How to install Chrome on Ubuntu

Google Chrome is one of the most used browsers in the world. On the other hand, the solution proposed by the Mountain View company implements several noteworthy features and ensures good browsing speed. For this reason, many users decide to install it, even on Linux.

Of course, this "clashes" a little with the philosophy embraced by the "purists" of open source (a question that I will analyze better later, when I will also tell you about some alternatives to Chrome) but there is no doubt that having the famous Google's browser on Linux distros, such as Ubuntu, may have its advantages. How do you say? Do you agree and, indeed, would you like to have a hand to understand how to install Chrome on Ubuntu ? I'll settle you immediately.

In this guide you will find everything you are looking for. I can assure you that the procedure to follow, even if you decide to go through the Terminal, is much simpler than you might think, so much so that it only takes a few minutes to complete everything. What do you say then? Are you ready to go to work? Yup? Very well! Below are all the indications of the case. That said, there is nothing left for me to do, except wish you good reading and good download!

Preliminary information

Before going into the details of the procedure on how to install Chrome on Ubuntu , I think it might interest you to learn more about this possibility and its implications from the point of view of the open source "philosophy".

Let's start by saying that Ubuntu generally includes Firefox as its default browser . The latter fits perfectly with Canonical's open source operating system philosophy and guarantees many interesting functions combined with a wide range of extensions .

Of course, in reality over the years there have been various "discussions" regarding some restrictions related to the name and logo of Firefox, implemented by Mozilla (the community that develops the browser), but in 2016 it was decided to make the program logo license free, so the "problem" is essentially gone. However, this has not prevented the birth of numerous forks and certainly interesting alternative projects, such as Iceweasel and GNU IceCat .

But now let's move on to the one that interests you more closely: Chrome . The latter is a browser developed by Google and is not open source. To be open source is Chromium , the project on which Chrome (as well as many other browsers) is based. In practical terms, the Chromium browser is very similar to Google's solution, but it loses some features related to the Mountain View company (data synchronization and more). There are also no automatic updates and there is no support for certain standards.

In short, those who use Linux distributions generally tend to favor open source projects, so there are many who prefer Chromium to Chrome (also for privacy issues), but no one forbids using the Google browser which, indeed, is very easy to to install. If you want to find out how - and it seems obvious to me, since you're reading this tutorial - let me tell you how to achieve this.

Allow me just one more small point before we begin. There are several versions of Chrome available for Linux: the stable one , which I will focus on in this tutorial and is recommended for most users; the beta , which allows you to try out some of the features coming in the stable version; and finally that potentially very unstable Dev and with some experimental functions that it is not known if they will then be ported to the stable version of the program (indicated for developers who must prepare for any browser news).

How to install Chrome on Ubuntu

After having illustrated the general situation, I would say that it is time to take action and explain how to install Google Chrome on Ubuntu, both from the graphical interface and from the Terminal.

How to install Chrome on Ubuntu from GUI

If you are a novice user, who is perhaps only now discovering the world of Linux distributions, you may not have much intention, at least initially, to go through the Terminal.

In any case, you don't have to worry: although the Terminal remains a tool that can prove to be particularly useful, the era in which you had to go “by force” from it is over. It is therefore possible to install Chrome from the graphical interface (GUI) but, being a "closed" software, it is not possible to obtain it from the Ubuntu Software Center , or the digital store pre-installed in the famous distro.

If you try to search for "chrome" within the latter, the system recommends installing the Chromium open source browser . I've already explained what it is in the preliminary chapter , so if you're interested you might want to give it a try.

I also provide you with important information: if you are wondering how to install Chrome on 32-bit Ubuntu , unfortunately you must know that it is not possible to do this, as the browser is no longer distributed in that version . Put simply, you need to use 64-bit Ubuntu (alternatively, on 32-bit systems you might think about trying to install the aforementioned Chromium).

For the rest, to proceed, just connect to the official Google Chrome website , click on the Download Chrome button , check the 64 bit .deb box and press the Accept and install button .

If you are using the default Firefox browser, you will be asked if you want to open the file with Install Software or if you want to save it . I recommend that you check the Save file option and press the OK button .

Once the download is finished, open the google-chrome- [version] .deb file obtained, which you can usually find in the Downloaded folder , accessible from the folder icon on the left.

After that, the Ubuntu Software Center will appear on the screen. All you have to do is press the Install button , type in the administration password if necessary and that's it.

You can then open Google Chrome using the appropriate icon. You can find the latter by clicking on the Menu icon , present at the bottom left, and searching for "chrome" in the search bar .

On first launch you will be asked if you want to set Google Chrome as your default browser and automatically send usage statistics and crash reports to Google . Make your choices, press the OK button and you just have to enjoy the browser!

For completeness of information, you can find the Beta version of Chrome at this link and the Dev version at this other link . The installation procedures are similar to those seen above for the stable version of the browser.

How to install Chrome on Ubuntu from Terminal

How do you say? Are n't you going to go through the graphical interface and would like to install Google Chrome on Ubuntu from Terminal ? No problem, I'll tell you how to do it right away. I can assure you that even in this case the procedure is not that complex.

In fact, just press the Menu icon , located at the bottom left, search for the "terminal" using the appropriate search bar and open it. After that, type the command sudo suand hit Enter . Then type in the administration password and press Enter again .

Perfect, in this way you have obtained the necessary privileges to proceed with the installation of the program on your computer. To proceed, type the command wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deband press Enter . By doing so, you will find the specific deb file relating to Google Chrome directly from the Terminal.

To install it, you just have to use the command dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deband give Enter . Perfect, that's it: the system will proceed to install the Google browser on your computer.

For the Beta and Dev versions, the and commands must be used wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-beta_current_amd64.deb( wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-unstable_current_amd64.debchanging the extraction command accordingly).

Once finished, you can safely close the Terminal window, press the Menu icon , located at the bottom left, search for "chrome" and click on the browser icon .

Perfect, now you have achieved your goal: you can start using Chrome on Ubuntu!