Easily Install Tor Browser in Ubuntu and other Linux – It’s FOSS

This tutorial shows you how to install Tor browser in Ubuntu Linux. Youll 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.

Lets see how can you install and use Tor browser.

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 havent and then type in the following commands:

To run the launcher, type in:

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.

The Tor browser launcher has been included in the Universe repository of Ubuntu so you can easily use the apt command to install it.

If you are using Ubuntu, make sure that you have the Universe repository enabled.

Once you have that, you can install the Tor browser launcher:

Note that this is not the browser itself. Its just the installer. So, to run the launcher, you need to simply type in:

The Tor browser launcher can be downloaded and run in any Linux distribution. You can find the files and instructions on its download page.

All you have to do is to download the file, extract it, go to the extracted folder and run the launcher. Rest of the steps will be the same what I have shown below.

If you didnt 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: Its possible that youll see a SIGNATURE VERIFICATION FAILED error if youve installed it using APT (version 0.3.2). Click on the next section to expand and fix for this problem.

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 Ubuntus keyserver.

You can simply click Start to try again and that should fix it. If that still hasnt fixed the issue, you may use the command below to do that:

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

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, youll be greeted with the homescreen of the browser.

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

This is an old method and should only be used in Ubuntu 16.04 or lower versions if the torbrowser-launcher package is not available.

Thanks to Webupd8, we have a PPA that we can use to install Tor browser in Ubuntu and other Ubuntu based Linux OSes easily (if you are not comfortable installing from source code). Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and use the following commands:

The above PPA should also be valid for Ubuntu 12.04 and other Linux distributions based on it.

If you want to uninstall Tor browser, use the following command:

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

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:

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Unlike a traditional VPN, Tor doesnt 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.

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

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?

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Easily Install Tor Browser in Ubuntu and other Linux - It's FOSS