How to Install Chromium Browser on Ubuntu 20.04

Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web. The Chromium codebase is widely used. Microsoft Edge, Opera, and many other browsers are based on the code. One of the most popular aspects of Chromium is that it allows Linux distributions that need open-source software to package a browser almost identical to Chrome.

At the end of the tutorial, you will have learned how to install Chromium Web Browser on your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

Prerequisites

• Recommended OS: Ubuntu 20.04 or higher
• User account: A user account with sudo or root access.

Update Operating System

Update your Ubuntu operating system to make sure all existing packages are up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

The tutorial will be using the sudo command and assuming you have sudo status.

To verify sudo status on your account:

sudo whoami

Example output showing sudo status:

[joshua@ubuntu ~]$ sudo whoami
root

To set up an existing or new sudo account visit our tutorial on How to Add a User to Sudoers on Ubuntu.

To use the root account, use the following command with the root password to log in.

su

Install Required Packages

To successfully install Chromium, you will need to install the following packages; run this command if you are unsure; it will not harm your system.

sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common wget -y

These are pretty generic dependencies that may be already installed. Run the command regardless if unsure, as many other installations will require these on your system.

Option 1 – Install Chromium with Snap

Chromium Web Browser can be installed through the snap package feature in Ubuntu. The Chromium snap package is distributed and maintained by Canonical, who also own and develop the Ubuntu distributions and software.

First, open your Ubuntu terminal from the application menu or use the keyboard shortcut (Cltr+Alt+T).

Next, enter the following snap command to install Chromium Web Browser.

sudo snap install chromium

Example output:

chromium 94.0.4606.81 from Canonical✓ installed

Option 2. Install Chromium with APT

The second option for those who do not wish to use the snap package feature is to install Chromium Web Browser using the .deb available in the default Ubuntu repositories.

In your Ubuntu terminal, run the following command to install the Chromium Browser on Ubuntu 20.04.

sudo apt install chromium-browser -y

Once installed, confirm the installation by confirming through the apt-cache policy command.

sudo apt-cache policy chromium-browser

Example output:

As mentioned above, the latest stable version is installed on your Ubuntu system.

How to Launch Chromium Browser

With the installation complete, you can run Chromium in a few different ways.

First, while you are in your terminal, you can use the following command:

chromium

Alternatively, run the chromium & command in the background to free up the terminal:

chromium &

However, this isn’t practical, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open with the path: Activities > Show Applications > Chromium Web Browser. If you cannot find it, use the search function in the Show Applications menu if you have many applications installed.

Example:

Once done, you will see the final landing page, and you are good to go browsing.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Chromium Browser.

How to Update Chromium Browser

To update, run the APT update command in your terminal as you would check your entire system for any updates.

sudo apt update

If one is available, use the upgrade option:

sudo apt upgrade

For users that installed Chromium using the Snap feature, use the following command to automatically refresh and install any updates available for all applications installed with snap.

sudo snap refresh

How to Remove (Uninstall) Chromium Browser

To remove the browser, execute the following terminal command:

sudo apt-get purge --autoremove chromium-browser

Example output:

Type “Y,” then press the “ENTER KEY” to proceed with the removal.

Note that this will remove any unused dependencies installed initially.

To remove Chromium using the Snap feature, use the following command.

sudo snap remove chromium

Example output:

chromium removed

Comments and Conclusion

In the guide, you have learned to install the Chromium Web Browser on Ubuntu 20.04 in two ways and remove the package if no longer required. Chromium Browser is an excellent open-source choice that allows Linux distributions that need open-source software to package a browser almost identical to Chrome. Linux distributors can also use Chromium as the default web browser in place of Firefox.