How to install Linux on your computer, step by step

What you need before you start

• A PC or laptop that meets the requirements in the table below. Ubuntu's main download is for Intel or AMD 64-bit processors, with an ARM 64-bit image alongside it.
• A USB stick of 8 GB or more. It will be erased. The current Ubuntu image alone is 5.9 GB.
• A backup of everything on the computer you want to keep.
• If Windows stays: its BitLocker recovery key, and at least 25 GB of free space to give Linux.
• An internet connection, ideally. The installer works offline, but online it downloads updates and third-party drivers, such as NVIDIA's graphics drivers, as it goes.

Will your hardware work? Canonical keeps a list of Ubuntu certified hardware: laptops and desktops tested for reliability and performance with Ubuntu. If yours is not on it, the live session described below is the real test, and it changes nothing on the computer.

Choose a Linux distribution

A Linux distribution is the complete operating system: the Linux kernel plus a desktop, apps, an installer and a way to receive updates. The popular ones install the same way, so the choice comes down to how long each release is supported and what your hardware can run. The current releases, as of September 2026:

Ubuntu is the worked example here because Canonical documents the problems that stop an installation: BitLocker, Intel RST and Secure Boot. Ubuntu Pro, which extends security maintenance, is free for personal use on up to five machines. Linux Mint 22.3 is based on Ubuntu 24.04 and comes with three desktops: Cinnamon (the most full-featured), MATE (more traditional) and Xfce (the lightest). Fedora Workstation ships the latest GNOME desktop, GNOME 50 in Fedora 44.

Linux is also an option for an older PC. Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, and Windows 11 requires a TPM 2.0 and a UEFI, Secure Boot capable PC. None of the requirements in the table include a TPM. For a machine with 2 GB of RAM, Ubuntu's release notes recommend a lighter official flavour, Xubuntu or Lubuntu, and Linux Mint's Xfce edition is the lightest of its three.

Back up, and prepare Windows if you are keeping it

Installing Linux rewrites the drive's partition table and the firmware's list of boot entries, which is exactly where a mistake costs data. Copy the files you want to keep to an external drive or cloud storage, and sign in to your browser's sync account so bookmarks and passwords come back by themselves. Ubuntu's installation guide asks for the same before anything else.

If Linux will replace Windows, that is all the preparation you need. If Windows stays, three more checks follow.

Save the BitLocker recovery key

Windows turns on device encryption, which is BitLocker applied automatically, when a PC is set up with a Microsoft account or a work or school account. Open Terminal as administrator and check:

manage-bde -status C:
manage-bde -protectors -get C: -Type RecoveryPassword

The second command shows the recovery password, a 48-digit number. If the key was backed up to a Microsoft account, you can also read it at aka.ms/myrecoverykey from any other device; for a work or school account, try aka.ms/aadrecoverykey. Write it down, or store it anywhere except on this PC: Microsoft Support cannot retrieve or recreate a lost key.

Why it matters: the TPM unlocks the drive by itself only while the start-up chain matches what it expects. Microsoft's list of events that trigger BitLocker recovery includes changes to the NTFS partition table, changes to the boot manager and firmware upgrades, which is exactly what a dual boot installation does.

Ubuntu's installer cannot read an encrypted partition, so it cannot resize one. Since Ubuntu 25.04 it can still install alongside BitLocker if the drive already has enough unallocated space, so make that space from Windows first (next step). If the installer still shows a "Windows BitLocker is enabled" alert, you have two choices: install Linux on a separate drive, or turn encryption off in Windows (Windows 11: Settings > Privacy & security > Device encryption; earlier versions: Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Turn off BitLocker) and wait for decryption to finish. Canonical warns that some Windows versions will not let you turn BitLocker back on afterwards, so check yours first.

Before a firmware update, choose Suspend protection in the BitLocker control panel. The drive stays encrypted, and protection resumes automatically when the PC restarts.

Make room for Linux

Shrink the Windows partition from inside Windows, which moves files out of the way without deleting anything. In Disk Management, right-click the C: volume, choose Shrink Volume and enter the amount to free. Some files cannot be moved, such as the paging file and shadow copies, so Windows may offer less than you ask for.

Give Linux at least the 25 GB Ubuntu requires. Linux Mint's guide notes that the system itself takes about 15 GB and grows as you install software, and suggests 100 GB when you can spare it.

