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How to Install WeChat Desktop App in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

Last updated: July 17, 2017

WeChat is one of the most popular Chinese social media (instant messaging and payment services) mobile application developed by Tencent.

For desktop computers, there’s an open-source project, electronic-wechat, allows you to run WeChat on Linux, Mac OS.

The application features:

  • Modern UI and all features from Web WeChat.
  • Block message recall.
  • Stickers showing support.
  • Share subscribed passages on Weibo, Qzone, Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, and email.
  • Mention users in a group chat.
  • Drag and drop to send photos.
  • Behaves like a native app, based on dozens of optimization.
  • Removes URL link redirects and takes you directly to blocked websites.
  • Press Esc to hide application windows.

The app is available via Snappy store for all Linux distributions. For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and higher, do following steps to install it:

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching it from app launcher. When it opens, run command to install snapd daemon and snapd-xdg-open if you don’t already have them installed:

sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open

Type in your password (no visual feedback while typing due to security reason) and hit Enter.

2. Then install the wechat app via command:

sudo snap install electronic-wechat

Once installed, launch the desktop app from your app launcher and enjoy!

Uninstall:

To remove the app, run following command in a terminal window:

sudo snap remove electronic-wechat
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    8 responses to How to Install WeChat Desktop App in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

    1. Jim August 30, 2017 at 10:48 am

      Fantastic! Downloaded & can’t log in because it displays that stupid screwy pixilated square – now what???

    2. Riko September 15, 2017 at 4:33 am

      How to change the language setting to English ?
      In ubuntu, it’s using pinyin.

    3. Aaron Staley September 25, 2017 at 2:22 pm

      Is there a way to use the desktop-equivalent app? The web one lacks video chat

    4. Md Khaza Moin Uddin(Moin) October 6, 2017 at 6:13 pm

      Thanks, Mr. Jim for your great job.It’s working properly on my pc.

    5. Michelle February 4, 2018 at 2:35 am

      cannot find it after installed in 17.10。。。。

    6. Sergije March 15, 2018 at 10:56 am

      installed snap, but when tried to install wechat, it says:
      ~$ sudo snap install electronic-wechat
      error: snap “electronic-wechat” not found

      What could be the problem?
      Thanks.

    7. sajal March 28, 2018 at 12:57 pm

      error: snap “electronic-wechat” not found