Install Firefox on Linux

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  • Creator: Danny Colin
  • Comment: [WIP] Update instructions to get the desktop file
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This article explains how to download and install Firefox on a Linux.

This article only applies to Linux. For instructions to install Firefox on Mac, see How to download and install Firefox on Mac.For instructions to install Firefox on Windows, see How to install Firefox on Windows.

Install from your distribution package manager (Recommended)

To install Firefox using your distribution package manager, please refer to your Linux distribution's documentation.

This method is the recommended way because it ensures Firefox and all the required libraries are installed and configured optimally for your distribution. However, there may be a small delay between the official release of a new version of Firefox and the moment when your distribution updates the version it distributes. Your distribution may also distribute it without the Firefox branding.

Install from Flatpak

To install Firefox from Flatpak, install and configure Flatpak on your computer. Once Flatpak is installed, go to the Firefox Flathub's page and click the Install button. Alternatively, you can type the following command in a terminal:

flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.firefox

By default, Flatpak installs Firefox in the same locale as your operating system. To use a different language, please follow the instructions on how to use Firefox in another language.

Install from Snap

To install Firefox from Snap, install Snap on your computer. Once Snap is installed, go to the Firefox Snapcraft's Store page and click the Install button.

Install Firefox from Mozilla builds (For advanced users)

  • Before you install Firefox, make sure that your computer has the required libraries installed. Missing libraries will cause Firefox to be inoperable.
  • To install Firefox with this method, you must be able to login as root or execute sudo commands.

1. Go to the Firefox download page and click on the Download Now button.

2. Open a terminal and go to the folder where your download has been saved. For example:

cd ~/Downloads

3. Extract the contents of the downloaded file by typing:

tar xjf firefox-*.tar.bz2

4. Move the uncompressed Firefox folder to /opt:

mv firefox /opt

5. Create a symlink to the Firefox executable:

ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/local/bin/firefox

6. Download a copy of our desktop file:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mozilla-sumo/kb/main/install-firefox-linux/firefox.desktop -P /usr/local/share/applications

Alternatively, if wget is not installed on your computer, go to the URL mentioned above, right-click on the page to open the contextual menu and select Save Page As. After you downloaded the file, move it to /usr/local/share/applications.