ePOE is two programs in one window frame. There is the desktop app you are reading this in, and the in-game overlay that draws over Path of Exile 2. They share one config, one login and one league selection, so anything you change in one shows up in the other immediately.
Step 1 — start the game, then check the attach toast
Launch Path of Exile 2 in Windowed or Borderless Windowed. Exclusive Fullscreen hides everything drawn on top of the game, including ePOE.
When ePOE finds the game window it attaches and shows a short "overlay attached" toast in the corner. If the toast never appears:
- Confirm the game is not in Exclusive Fullscreen.
- Check Settings → General for the window title ePOE is looking for (
Path of Exile 2). A non-English client or a launcher wrapper can change it. - Multiple monitors: the same Settings → General section picks which screen the standalone windows open on.
Once attached you should see the feature bar — a slim strip of icons pinned over the game's XP bar. Drag it anywhere; ePOE remembers where you put it.
Step 2 — sign in, and decide about your PoE session
ePOE blocks at launch until you sign in — with your browser, email and password, or Discord. The signing in guide covers each option; signing in syncs your price log, watchlist, saved builds, regex profiles and support tickets between the app and epoe.io. That is all it does; it is not required for price checking to work once you are in.
Connecting your Path of Exile session is separate and worth understanding:
- ePOE opens GGG's own login page and keeps the resulting session on your machine, encrypted with Windows' credential store. The value is never sent to the renderer and never appears in logs.
- With it connected, trade searches run from your IP on your rate-limit bucket, so you are not queued behind every other ePOE user. You also get your character list and your own shop.
- Uploading that session to epoe.io so the website can keep your shop synced is a separate, off-by-default opt-in under Settings → Connections.
Step 3 — price check something
Hover an item in your inventory or stash and press Ctrl+Alt+D. ePOE copies the item, parses it, and runs a live search against the official trade site.
That one hotkey is 80% of what people install ePOE for. The price check guide covers the panel in detail, including Deduce, which is what you reach for when an item has too many mods to search for all of them at once.
Turn on Advanced Mod Descriptions in the game's UI options before you go further. It makes PoE2 include affix tiers in the copied item text, which is what lets ePOE show you tier labels, weighted totals and the crafting assistant's roll quality.
Step 4 — learn a handful more hotkeys
| Hotkey | What it opens |
|---|---|
Ctrl+Alt+D | Price check the hovered item |
Ctrl+Alt+C | Crafting Assistant for the hovered item |
Ctrl+Alt+S | Search the hovered item's base in your open stash |
Ctrl+Alt+K / Ctrl+Alt+J | Track / forget a stash slot's price badge |
Ctrl+Alt+E | This desktop app, from anywhere |
Ctrl+Alt+Q | Hide / show the overlay card |
Everything else (Item Database, Leveling tracker, Stopwatch, Notepad, Recent Price Checks, Characters, the regex quick slots) ships unbound: open it from the Selection Wheel or the feature bar, or give it a key in Overlays → Hotkeys.
Every hotkey is rebindable in Overlays → Hotkeys, and around twenty more tools ship unbound so they never collide with your own keybinds. Pick the ones you actually use and give them keys. If you play with a controller, Overlays → Controller covers the equivalent chord bindings — see the controller support guide.
There is also a Panic Hide binding (unbound by default) that hides every ePOE window instantly. Bind it if you stream or share your screen. Related: Settings → Privacy → Streamer mode excludes every ePOE window from screen capture while leaving it visible on your own monitor.
Step 5 — put the tools you use where you can reach them
Three places, deliberately:
- Feature bar (in game) — pick which buttons appear under Overlays → Overlays → Feature Bar. See the selection wheel and favourites guide for the wheel alternative.
- Dashboard home — pin any tool as a favourite with its star. The Artwork / Compact / List switch at the top of the tile groups is per-taste and remembered.
- Tool windows — any dashboard page can open as its own frameless window over the game. That is what the feature-bar buttons do, and it is why the "Open in game" button in this library exists.
What ePOE does not do
Worth saying plainly, because it is the part people ask about:
- It reads the clipboard and Client.txt. It does not read game memory, inject code, or automate play.
- Keystrokes it sends are the ones you just pressed a button for: opening chat to send one whisper or chat command, or
Ctrl+F/Ctrl+A/Ctrl+Vto paste a regex. It never presses Enter in a search box, and pastes are capped at 250 characters — the game's own limit. - Screen reading (OCR) is bounded to six small regions and only runs for the features that need it.
Where to go next
- How trading and whispers actually work if you are new to PoE2 trade.
- Currency basics if you are unsure what to keep and what to spend.
- How to read an item if affix tiers are still a mystery.
- Settings and notifications for a tour of the Settings page.
- ePOE tips for the things regulars figure out in week three.