How To Install Tor Browser on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Tor Browser on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Tor Browser is a modified version of Firefox designed to provide anonymity and privacy while browsing the internet. It achieves this by routing your internet traffic through a network of volunteer-operated servers, effectively masking your IP address and making it difficult for anyone to track your online activities.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Transmission BitTorrent clients on Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 22.04 and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pop!_OS, and more as well.

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: Ubuntu and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies.
• An Ubuntu 24.04 system with root access or a user with sudo privileges.

Install Tor Browser on Ubuntu 24.04

Step 1. Preparing Your System.

Before diving into the installation process, it’s crucial to ensure that your system is up-to-date. This step minimizes potential conflicts and ensures that you have the latest security patches.

Open a terminal and execute the following commands to update your system:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

These commands will fetch the latest package lists and upgrade any outdated packages to their latest versions.

Step 2. Installing Tor Browser on Ubuntu 24.04.

• Method 1: Installing Tor Browser Using the Official Repository.

This method is recommended for most users as it ensures you receive official updates and security patches directly from the Tor Project.

Add the Tor Project repository:

sudo apt install apt-transport-https
echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org focal main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tor.list

Add the GPG key:

curl https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/tor-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null

Next, install Tor Browser Launcher:

sudo apt install torbrowser-launcher

Once installed, you can launch Tor Browser from the Applications menu or by running torbrowser-launcher in the terminal. The first time you run it, it will download and install the latest version of Tor Browser.

• Method 2: Installing Tor Browser Using Flatpak.

Flatpak is a universal package management system that works across different Linux distributions. This method is useful if you prefer using containerized applications.

Install Flatpak (if not already installed):

sudo apt install flatpak

Add the Flathub repository:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Next, install Tor Browser via Flatpak:

flatpak install flathub com.github.micahflee.torbrowser-launcher

You can now launch Tor Browser from the Applications menu or by running:

flatpak run com.github.micahflee.torbrowser-launcher

• Method 3: Manual Installation from Official Website.

For users who prefer more control over the installation process, manual installation is an option. Visit the official Tor Project website and download the Linux 64-bit version.

wget https://dist.torproject.org/torbrowser/13.5.2/tor-browser-linux-x86_64-13.5.2.tar.xz

Navigate to the directory containing the downloaded file, and run:

tar -xvf tor-browser-linux64-*.tar.xz

Move the extracted folder to a suitable location:

sudo mv tor-browser_en-US /opt/tor-browser

Create a .desktop file for easy access:

echo "[Desktop Entry]
Name=Tor Browser
Exec=/opt/tor-browser/start-tor-browser.desktop
Icon=/opt/tor-browser/browser/chrome/icons/default/default128.png
Type=Application
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;" | sudo tee /usr/share/applications/tor-browser.desktop

You can now launch Tor Browser from the Applications menu or by running /opt/tor-browser/start-tor-browser.desktop in the terminal.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Tor Browser. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the Tor Browser on the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official Tor Browser website.