> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Install Latest Firefox on Ubuntu Linux - URL: https://itsfoss.com/firefox-quantum-ubuntu/ - Published: 2017-11-06T00:36:58.000Z - Updated: 2024-01-24T06:08:32.000Z - Description: This step-by-step tutorial shows how to install Firefox on Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution you use. - Author: Abhishek Prakash - Tags: Quick Tip, Tutorial Firefox is the default web browser in many Linux distributions, and Ubuntu is one of them. Firefox comes preinstalled on Ubuntu unless you are using Ubuntu's minimal version. In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to install the latest version of Firefox on Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution. ## Install Firefox from Official Repositories (Recommended) Firefox is available for almost all the Linux distributions out there. It is also preinstalled in most of them. If that’s not the case, you should stick to the official [package manager](https://itsfoss.com/package-manager/) provided by your distribution for installing Firefox. That’s the easiest and best method. It will be updated automatically to newer versions with system updates. Open the software center and search for Firefox. You should see it there and just click on the installation button. ![Install Firefox by clicking on the Install button corresponding to Firefox in Software Center](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/install-firefox-from-SW-center.png) Firefox in Software Center 🚧 In Ubuntu, Firefox is a Snap. So installing it via APT package manager won't work. If you need that version of Firefox, you may follow our separate tutorial on [how to remove snap from Ubuntu](https://itsfoss.com/remove-snap/). If you prefer the command line, open a terminal and use the following command in Debian, and other distributions based on Ubuntu and Debian such as Linux Mint, elementary OS etc. ``` sudo apt install firefox ``` Similarly, Fedora users can use dnf command, Arch users can use pacman and other package managers provided by the distribution. ``` sudo dnf install firefox sudo pacman -Syu firefox ``` Once installed, just look for it in the menu and launch it. ![Open Firefox by searching for its name in Ubuntu Activities overview](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/open-firefox-from-overview.png) Open Firefox from Overview ## Installing Firefox using Snap or Flatpak ![Firefox listed in fedora gnome software center](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/fedora-firefox-flatpak.png) Firefox as a Flatpak via GNOME Software on Fedora Linux Mozilla Firefox maintains both Snap and Flatpak packages. So, you can pick any of them in any Linux distribution. If your software center supports Flatpak/Snap integration, you do not need to use the commands. If it does not, follow the commands for quick installation. To install the Snap package, make sure that you have [snap installed](https://itsfoss.com/install-snap-linux/). Once done, enter the following command in the terminal (or search for it in your software center): ``` sudo snap install firefox ``` Similarly, you will have to [install and configure Flatpak](https://itsfoss.com/flatpak-guide/) first. Once done, enter the following command to get it installed (or search for it in your software center): ``` flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.firefox ``` **Suggested Read 📖** [Flatpak vs. Snap: 10 Differences You Should KnowFlatpak vs Snap, know the differences and gain insights as a Linux user to pick the best.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSAnkush Das![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/01/snap-vs-flatpak.png)](https://itsfoss.com/flatpak-vs-snap) ## Installing Firefox from the Official Website Another method that would work in any Linux distribution is to download the binary from the Firefox website and then use it for running Firefox. It will take more time, but if it is something you prefer, you can follow the steps below: 1. **Remove Existing Firefox** Before installing another Firefox, it is good to make sure that you don't have any Firefox already installed. So, on Debian and other similar systems, use: ``` sudo apt purge firefox ``` [How to Clear the Firefox Cache \[With Screenshots\]Learn to clear the Firefox cache with this simple screenshot guide. You’ll also learn about dedicated extensions and automatic cache clear.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSSreenath![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/clear-browser-cache-in-firefox.png)](https://itsfoss.com/firefox-clear-cache/) Similarly, if you have Firefox Flatpak, it can be removed by using: ``` flatpak uninstall org.mozilla.firefox ``` On Ubuntu snap, first remove the snap version. Also remove any Firefox transitional packages. ``` sudo snap remove firefox sudo apt purge firefox ``` 1. **Download and Extract Firefox** Once the existing Firefox is removed, you can now download the Firefox files from the official website. [Download Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/?ref=itsfoss.com) This will download the Firefox [Tar file](https://linuxhandbook.com/basic-tar-commands/?ref=itsfoss.com). To extract, open a terminal and use the following command on the directory where you downloaded it: ``` tar xjf firefox-* ``` 1. **Setup Firefox** It’s a standard practice to use the /opt directory for keeping application files. So, just to make sure that you don’t have a Firefox directory already in there, run the command below: ``` sudo rm -r /opt/firefox ``` Now, copy the extracted directory to /opt. For this, open a terminal on the location where you have the extracted Firefox directory and run: ``` sudo mv firefox /opt ``` To make it work, you need to [create a symbolic link](https://linuxhandbook.com/symbolic-link-linux/?ref=itsfoss.com) to the Firefox in /usr/local/bin. ``` ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/firefox ``` 1. **Create a Desktop File to Get an Icon on the System Menu** To access Firefox from your system menu, you need a desktop file. You can use the official format from Firefox. 