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While you’re writing and testing your programs, you’ll mostly be running them in the simulator, but once you’ve finished your program you can compile it and run it on your micro:bit.

The basic steps are:

1. Connect your micro:bit to your computer via USB
2. Click Download and download the .hex file
3. Copy the .hex file from your computer onto the micro:bit drive

Requirements

You need the following things to transfer and run a script on your micro:bit:

• A-Male to Micro USB cable to connect your computer to your micro:bit. This is the same cable that is commonly used to connect a smart phone to a computer.
• A Mac running OS X 10.9 or later.

Step 1: Connect your micro:bit to your computer

First, connect the micro:bit:

1. Connect the small end of the USB cable to the micro USB port on your micro:bit.

2. Connect the other end of the USB cable to a USB port on your computer.

Your computer should recognise your micro:bit as a new drive. On computers running Windows, MICROBIT appears as a drive under Devices and drives. On a Mac it appears as a new drive under Devices.

Step 2: Download your program

1. Open your project on https://makecode.microbit.org/
2. Click Download
3. When prompted, choose to save the compiled file onto your computer. The prompt will be different depending on which browser you are using, or whether you are using a Windows computer or a Mac

When you select Download in Safari a file called Unknown will be downloaded into your Downloads folder. Open your Downloads folder and drag and drop the file onto your MICROBIT drive, under Devices:

Step 3: Transfer the file to your micro:bit

• Once you’ve found the folder containing your .hex file, drag and drop it onto your MICROBIT drive
• The LED on the back of your micro:bit flashes during the transfer (which should only take a few seconds).
• Once transferred, the code will run automatically on your micro:bit. To rerun your program, press the reset button on the back of your micro:bit. The reset button automatically runs the newest file on the micro:bit.

By copying the script onto the MICROBIT drive, you have programmed it into the flash memory on the micro:bit, which means even after you unplug the micro:bit, your program will still run if the micro:bit is powered by battery.