Installation

Prefer a video guide instead? Watch how to install our tools on YouTube.

1. Install QGIS 3.44

If you plan to use QSWAT+ to set up your watershed, please install QGIS 3 before installing SWAT+. It can be downloaded from the QGIS download page, where you should select the Long term release repository, and the 64 bit standalone installer. Use the default folder C:\Program Files\QGIS 3.44.n as the installation folder. See the QSWAT+ manual for further instructions.

• MacOS and Linux only: users will need to install openmpi separately.

  • MacOS: run brew install openmpi from a terminal.

  • Linux Ubuntu: run sudo apt-get install openmpi-bin from a terminal. Package name may vary with distribution.

2. SWAT+ 4.0 Installer

This release includes SWAT+ rev. 62, QSWAT+ 4.0, SWAT+ Editor 4.0, and SWAT+ Toolbox 4.0. To install the SWAT+ model and interface components, please use an installer linked below for your operating system. Administrator privileges are not required for personal installations (but Mac requires use of sudo).

Existing SWAT+ users should be sure to read the release notes thoroughly to see how the software updates affect your projects.

Windows 64-bit

Download SWAT+ 4.0.2 for Windows

Released 6 July 2026

Using ArcGIS Pro? ArcSWAT+ is available for Windows. Download it here.

Linux and MacOS

Click the tabs to install each component with the commands below.

QSWAT+

Installs the QSWAT+ QGIS plugin into your QGIS profiles, plus the SWAT+ support data and a self-contained TauDEM. Re-run any time to update.

curl -fsSL https://install.swatplus.link/qsp.sh | bash

SWAT+ Editor

Installs to ~/.local/share/SWATPlus/SWATPlusEditor and self-updates. Re-run any time to update.

curl -fsSL https://install.swatplus.link/spe.sh | bash

SWAT+ Toolbox

Installs to ~/.local/share/SWATPlus/SWATPlusToolbox and self-updates. Re-run any time to update.

curl -fsSL https://install.swatplus.link/spt.sh | bash

Trouble loading the software after installation? Read through our troubleshooting guide.

Troubleshooting

Individual Component Installation

If you need to install QSWAT+ or SWAT+ Editor individually, grab the latest release of their respective installers from their source code repository downloads page.

• QSWAT+ Installers

• SWAT+ Editor Installers

• SWAT+ Toolbox Installers

SWAT+ Model (Command Line Executable)

The model itself is packaged with SWAT+ Editor and we recommend using the editor to modify your inputs and run the model. However, if you would like to download just the command line executable file, it is available below.

• Windows 64-bit ifort compiler

• Linux 64-bit ifx compiler

• Linux ARM64 gfortran compiler

• Mac OS ARM64 gfortran compiler

SWAT+ SQLite Datasets

On Windows we recommend using the SWAT+ Tools installer above for installing the SWAT+ datasets databases to their proper locations. However, for Linux and MacOS, or if you need to access these components individually, they are linked below:

• SWAT+ datasets

• SWAT+ global weather generator data

• SWAT+ US SSURGO/STATSGO soil data

These files should be placed in SWATPlus/Databases

Previous Versions

Previous releases may be accessed from plus.swat.tamu.edu.