🚧 You should have a directory called 'applications' in /usr/local/share/. If it's not there, first create one using sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/applications. Open a terminal and run: ``` wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla/sumo-kb/main/install-firefox-linux/firefox.desktop -P /usr/local/share/applications ``` Alternatively, you can download the desktop file by clicking on the button below. On the page, right click and select the “Save Page As” option. Save it as `firefox.desktop`. [Firefox Desktop File](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla/sumo-kb/main/install-firefox-linux/firefox.desktop?ref=itsfoss.com) ![Right-click on the page and select "Save Page As" option to save the Firefox Desktop File](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/click-on-save-page-as.png) Save the Page Paste this `firefox.desktop` file to `/usr/local/share/applications/`. That's it. You can now launch Firefox from the system menu. **Suggested Read 📖** [How to Install Firefox ESR in UbuntuWant a more stable and streamlined experience with Firefox? Use Firefox-ESR, which is trusted by Debian stable.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSSagar Sharma![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/11/firefox-esr-ubuntu.png)](https://itsfoss.com/firefox-esr-ubuntu/) ### Updating Firefox If you have a new version, Firefox will notify you about the same on the About page. For this, click on the menu button on the top right and then go to Help ⇾ About Firefox. ![From the top-right hamburger menu, go to Help and then About Firefox](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/Go-to-about-firefox.png) Go to About Firefox Click on the “Restart to update Firefox” button to update Firefox. ![In the About Firefox window, click on "Restart to Update Firefox" button to update Firefox](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/restart-to-upgrade-firefox.png) Restart to Update Firefox This will show a progress dialog box. ![A small progress window will appear, notifying you about the progress of the Firefox update](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/firefox-upgrading-progress.png) Firefox Update Progress Once completed, it will launch the updated Firefox for you. ![When Firefox is restarted, it will greet you with a message, stating that the app has been updated](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/firefox-updated-message.png) Firefox Updated You can check the About page for more. ![On the About Firefox page, it will display a "Firefox is up to date" message, if you are running the latest version](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/11/firefox-is-up-to-date.png) Firefox is Up-to-date ### Uninstall Firefox Uninstalling Firefox installed through the website is pretty straightforward. Just retrace the path you have used. First remove the Desktop file and the symlink from their respective location. ``` sudo rm /usr/local/bin/firefox sudo rm /usr/local/share/applications/firefox.desktop ``` Now, remove the Firefox directory from /opt. ``` sudo rm -r /opt/firefox ``` You have uninstalled Firefox. ## Bonus: Install Firefox Nightly Version If you want to experience the latest features before its final release, you can install the nightly version by downloading the respective binaries from the official website. 🚧 Nightly builds are supposed to be unstable and for testing purposes only. [Download Firefox Nightly](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/desktop/?ref=itsfoss.com) You can follow the same method detailed in the previous section to install it. For Debian and its derived distributions like Linux Mint, Pop!OS etc., Mozilla provides a PPA to install Firefox Nightly version. The major advantage is that, you will get a better performance, automatic updates and also a preconfigured desktop integration. First, you need to create a directory to store APT repository keys if it doesn't exist, and then import the Mozilla APT repository signing key. ``` sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings wget -q https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg -O- | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc > /dev/null ``` Now, import the GPG key and add the Mozilla APT repository to your sources list. ``` gpg -n -q --import --import-options import-show /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc | awk '/pub/{getline; gsub(/^ +| +$/,""); print "\n"$0"\n"}' echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc] https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list > /dev/null ``` Once done, you can now update your package list and install the Firefox Nightly. ``` sudo apt update sudo apt install firefox-nightly ``` **Suggested Read 📖** [9 Open Source Add-Ons to Improve Your Firefox ExperienceHere are the best open-source add-ons for the Firefox web browser that will help you improve your browsing experience.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSAnkush Das![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/01/firefox-extensions.png)](https://itsfoss.com/best-firefox-add-ons/) ## Wrapping Up Firefox is available in various formats to install in Linux. In most cases, Firefox should come baked in with the distribution of your choice. If it is not there, you can search for it in the software manager or get the Snap/Flatpak builds. If you are an Ubuntu user, sticking with the default Snap version, using the pre-built binary from Firefox or Firefox Flatpak is recommended. You can also follow our dedicated guide on removing Firefox Snap if you want to get rid of it and want to install it differently: [Uninstall Snap Packages from Ubuntu and Other Linux DistrosHere’s how you can remove Snap packages from your system. Also learn about uninstalling snap altogether.![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png)It's FOSSAbhishek Prakash![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2022/11/remove-snap-applications-in-linux.png)](https://itsfoss.com/remove-snap/) *💬* *What is your preferred way of installing Firefox on Linux? Share your experiences in the comments below!*