Install Google Chrome or Chromium

Chrome and Chromium are different products that often get conflated. Google Chrome is the proprietary browser built on the open-source Chromium engine, bundled with Google's sync, DRM, and codec support. Chromium is the upstream open-source project—lighter on tracking but missing Widevine DRM and some codecs by default. A third option, ungoogled-chromium, strips Google API calls entirely. This guide covers all three on Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL, and Arch, plus Wayland rendering flags and setting your default browser.

Google Chrome vs Chromium: Quick Comparison

Feature	Google Chrome	Chromium	ungoogled-chromium
Google Sync	Yes	Limited	No
Widevine DRM	Bundled	Absent	Absent
H.264 / AAC	Bundled	Distro-dependent	Distro-dependent
Auto-updates	Via repo	Via package manager	Via package manager
Telemetry	Yes (opt-out)	Minimal	None

Installing Google Chrome

Debian / Ubuntu — via Google's Official Repo (recommended)

Adding the repo means apt handles future updates automatically.

sudo apt install -y wget gnupg
wget -q -O - https://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub \
  | gpg --dearmor \
  | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/google-chrome.gpg > /dev/null

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/google-chrome.gpg] \
https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y google-chrome-stable

Debian / Ubuntu — one-off .deb download

If you just want the package without the repo, download it directly. The installer still adds the repo in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ post-install unless you remove it.

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
sudo apt install -y ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

Fedora / RHEL 8+ / Rocky Linux

sudo dnf install -y fedora-workstation-repositories   # Fedora only
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled google-chrome   # Fedora only
sudo dnf install -y google-chrome-stable

On RHEL, Rocky, or AlmaLinux, download the RPM directly:

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm
sudo dnf install -y ./google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm

Arch Linux

Chrome is in the AUR. Use your AUR helper of choice:

paru -S google-chrome
# or
yay -S google-chrome

Installing Chromium

Debian / Ubuntu

Ubuntu ships Chromium as a Snap by default since 20.04. If you need a native .deb, use Debian's package or a third-party PPA. On Debian stable, it's a plain deb:

sudo apt install -y chromium

On Ubuntu, that command installs a snap wrapper. To get the actual snap directly:

sudo snap install chromium

Fedora

sudo dnf install -y chromium

Note: Fedora's Chromium build omits patented codecs. Install chromium-freeworld from RPM Fusion for H.264 support:

sudo dnf install -y chromium-freeworld

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S chromium

Arch's Chromium build includes the VA-API patch and ships reasonably up to date.

Installing ungoogled-chromium

ungoogled-chromium removes all hardcoded Google URL references and disables telemetry at the build level. On Arch it's in the AUR; on other distros use the portable builds or distro-specific repos listed at the project's GitHub.

# Arch
paru -S ungoogled-chromium

# Debian/Ubuntu — via unofficial repo maintained by the project
echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Debian_Bookworm/ /'\
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ungoogled-chromium.list
curl -s https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Debian_Bookworm/Release.key \
  | gpg --dearmor \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/ungoogled-chromium.gpg > /dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ungoogled-chromium

Replace Debian_Bookworm with your release name. Check the project's downloads page for current repo URLs—they change between releases.

Enabling Wayland Native Rendering

By default, Chrome/Chromium runs under XWayland, which adds a translation layer and disables fractional scaling. To run natively under Wayland (recommended on GNOME 45+ and KDE Plasma 6), pass two flags.

Persistent flags via the flags file

Chrome reads per-user flags from a plain-text file. The path differs between Chrome and Chromium:

# Google Chrome
mkdir -p ~/.config/google-chrome
echo '--ozone-platform=wayland' >> ~/.config/google-chrome/chrome-flags.conf
echo '--enable-features=WaylandWindowDecorations' >> ~/.config/google-chrome/chrome-flags.conf

# Chromium
mkdir -p ~/.config/chromium
echo '--ozone-platform=wayland' >> ~/.config/chromium/chromium-flags.conf
echo '--enable-features=WaylandWindowDecorations' >> ~/.config/chromium/chromium-flags.conf

Restart the browser after editing. Verify it's running on Wayland by opening chrome://gpu and checking that Ozone platform shows wayland.

Note: On X11 desktops, omit these flags or Chrome will fail to start. On mixed setups (XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11), use --ozone-platform=auto instead so Chrome detects the session at launch.

Setting Chrome or Chromium as the Default Browser

From the browser itself

Open Settings → Default browser and click Make default. This calls xdg-settings under the hood.

Via xdg-settings (any desktop)

# Google Chrome
xdg-settings set default-web-browser google-chrome.desktop

# Chromium
xdg-settings set default-web-browser chromium.desktop
# On Ubuntu with Snap:
xdg-settings set default-web-browser chromium_chromium.desktop

Via GNOME Settings

gnome-control-center default-apps

Navigate to Web and pick the browser from the list.

Via update-alternatives (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo update-alternatives --config x-www-browser
sudo update-alternatives --config gnome-www-browser

Verifying the Installation

# Chrome
google-chrome --version

# Chromium
chromium --version
# or, on some distros:
chromium-browser --version

Expected output looks like: Google Chrome 124.0.6367.82 (version will vary).

Also check chrome://gpu in the address bar for hardware acceleration status and the active Ozone platform.

Troubleshooting

• GPG/keyring errors on apt update: The key path changed. Make sure the key lands in /usr/share/keyrings/ and the sources.list.d entry has the signed-by= attribute pointing to it. Older guides write to /etc/apt/trusted.gpg, which is deprecated since Debian 11.
• Chrome opens under XWayland despite flags: Check echo $WAYLAND_DISPLAY—if it's empty, your session is X11. Use --ozone-platform=auto or log into a Wayland session.
• Blank/black screen on Wayland: Try adding --disable-gpu-sandbox temporarily to isolate GPU driver issues. Also ensure your GPU driver supports hardware acceleration under Wayland (vainfo or vdpauinfo).
• Snap Chromium missing system font/theme: Snaps have limited filesystem access. Use snap connect chromium:dot-config-gtk-3 or switch to a native package if theming is critical.
• DRM (Netflix, Spotify) not working in Chromium: Chromium lacks Widevine. Either install Google Chrome, or manually install the Widevine CDM by copying it from a Chrome installation to ~/.config/chromium/WidevineCdm/—though this is unsupported and error-prone.