OnSong for Windows: why there isn't one (and what to use)

If you searched for "OnSong for Windows", here is the short answer: there isn't one. OnSong runs on iPad, iPhone and Mac. Its pricing page (checked October 2026) lists Android and Kindle as "coming soon" and does not mention Windows at all. There is no Microsoft Store listing and no installer, so a "free download" of OnSong for PC did not come from OnSong.

What OnSong does have for a PC is OnSong Console, and it helps to know what that is before you decide anything.

What OnSong Console does on a Windows PC

OnSong Console is a website that your iPad or iPhone serves itself. You switch it on in the OnSong app, it shows a web address, and you type that address into a browser on your PC. OnSong's manual describes the address as a local IP address or a .local name, so the PC and the iPad need to reach each other, and the iPad has to be there with OnSong running.

In the browser you can import, create and edit songs, and manage your books and sets. Every change is saved back to the library on the iPad. The manual describes it as a way to manage your library from a computer. It does not describe playing a set from it.

Console is part of OnSong Premium, $59.99 a year or $5.99 a month (checked October 2026). The cheaper Essentials plan, $29.99 a year, does not include it.

So Console answers one question: "can I type up my OnSong songs on a real keyboard?" It does not answer the other one: "can I play my songs from a Windows laptop or tablet?"

First question: do you want to keep OnSong?

This decides what to do next, so answer it before you install anything.

If your band runs on OnSong and you only want the PC for editing, Console is the honest answer, and it comes from OnSong itself. You keep the iPad as the stage device, you type on the PC, and nothing has to move.

If you want the PC to be a place your songs actually live, a laptop on the music stand, a Windows tablet, or a library that does not depend on one iPad, then you need a different app that runs on Windows. There are two I would look at. I will be upfront that I build the second one.

SongbookPro: a Windows app you install

SongbookPro has a Windows app in the Microsoft Store, sold separately from its iOS and Android versions. Its manual lists OnSong exports, including the .backup file, among the formats it imports, and on Windows you can drag files straight into the app. If you want a classic installed program on the PC, that is the one to try first.

One thing to know before you set it up on a second device: SongbookPro syncs through a cloud account you connect yourself (OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV). I wrote up how SongbookPro sync works, because it trips people up.

Fretlist: chord charts in the browser, installed like an app

Fretlist is a chord chart app that runs in the browser, which is why it runs on Windows at all. In Chrome or Edge you install it from the address bar, and it opens in its own window that you can pin to the taskbar or the Start menu. The steps are the same on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Once your songs have synced, it works without a connection.

The same account opens on an iPad, an Android tablet, an iPhone or a Mac, with the same songs. So the setup Console gives you (type on the PC, play from the iPad) works here too, without the iPad having to be in the room while you type.

What it does with your songs:

• Transpose and capo. Change the key or set a capo and every chord in the chart follows. The setting is saved per song and synced, so the tablet shows what you set on the laptop.
• Setlists. Songs in sets, in the order you play them.
• Play Mode. A full-screen stage view with auto-scroll, a metronome, section navigation and a wake lock so the screen stays on. On a laptop the keyboard drives it: Space starts and stops the scroll, and the left and right arrows go to the previous or next song.
• Bluetooth page turners. Most pedals send PageUp and PageDown, and Play Mode picks those up without any setup.
• OnSong backups. Fretlist reads the OnSong .backup file directly: songs, setlists, keys, capo and tempo come across in one import.

And what it does not do: no MIDI, no DMX lighting cues, no lyrics projection, no backing tracks. If those are part of your show, OnSong does them and Fretlist does not.

Try it on one of your own songs: open Fretlist in Chrome or Edge, paste a chord chart, set its capo, and press Play. Free during Early Access.

Moving your OnSong library to a Windows PC

The backup is made on the iPad, so start there:

1. In OnSong, open the Utilities menu, then Backup, and save the .backup file.
2. Get the file onto your PC: email it to yourself, or save it to Google Drive or another cloud folder you can open on Windows.
3. On the PC, open fretlist.com in Chrome or Edge, sign in, and drop the file onto the import box on the dashboard.
4. Fretlist shows how many songs and setlists it found. Click Import.

The full walk-through, with what gets imported and how to clean up duplicates afterwards, is in How to migrate from OnSong to Fretlist. The steps for installing on every device are in How to install the Fretlist app.

When OnSong is still the right call

If any of these describe your setup, keep OnSong on the iPad and use Console for the typing:

• You run MIDI or DMX cues from the same app that shows your chords
• You project lyrics to a screen for the audience or the congregation
• Your whole band is on iPads and shares an OnSong library
• You hand-write on your charts with an Apple Pencil

For everyone else who simply wants their chord charts on the Windows laptop they already own, there is no need to wait for an OnSong for Windows. The page about Fretlist on Windows lists which of the well-known chord chart apps run on Windows at all, and the full comparison with OnSong has the prices side by side.

Bring your OnSong library over: open Fretlist on your PC, drop in your .backup file, and open a setlist in Play Mode.

Related reading:

• OnSong for Android: why it doesn't exist (and what to use instead)
• Fretlist vs OnSong: the full comparison
• Fretlist on Windows