Bento also keeps Bento Notes, a copy of your notes as ordinary text files that open and read fine without Bento.
- Using more than one computer? Your license activates on up to three, Mac or Windows in any mix. Each computer keeps its own data; nothing syncs on its own. To work across two, point both at the same iCloud Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox folder and use one at a time. The folder syncs in between sessions.
The permission pop-up a Mac will show
On Windows there is nothing to press here: reminders arrive as ordinary notifications. (If they don’t, check Settings → System → Notifications and make sure Bento is allowed.) Skip ahead to Turn on the AI.
macOS asks before an app can send you notifications. The pop-up is macOS’s own, and it looks like this:
“Bento” would like to send you notifications.
Notifications may include alerts, sounds and icon badges.
It appears when you set your first reminder. Choose Allow so reminders can fire. To change it later: System Settings → Notifications → Bento.
Bento never asks for more than it needs: a folder for your data and notifications for your reminders. If a pop-up ever asks for something outside that list, email us before clicking anything.
Turn on the AI
- Bought a License? Open Settings (the gear at the bottom of the left rail), find AI access, and paste your API key. The in-app guide (How to use Bento → Set up AI access) walks through it step by step. The key is stored encrypted on your computer, and your notes go straight to your AI provider; nothing passes through us. (This is a different key from your Bento license: the license unlocked the app at first launch; the API key is what powers the AI.)
- On a subscription? Nothing to do: the license you entered at first launch includes the AI. Need to change it later? It lives in Settings → AI access.
- On the free version? Nothing to turn on. The AI features stay off until a license key goes in, and everything else in the app works meanwhile. Prices are on the pricing page.
If something looks off
Bento ships with its own guide, How to use Bento. It covers every feature and it’s searchable. Once you’re in the app, it’s behind the button at the bottom of the left sidebar. Still stuck? Write to [email protected].