How to Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Desktop

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) is supported until April 2029 and is a solid starting point for anyone moving to Linux or setting up a fresh workstation. The installer has been redesigned for this release — it is faster, cleaner, and handles disk partitioning more transparently than before. This guide walks you through every stage from burning the ISO to running your first system update.

What You Need Before You Start

• A USB drive of at least 8 GB (all data on it will be erased).
• The target machine should have a 64-bit CPU, 4 GB RAM minimum (8 GB recommended), and 25 GB free disk space minimum.
• An internet connection is helpful but not required during install.
• If you are dual-booting with Windows, disable Fast Startup and Secure Boot or enroll the Ubuntu MOK key — Secure Boot is supported but adds steps not covered here.

Step 1: Download the ISO

Get the official image from ubuntu.com/download/desktop. The file will be named something like ubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso. Always verify the checksum before writing.

# On Linux, verify the SHA256 checksum
sha256sum ubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso
# Compare the output against the hash listed on the Ubuntu download page

Step 2: Write the USB Drive

Use whichever tool matches your current OS. On Linux, dd is reliable and available everywhere. On Windows, Rufus works well. On macOS, use dd or Balena Etcher.

Linux — dd

# Replace /dev/sdX with your actual USB device — confirm with lsblk first
lsblk
sudo dd if=ubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

Double-check the device path. Writing to the wrong device will destroy data with no warning.

Linux — graphical alternative (gnome-disk-utility)

sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility   # Debian/Ubuntu
# Open "Disks", select the USB, click the menu → Restore Disk Image

Step 3: Boot from USB

Plug the USB drive in and restart. Enter your firmware (UEFI/BIOS) by pressing F2, F10, F12, or Delete during POST — the exact key varies by manufacturer. Set the USB drive as the first boot device, save, and reboot. Most modern machines support a one-time boot menu shortcut (often F12) that avoids changing the permanent boot order.

After a few seconds you will see the GRUB menu with options to Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. Either works; choosing Try lets you test hardware compatibility before committing.

Step 4: Run the Installer

If you chose Try Ubuntu, double-click the Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS icon on the desktop. The new Flutter-based installer opens.

Language and Accessibility

Select your language. Accessibility options (screen reader, large text, high contrast) are available at the top-right of every installer screen.

Keyboard Layout

The installer tries to auto-detect your layout. Use the test field to confirm special characters type correctly before continuing.

Network

Connect to Wi-Fi here if you want the installer to download updates and third-party drivers (NVIDIA, WiFi firmware) during install. This is optional but saves time later.

Installation Type

Choose Interactive installation for the standard guided flow. Automated installation is for network/enterprise deployments using an autoinstall YAML file.

Application Selection

Pick Default selection (Firefox, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, basic utilities) or Extended selection which adds more media codecs and apps. Default is fine; you can install anything else later.

Proprietary Software

Check both boxes — Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware and Download and install support for additional media formats — unless you have a policy reason not to. This pulls in the ubuntu-restricted-extras package and relevant firmware.

Step 5: Partition the Disk

This is the step most beginners worry about. For a single-OS install on an empty drive, Erase disk and install Ubuntu is the right choice. The installer creates an ESP (EFI System Partition), a root partition, and a swap partition automatically.

Full-disk install (recommended for beginners)

1. Select Erase disk and install Ubuntu.
2. Optionally enable LVM (Logical Volume Manager) if you want flexible resizing later — safe to leave off for a simple desktop.
3. Optionally enable disk encryption (LUKS). If you enable it, choose a strong passphrase you will not forget; there is no recovery without a backup key.
4. Confirm the partition layout shown and click Next.

Manual partitioning

If you are dual-booting or have specific layout requirements, select Manual partitioning. At minimum you need an EFI partition (512 MB, FAT32, mount point /boot/efi) if the machine uses UEFI, and a root partition (/, ext4 or btrfs, remainder of disk). A separate /home partition is optional but makes future reinstalls easier.

Step 6: Create Your User Account

Fill in your name, a hostname for the machine, a username, and a password. Ubuntu requires a password for your account; there is no passwordless root login in the desktop installer. Your user is automatically added to the sudo group.

• Keep the hostname short and lowercase — it is used in your terminal prompt and on the network.
• The Require password to log in option is strongly recommended, especially on a laptop.

Step 7: Confirm and Install

The installer shows a final summary of every choice. Read it. If anything looks wrong, use the Back button. Click Install to begin writing to disk — this is the point of no return for any data on the target partitions. Installation typically takes 8–20 minutes depending on hardware and whether you are downloading extras.

When it finishes, click Restart Now and remove the USB drive when prompted.

Step 8: First Boot and Initial Setup

Ubuntu 24.04 opens a Welcome screen on first login. It walks through Ubuntu Pro (optional, free for personal use — gives access to extended security updates), app recommendations, and privacy settings. You can skip any section.

GNOME 46 is the default desktop. Wayland is the default display server since Ubuntu 21.04 — most applications run fine under Wayland. If you hit an older application that requires X11, you can switch sessions at the login screen by clicking the gear icon.

Step 9: Apply Updates

Run a full update immediately after first boot.

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y

Reboot if the update includes a kernel upgrade (the system will indicate this).

sudo reboot

Verification

Confirm the installed version and kernel after reboot:

lsb_release -a
uname -r

Expected output will show Ubuntu 24.04.x LTS and a kernel version of 6.8 or newer (exact minor version will vary).

Troubleshooting

Boot hangs at purple screen or reaches a blank display

This is almost always a GPU driver issue. In the GRUB menu, press e to edit the boot entry, find the line starting with linux, and add nomodeset before quiet splash. Press F10 to boot. Once in the system, install the correct driver via Software & Updates → Additional Drivers.

Wi-Fi not detected after install

Some Broadcom and Realtek adapters need out-of-tree firmware. Connect via Ethernet and run:

sudo apt update
sudo ubuntu-drivers install

UEFI machine boots straight to Windows after install

Windows may have overwritten the default UEFI boot entry. Boot from the USB in Try mode and run:

sudo apt install --reinstall grub-efi-amd64
sudo grub-install
sudo update-grub

Then reboot and adjust boot order in UEFI if needed.

"No space left on device" during apt upgrade

If you created a small root partition, clean up old kernels:

sudo apt autoremove --purge