Installing Notion on Linux: What are your options?

Notion is a solid productivity-focused tool. Even though it is not open source, it has its charm, and a user base that swears by it.

A regular reader asked about how he can install Notion on Linux. I suggested using it in a web browser but he wanted to have a desktop app for Notion.

That's a difficult thing because there is no official app for Notion on Linux. There are a few ways you can try to get an app feel but they won't give you the native app experience.

I'll list theme here and let you see if it's worth taking the pain of

1. Install Notion as a Web App

✅ Convenient
✅ Easy access
❌ Not a native experience

This is the most convenient and easy option. However, you need a separate app to make it happen.

You need to install GNOME's Web browser app, log in to Notion, and then add it as a web application by navigating to “Web Apps” from the hamburger menu icon as shown in the screenshot above.

Next, you need to hit the “Install as Web App” option to get the prompt to go ahead.

Once done, hit “Accept”, and then you can set a name, customize the icon, and pin it to the task manager to open it right away.

This is possible with any Linux distribution. However, with KDE Plasma as your desktop, it was a seamless experience to do it.

You can find the web application in the app menu as well if you search for it. So, you no longer have to head to the browser to launch Notion, or pin it forever to load it unnecessarily.

2. Experiment with Bottles

✅ Close to native app experience IF it works for you
❌ Not easy, not reliable

Bottles is one of the possible options to get Notion up and running in Linux. For those who are unaware of Bottles, here is what it is:

Bottles is an application that allows you to easily manage Windows prefixes on your favorite Linux distribution.

Bottles create Windows environments so that you can run Windows executables and use the apps. It is not guaranteed all windows executables work flawlessly. Let's see how to set up Notion.

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You should not expect a perfect native app experience with Bottles. There may be performance issues here and there.

Install Bottles

First, you need to install Bottles to your system. At the moment, the only possible installation method is Flatpak. So, setup Flatpak support on your system, and then install Bottles using the command:

flatpak install flathub com.usebottles.bottles

Once installed, open it and go through the default set up, by following the on-screen instructions.

Give bottles the right to create desktop files

After installing bottles, you need to give Bottles, the right to create desktop files. For this, we will be using the Flatseal app. Install Flatseal:

flatpak install flathub com.github.tchx84.Flatseal

Open it. Select Bottles and go to the Filesystem section. Here, add the location xdg-data/applications as a new location.

Give Bottles application the right to create desktop files — Right to create desktop files

Download Notion executable

Now, go to the official Notion website and download the Windows executable file.

Download Notion

In this page, you can scroll down and click on the Windows (x64) button to get the executable.

Download the Notion Windows executable file from the official Notion website. Download the x64 version (not Arm) — Download Windows executable

Create a bottle

Now, open the Bottles app and click on the “+” button on top-right top panel.

Click on the Plus button to create a new Bottle. — Click on the “+” button

Now, give the bottles a name. Also, select the Application option for environment and sys-wine- option for the runner. Click Create. This is shown in the screenshot below.

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You can change between the runners (Soda and sys-wine) that give you the best performance.

Create a new Notion bottle with Application environment and sys-wine runner — Create a Notion Bottle

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The Application environment installed the required programs along with Arial, Times and Courier fonts.

Wait for the process to finish. Once completed, click on the Close button.

Install the executable

Click on the Run Executable button, and select the downloaded Notion executable.

Click on the Run Executable button in Notion Bottle — Click on the Run Executable button

This will open the Notion app.

Notion is opened in Linux as an Application. — Notion is opened in Linux.

Close the app and click on the three-dots button adjacent to the Notion and select Add Desktop Entry option as shown below.

Add a dekstop entry to Notion using the Bottles app. — Add a desktop entry

A new desktop entry will be created for you. That's it. Open Notion from the app menu and use it by login in!

Open Notion from Ubuntu Activities Overview — Open Notion

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You should log in using the credentials because the web-based login seems a bit tricky.

Notion working inside Linux. You can also use the panel button — Notion working in Linux

3. Try an unofficial Linux port (not recommended)

✅ A Linux port in the form of an electron app
❌ Not officially recommended, may not be a secure option

Lotion is an unofficial project that tries to install Notion as an electron app on Linux.

You can refer to its GitHub page and get instructions to run the installation script. However, it is not as actively maintained, and is not officially recommended for the safest Notion experience.

4. Go for an alternative

✅ If you do not like web apps and unofficial electron builds, it is safer to opt for alternatives
❌ No alternative can replace the functionalities offered by Notion

While the first solution should be a good one for most, some might be on the lookout for alternatives.

In that case, you can explore some privacy-focused Notion alternatives that I tested.

Conclusion

As I mentioned in the beginning, using Notion in a web browser is probably the best idea. If you want to have some sort of app experience, installing it as web app may be worth a try. Other than that, there is not much you can do here, unfortunately.

Although, if you are willing to explore some other knowledge base management tool, Logseq and Obsidian should be your choices.