The official KiCad libraries are available for download at https://kicad.github.io. Library data are provided as compressed archives of the individual libraries within the following categories:
Schematic symbols: https://kicad.github.io/symbols
PCB footprints: https://kicad.github.io/footprints
3D models: https://kicad.github.io/packages3d
Library data are updated weekly, and track the KiCad GitHub repositories.
At the moment, libraries are included along with KiCad installation. You will only need to download the libraries above if you want to use a newer version than the one offered with your KiCad version. Libraries can also be kept up to date with the latest additions by cloning the library repositories using Git. Tracking the library repositories using Git means that only the changes to the libraries need to be downloaded, rather than retrieving the entire library set each time.
Snapshots of the libraries aligned with the minor KiCad 4 releases can be found here.
KiCad 4.0.x releases come with local symbol and 3d model libraries included. The footprint libraries are special cases in most installation. They are setup to use on demand download from github (via the github plugin). This might not be right for every user. For these users it is advisable to download a library snapshot and add these libs to kicad via the footprint library manager found in the preferences menu of pcb_new and the footprint editor. For the best results it is recommended to ensure KiCad does use all types of libraries from the same snapshot.
KiCad libraries are community contributed and hosted on GitHub at github.com/kicad. If you wish to contribute to the libraries, refer to the contribution guide.
In conjunction with the KiCad v5 software release, the libraries will be reorganised into four separate repositories (on GitHub).
kicad-symbols
- Schematic symbol libraries
kicad-footprints
- PCB footprint libraries
kicad-packages3d
- 3D model data (3D sources in kicad-packages3d-source
)
kicad-templates
- Project templates
The set of libraries corresponding to v4.xx
of KiCad software are organised on GitHub as follows:
Symbols, 3D models and project templates are stored together in the kicad-library repository.
Footprint libraries are stored as individual repositories with the .pretty
extension.