Check the storage controller mode

Some PCs run their drives in Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) mode, which Ubuntu does not support; the installer stops with an RST alert. In Windows, open Device Manager and look under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. If it does not say Standard SATA AHCI Controller, follow Canonical's steps to switch Windows to AHCI first: a registry change, a start in safe mode, then the firmware setting. Changing only the firmware setting can leave Windows unable to start, with the stop code INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE.

Download Ubuntu and verify the ISO image

Download Ubuntu Desktop from ubuntu.com. As of September 2026 the file is ubuntu-26.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso. From the same release folder on releases.ubuntu.com, download SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.gpg into the folder that holds the ISO image, then check that the image matches:

# Linux, or macOS with coreutils installed
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS 2>&1 | grep OK

# Windows PowerShell: compare the Hash with the ISO's line in SHA256SUMS
Get-FileHash .\ubuntu-26.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso

Get-FileHash uses SHA256 by default, the same algorithm as the list. A match proves the download is intact. Checking SHA256SUMS.gpg with GnuPG also proves the list was signed by Ubuntu, and Canonical's verification tutorial walks through it. Fedora publishes the same kind of signed checksum file next to each of its images.

Create a bootable USB stick

A bootable stick is not a copy of the ISO file: an image writer rewrites the whole stick, and everything on it is erased. Use the tool for the system you have now:

If a stick made with Rufus later refuses to start, write it again with Partition scheme: GPT and Target system: UEFI (non CSM), which suits modern PCs with legacy compatibility turned off.

On Linux, dd does the same job without a graphical tool. List the drives with lsblk, find the stick by its size, and replace sdX with its name:

lsblk
sudo umount /dev/sdX*
sudo dd if=ubuntu-26.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress

Start the computer from the USB stick

Plug the stick into the computer you are installing on and restart it. Many PCs start from the stick by themselves. If yours starts Windows instead, restart and hold the one-time boot menu key as the maker's logo appears: F12 is the most common, and Esc, F2 and F10 are common alternatives. A brief message at start-up often names the key, and so does the manual. Then choose the USB stick from the list.

You can also get there from Windows: Settings > System > Recovery, then Restart now next to Advanced startup (or hold Shift while you choose Restart). Among the recovery environment's tools, UEFI Firmware Settings restarts into the firmware, where you change the boot order and Secure Boot. On an Intel Mac, hold the Option (Alt) key as it starts and choose the drive labelled EFI Boot.

Secure Boot and UEFI

Leave Secure Boot on. Most x86 PCs ship with Microsoft's certificates in their firmware, so Ubuntu starts through a small first-stage loader called shim, signed by Microsoft, which then checks the GRUB boot loader and the kernel, both signed by Canonical. Since Ubuntu 18.04, Secure Boot also covers kernel modules, and an unsigned module is not loaded. That is why drivers should come from Ubuntu's own tools rather than a vendor's installer.

If your machine needs third-party drivers built during installation, the installer asks you to set a password. At the first restart, a text-mode screen called MokManager appears: choose Enroll MOK, check and confirm, and type that password. This enrols a Machine Owner Key (MOK), so Secure Boot accepts drivers signed on that machine.

For the rare "Secure Boot violation" after installing, Linux Mint's guide gives two fixes: reinstall while connected to the internet but without the third-party software option, or turn Secure Boot off in the firmware settings. Try the first one first.

Try Linux before you install it

The installer opens with the same first screens whether you try or install: language, accessibility, keyboard layout and network. Then choose Try Ubuntu. You get a working desktop running from the stick, and nothing on the computer's drive changes. The installer stays one click away, as an Install Ubuntu shortcut on the desktop.

Use the live session to test the hardware that matters on your machine:

• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: connect to your network and pair a headset or mouse.
• Sound, microphone and webcam: play a video and make a test call.
• Display: check the resolution and the brightness keys, and plug in an external monitor if you use one.
• Laptop controls: touchpad gestures, the keyboard backlight, and closing and opening the lid.

Two things are expected to be worse than after installation. The live session runs from the USB stick, so it is slower, and it uses only open-source drivers, so an NVIDIA graphics card runs without its proprietary driver until you install. Anything else that fails here is worth researching before you commit.

Install Ubuntu, screen by screen

From the live desktop, open Install Ubuntu, or choose it straight away on the try-or-install screen. On a laptop, keep the charger connected.

