Install a local PrestaShop store on your computer

1. Introduction:

Whether it's to discover PrestaShop without having to subscribe to a hosting, to train yourself, or to do tests for your online store, it is interesting to know how to install a PrestaShop store locally on your computer. This article will guide you through this process.

2. Prerequisites:

2.1 Skills:

You do not need development skills to install a local PrestaShop store. This article will guide you step by step and is accessible even if you do not have technical skills.

2.2 Technical environment:

To install a local PrestaShop store, you will just need:

• A computer with a macOS or Windows operating system
• An internet connection
• A web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Brave, Safari, Arc...)
• At least 3GB of free space on your storage space

3. Steps:

To install a local store, you will need to perform the following steps:

• Install a local server application
• Download the PrestaShop installation zip
• Paste the 3 files contained in this zip into a folder on your local server
• Start the servers and launch the installation of the store from your web browser
• Create a database from the web management application for database management systems (included with your local server application) and link it to your store
• Rename or delete the install folder of the folder containing your store's files

Here is the detail of these steps:

3.1 Install a local server application:

We advise you to install the free MAMP suite. You can download it here:

https://www.mamp.info/en/downloads/

Choose the version that corresponds to your operating system.

You can uncheck the MAMP PRO box when prompted. You will not need it:

Then click Next on each page (unless you want to customize the installation options of course).

Once the installation process is complete, you can find the MAMP folder in the following locations (if you have not manually changed the installation location):

• On macOS: /Applications/MAMP
• On Windows: /MAMP/

NB: Before the first '/', it is the root of your storage space, so commonly 'Macintosh HD' for macOS and 'C:' for Windows.

3.2 Install the PrestaShop installation zip:

You can retrieve the PrestaShop installation zips on our website: https://prestashop.fr/versions/

Preferably choose a recent version.

3.3 Paste the 3 files contained in this zip into a folder on your local server:

Start by extracting the contents of the downloaded zip. You will thus recover 3 files in a folder:

Copy these 3 files, then go to the 'htdocs' folder of your MAMP folder (see 3.1).

Create a folder there, and call it as you wish (without space and without accent).

For my part, I called my LocalInstallation folder, and I pasted the three files there:

3.4 Start the servers and start the installation of the store from your web browser:

Open the MAMP application, you arrive at this interface:

• Windows :

• macOS :
  
  

  

   

   

  Then click on 'Start servers' on Windows, 'Start' on macOS.

  Now open your browser, and go to the following address:

  • On macOS: localhost:8888/yourFolderName/
  • On Windows: localhost/yourFolderName/

  In this case, for the example of this article: localhost:8888/localinstallation/

  The installation of PrestaShop then begins:

   

  

  You will then find yourself on the installation wizard:
  
  

  

  Enter the information specific to your store, and your credentials.
  NB: the email and password entered here will serve as your back-office credentials (your store's administration space).
  NB2: Do not enable SSL, this requires other tools.

  You arrive on the database configuration page.

   

  
  3.5. Create a database from the web management application for database management systems (included with your local server application) and link it to your store:

  

  Go back to the MAMP application interface, and click on 'Webstart' or 'Open WebStart Page'.

  On the page that just opened in your browser, click on Tools then PHPMyAdmin:

  

  
  This page then opens:
  
  

  

   

  
  Click on 'New' to create a new database, and give it a name (of your choice, always without space and without accent):

  

  Click on Create, your database is created.
  
  

  Go back to the installation wizard, and enter the following information:

  • Database server address:
    • On macOS: 127.0.0.1:8889
    • On Windows: localhost
  • Database name: The name you gave to your base, here: localinstallation
  • Database login: root
  • Database password: root (NB: if this does not work, leave the field empty)
    
    

  Click on 'Test your database connection now'.
  
  

  You should have the following message:

  

  
  You can then click on 'Next' to finish the installation.
  
  

  3.6. Rename or delete the install folder from the folder containing your store's files:

  You will arrive on the next page:

   

  

   

  You must delete or rename the 'install' folder, as indicated.
  So go to the location /MAMP/htdocs/nomDeVotreDossier (here/MAMP/htdocs/LocalInstallation) (cf 3.3).

   

  
  Locate the 'install' folder and rename or delete it.

   

  

  
  For my part, I rename the 'installOK' folder:
  
  

  

  
  You can then log in to the front office (client-side interface of your site):
  
  

  

  
  As well as in the back office:
  
  

  

  As a reminder, you can log in to the back office using the credentials defined during step 3.4.
  
  

  4. Conclusion :

  You now have a functional store installed on your computer. Please ensure that the MAMP servers are properly enabled every time you wish to access this store. You can install as many stores as you want via your local server, each store will thus correspond to a folder of the location /MAMP/htdocs/
  
  

  5. For developers only:

  You can open the folder containing the store files in your code editor in order to study the structure and make specific developments: