Working With Hardware Tools in MPLAB® Xpress
The new MPLAB® Xpress supported hardware tools currently are:
- MPLAB Snap in-circuit debugger/programmer
- MPLAB PICkit™ 4 in-circuit debugger/programmer
- MPLAB PICkit 5 in-circuit debugger/programmer
- Curiosity and Curiosity Nano boards
Preparing to Use the USB Bridge Tool
To prepare to program your code using a hardware tool:
Starting the USB Bridge Tool
MPLAB Xpress needs a program called USB Bridge to connect to your local USB port. This allows MPLAB Xpress to send a compiled HEX file to a supported hardware tool.
Open the Manage USB Bridge Window
Click on the here link.
Select the USB Bridge Installer
Follow the instructions on the Manage USB Bridge window to download a ZIP file containing the USB Bridge installer.
The Safari® browser requires a secure WebSocket connection, which can be downloaded by clicking the Here link on the dialog.
Run the USB Bridge Installer
Unzip/extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP file. Then find and run the following file(s):
Linux®
run.sh *
Windows®
run.bat
macOS®
If using the Safari browser, import (double click) the certificate file xpress-bridge.cert (in figure), found in xpress-bridge-app-v3.60-macos-safari.zip, to keychain access. Then run.sh *.
If NOT using the Safari browser, run.sh *.
* We recommended running it with administrative privileges.
The running USB Bridge Tool application will appear as shown:
Connecting to the USB Bridge Tool
To connect to the USB Bridge Tool, click on the Connect to USB Bridge 
icon.
You can see that the tool is connected to the USB Bridge Tool application.
Open the Project Properties dialog again to see that the specific debug tool is available.
Programming and Running Your Application
icon. Other Resources
For tips on connecting and debugging, click on the Hardware Debug Tips 
icon on the toolbar.