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HexChat setup guide: from install to identified in ten minutes

Updated June 4, 2026

HexChat is still the recommendation for anyone who wants a graphical IRC client that just works: tabbed interface, network list with the major networks preloaded, TLS and SASL support. Ten minutes from install to identified.

1. Install

Windows: the installer from the project site or the Microsoft Store build. Linux: every distribution packages it (apt/dnf install hexchat); a Flatpak exists and is often the freshest build. One honest note: HexChat's upstream development has slowed and its maintainers have discussed retirement, so prefer your distribution's maintained package — and know that the config below transfers to other clients when the day comes.

2. First run: the network list

On launch you get the network list (later: Ctrl+S).

  1. Set nick name plus two fallbacks, and a user name.
  2. Select Libera.Chat (or your network) and click Edit…
  3. Check Use SSL for all the servers on this network and Connect to this network automatically.
  4. Under Login method, choose SASL (username + password) and enter your registered account and password.
  5. In Autojoin channels, add the channels you live in.

Connect. The server tab shows the connection; channels open as tabs.

3. Settings worth changing

Under Settings → Preferences:

  • Logging (Chatting → Logging): enable timestamped logs — HexChat has no bouncer magic, so logs are your history.
  • Alerts: set highlight words (your name's spellings) and decide which events beep, flash or notify. Untick sounds for every message in busy channels, for your own sanity.
  • Strip colors (Chatting → General) if rainbow text annoys you.
  • Text events: hide join/part/quit noise per channel via right-click on the tab → Settings — the single biggest readability upgrade in large channels.

4. Daily-driver notes

  • Tab completes nicks; Alt+1..9 jumps between tabs.
  • /query nick opens private messages; the usual commands all work.
  • Scripts and plugins (Python/Perl) live in the addons directory — URL grabbers and notification tweaks are popular; the plugin interface is the reason many users have stayed for a decade.

If you outgrow it

The natural next steps are WeeChat for terminal power or Halloy for a modern GUI — but plenty of people have run HexChat happily for fifteen years, and nothing about that needs fixing.