How to Easily Install Tor Browser in Ubuntu and Other Linux

This tutorial shows you how to install Tor browser in Ubuntu Linux. You’ll also learn a few tips around effectively using the Tor Browser.

Privacy is one of the most discussed topic these days. From the NSA spying on citizens and governments alike to the Facebook data scandals. Privacy-concerned people are trying to find ways to protect their privacy.

For those concerned about agencies spying on their network, the Tor Project provides some of the best solutions to protect their privacy. The Tor Protocol is one of the most popular tools created by the Tor Project.

Tor Project has its own Tor browser which is based on Firefox and configured to protect users’ privacy and anonymity by using Tor and Vidalia tools that come bundled with it.

Let’s see how can you install and use Tor browser.

Installing Tor browser in Ubuntu and other Debian based distributions

The Tor browser launcher has made things a lot simpler to install the Tor browser in Linux. It does everything for you automatically, you just have to install it and run it. So, you should prefer using it to get started.

No matter what Linux distribution you have, the recommended method of installing the latest Tor Browser launcher is using Flatpak.

If you have a software store that supports Flatpak (like Pop!_Shop on Pop!_OS), you can easily search for “Tor Browser launcher” and get it installed.

In case you prefer the terminal, you should first set up Flatpak if you haven’t and then type in the following commands:

flatpak install flathub com.github.micahflee.torbrowser-launcher

To run the launcher, type in:

flatpak run com.github.micahflee.torbrowser-launcher

When you run the launcher, it will download the tor browser as shown in the screenshot below. All you have to do is follow the on-screen instructions to continue connecting to Tor and launching the browser.

sudo add-apt-repository universe && sudo apt update

sudo apt install torbrowser-launcher

torbrowser-launcher

If you didn’t run the launcher yet, you should have the following two entries in your application menu — Tor Browser and Tor Browser Launcher Settings. Click the Tor Browser Launcher Icon to start the launcher.

Troubleshoot: It’s possible that you’ll see a “SIGNATURE VERIFICATION FAILED” error if you’ve installed it using APT (version 0.3.2). Click on the next section to expand and fix for this problem.

Fixing SIGNATURE VERIFICATION FAILED error (Click to expand)

When the download finally finishes, you may see this “SIGNATURE VERIFICATION FAILED”. The error code is GENERIC_VERIFY_FAIL.

To fix this, you need to refresh the outdated GPG key bundled in the Tor launcher with a new one from Ubuntu’s keyserver.

You can simply click “Start” to try again and that should fix it. If that still hasn’t fixed the issue, you may use the command below to do that:

gpg --homedir "$HOME/.local/share/torbrowser/gnupg_homedir" --refresh-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com

Normally, it should show that the key has been refreshed:

gpg --homedir "$HOME/.local/share/torbrowser/gnupg_homedir" --refresh-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com

gpg: refreshing 1 key from hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com

gpg: key 4E2C6E8793298290: 70 duplicate signatures removed

gpg: key 4E2C6E8793298290: 216 signatures not checked due to missing keys

gpg: key 4E2C6E8793298290: 2 signatures reordered

gpg: key 4E2C6E8793298290: "Tor Browser Developers (signing key) [email protected]" 283 new signatures

gpg: key 4E2C6E8793298290: "Tor Browser Developers (signing key) [email protected]" 1 new subkey

gpg: Total number processed: 1

gpg:            new subkeys: 1

gpg:         new signatures: 283

gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found

Now you need to click on Tor browser again to restart the download and installation. It should be quicker than before.

After the download is done, you will probably see a window as shown in the screenshot below. And show a connection screen. Click on connect to start the browser and connect to the network.

Once it is up and running, you’ll be greeted with the homescreen of the browser.

Tor browser is now successfully installed and you can browse the internet anonymously and privately now.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/tor-browser
sudo apt update
sudo apt install tor-browser

sudo apt remove tor-browser 
rm -r ~/.tor-browser-en

Removing Tor browser

If you are not happy with the Tor browser (installed via APT), you can remove it using the command below:

sudo apt purge torbrowser-launcher

If you installed it using Flatpak via software center, you can easily uninstall it from there. If you installed it from terminal, type in the following command:

flatpak uninstall com.github.micahflee.torbrowser-launcher

A few tips for using the Tor Browser

Now that you have installed the Tor browser, let me tell you a few tips about using it. It’s up to you if you want to use some or all of these tips.

1. Check if you are properly connected to the Tor Network

Go to the Tor network check page to see if your browser is properly connected to the network.

2. Avoid using the browser maximized

Maximizing the browser allows websites to access device info such as screen size and resolution. If you’re concerned about this, do not maximize the browser. The tor browser even shows you a warning if you do it.

3. Choose your security level

By default, Tor Browser chooses the standard security level. However, you can select ‘Safer’ and ‘Safest’ levels. You can learn more about the levels here. To access this menu, click the onion below the tabs and select Security Settings.

4. Change a few browsing habits

Try to use search engines that do not track you. A few examples are DuckDuckGo or Disconnect.me. Tor even sets DuckDuckGo as the default search engine. Also avoid installing browser extensions as they may track you.

5. Stay away from illegal sites

As Tor is a hidden network so you may come across a few sites that are illegal or promote shady/illegal activities. Try to stay away from these kind of websites.

6. Understand Tor Circuits

Unlike a traditional VPN, Tor doesn’t just relay your connection through a single location. Instead, your data is relayed and transferred through a number of locations. This is called a Tor Circuit. You can view your current circuit by pressing the lock icon on the left of your address bar.

7. Use Onion services

Instead of using normal websites, you can use Onion services which are part of the Tor network. Some websites are available in this form. They use a .onion address. A few of them are

• The New York Times (https://www.nytimes3xbfgragh.onion)
• DuckDuckGo (3g2upl4pq6kufc4m.onion)
• ProtonMail (https://protonirockerxow.onion)

Beware of the shady and illegal ones, most of them are available only as a .onion service.

You can read more Tor browsing tips in details here.

Do you like using Tor?

I hope this article helped you in installing Tor browser on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions and thus enabling you to protect your privacy.

Speaking of privacy, VPNs are another popular tool for protecting privacy. Switzerland-based privacy company ProtonMail provides an excellent secure and private VPN service, ProtonVPN (affiliate link). You can get their service as well, if you are interested.

What other privacy-related tools do you use?

Abhishek Prakash

Original Author

Atharva Lele

Contributing Author