1. Language, accessibility and keyboard. Pick them as in the live session.
2. Network. Connect if you can. It is optional, but the installer then downloads updates and drivers as it goes.
3. Try or install. Choose Install Ubuntu. An Intel RST alert here means the controller mode step above is still needed.
4. Type of installation. Choose Interactive installation. The automated option reads an autoinstall configuration from another USB stick, a web server or Landscape, for setting up many machines the same way.
5. Apps. Default selection installs the essentials; Extended selection adds office tools and utilities. Everything is available later from the App Center.
6. Proprietary software. Tick both options: third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware, and support for additional media formats.
7. Disk setup. The one decision that can delete data, covered in the next section.
8. Account. Your name, the computer's name on the network, a username and a strong password. Keep Require my password to log in on for any laptop that leaves the house.
9. Time zone. Detected automatically when you are online.
10. Review and install. Read the summary, especially the disk lines, then click Install.

When it finishes, click Restart Now, remove the USB stick when asked and press Enter. Enter your disk encryption passphrase if you set one, enrol the MOK if MokManager appears, and log in.

Dual boot or replace Windows: choose the disk setup

If you only need Linux command-line tools on a Windows PC, you may not need either: Windows Subsystem for Linux runs a distribution such as Ubuntu directly on Windows, without a virtual machine or a dual boot. For a full Linux desktop, install it on the disk.

Ubuntu's installer offers these options on the disk setup screen:

For a dual boot on a PC with two drives, the simplest layout is Windows on one and Linux on the other: choose Erase disk and select the second drive. Either way, the Linux boot menu then lists Windows as well, and you choose at each start. If you are building a new PC that will run both, install Windows first: Windows does not detect other systems and overwrites the boot sequence when it installs, while Linux installers detect Windows and add it to their menu.

Encryption. With Erase disk, and since Ubuntu 25.04 in dual boot setups too, you can encrypt Ubuntu. Encrypt with a passphrase is Canonical's recommended option: it uses LVM (Logical Volume Management) with disk encryption, and you type the passphrase at every start. Use hardware-backed encryption keeps the key in the TPM and unlocks by itself; it works only on recent PCs, is still labelled Beta in Canonical's documentation as of September 2026, and gives you a recovery key at the end of the installation. Store the passphrase or recovery key away from the computer: without it, the data cannot be recovered.

Partitions, if you go manual. A Windows PC that starts in UEFI mode uses a GPT partition table, and a Linux installation on it involves:

• The EFI system partition (ESP): the FAT32 partition the PC starts its operating systems from. Windows created one of at least 200 MB (300 MB on drives with 4K sectors). Leave it as it is, and never format it in a dual boot.
• A root partition (/): the system itself. Linux Mint's guide recommends ext4 and 100 GB or more.
• Optionally, /home: your files on their own partition, so the system can be reinstalled without touching them. Linux Mint's guide advises novices against it, because one wrong format during installation wipes the data.
• Optionally, swap: Linux Mint's guide suggests a swap partition as large as your RAM. It is used for hibernation and as a safety buffer when memory runs out.

After the first boot: updates, drivers and the firewall

Do these before you move your files in:

1. Install updates. Open Software Updater, or press Ctrl+Alt+T and run the commands below, then restart.

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
   

2. Check drivers. Open Additional Drivers, or list and install the recommended ones from the terminal. Ubuntu's tools install pre-built, signed drivers that work with Secure Boot. Canonical recommends them over drivers downloaded from NVIDIA, which might overwrite Ubuntu's and break Secure Boot.

   sudo ubuntu-drivers list
   sudo ubuntu-drivers install
   

3. Turn on the firewall. Ubuntu's default firewall tool, ufw, starts out disabled. Once enabled, its default policy denies incoming connections and allows outgoing ones, which suits a desktop or laptop.

   sudo ufw enable
   sudo ufw status verbose
   

4. Set up snapshots or backups. Linux Mint's guide makes system snapshots with Timeshift one of the first tasks: choose RSYNC and a drive, and later snapshots only store what changed. Whatever the distribution, back up your home folder to a second place.

5. Finish in Windows. If you turned BitLocker off to install, turn it back on from Windows if your version allows it, and save the new recovery key.

Fix common installation problems

The efibootmgr fix has a quirk worth knowing: Linux Mint registers itself in the firmware under the name ubuntu, so look for that entry, not "linuxmint".

For a team rather than one computer, the work is less about the installer and more about keeping every machine consistent: set-up, encryption, patching and a record of what everyone has. Our IT support service covers device set-up for new starters, disk encryption and patching for operating systems and apps, with devices and admin rights written down so the knowledge stays with the business.