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How to Install Qt4 Libraries in Ubuntu 20.04 [Ubuntu 22.04 Updated]

Last updated: May 11, 2022

The Qt4 framework has been removed from Ubuntu 20.04 main repository. It is however still required for some obsolete applications.

Though it is not recommended, you can still get Qt4 libraries (e.g., libqt4-declarative, qt4-dev-tools, qt4-qmake, libqtwebkit4, and more) as software dependencies or for building an application via this third-party PPA.

NOTE: Qt4 has reached end of life! You may run into security issues with the library. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK! And for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, please scroll down for option 2.

Option 1: Install Qt4 in Ubuntu 20.04

1.) Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from your system application launcher. When terminal opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rock-core/qt4

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit enter.

2.) After adding the PPA, it should automatically refresh the system package cache. On some Ubuntu derivatives, you may run command to manually update the package cache:

sudo apt update

3.) Finally install the software .deb package, and it should automatically install the required Qt4 libraries after running sudo apt -f install.

Or you may install specified Qt4 package by running command:

sudo apt install PACKAGE_NAME

See here for a full list of available Qt4 libraries.

Option 2: Install Qt4 in Ubuntu 22.04

For the new Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, you can get the Qt4 libraries via this unofficial PPA. The packages there belongs to kelebek333.

1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/ppa

Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.

2. After adding the PPA, install your old app packages should automatically install Qt4 as dependencies.

To install the packages manually, either run command sudo apt install PACKNAME in terminal or use Synaptic package manager:

Uninstall Qt4:

To remove the PPA, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:rock-core/qt4

Or remove the PPA for Ubuntu 22.04 using command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/ppa

To remove all Qt4 libraries, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove libqt4* libqtcore4 libqtgui4 libqtwebkit4 qt4*
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    17 responses to How to Install Qt4 Libraries in Ubuntu 20.04 [Ubuntu 22.04 Updated]

    1. John July 18, 2020 at 5:18 am

      The remove PPA command should be:
      sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rock-core/qt4 --remove

    2. khuong August 30, 2020 at 3:06 pm

      Thanks

    3. Boris Dessimond September 10, 2020 at 8:03 am

      Awesome !

    4. Selim November 25, 2020 at 12:36 pm

      et pour 20.10?

    5. Guy Stalnaker December 4, 2020 at 1:24 am

      Thank you. I have an old binary that needs libqt4core and libqt4gui — you got them for me.

    6. grek December 16, 2020 at 12:04 pm

      sudo apt install PACKAGE_NAME ??? what package
      this is manual how to install python-qt4 i still get

      apt-get install python-qt4Reading package lists… Done
      Building dependency tree
      Reading state information… Done
      E: Unable to locate package python-qt4

    7. Kate March 2, 2021 at 8:51 pm

      This is so helpful thank you so much!

    8. Jit April 23, 2021 at 7:46 am

      Debian PACKAGES for qt4 can also be downloaded from
      wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/q/

    9. Oscar Kramer October 21, 2021 at 8:39 pm

      This used to be really hard. I wish I had found this page 5 years ago. Thanks.

    10. silviops January 8, 2022 at 3:31 pm

      Ubuntu 10.20
      I tried this:
      sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rock-core/qt4
      Traceback (most recent call last):
      File “/usr/bin/add-apt-repository”, line 108, in
      sp = SoftwareProperties(options=options)
      File “/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/softwareproperties/SoftwareProperties.py”, line 117, in __init__
      self.reload_sourceslist()
      File “/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/softwareproperties/SoftwareProperties.py”, line 612, in reload_sourceslist
      self.distro.get_sources(self.sourceslist)
      File “/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/aptsources/distro.py”, line 91, in get_sources
      raise NoDistroTemplateException(
      aptsources.distro.NoDistroTemplateException: Error: could not find a distribution template for Ubuntu/focal

    11. ieee488 February 17, 2022 at 11:13 pm

      Thank!

      I need libqtgui4 for the SimpleIDE from Parallax

      I added the PPA and then sudo apt install libqtgui4

      • Stephen Griswold April 1, 2022 at 5:51 pm

        see my comment below, the ppa adding for Unetbootin (a iso to bootable flash drive utility) worked.

    12. tango zulu February 21, 2022 at 9:36 am

      Many, many thanks,
      more than two weeks I struggled with the problem,that a wonderful aerodynamic program (xflr5) I had used under Ubuntu-18.04-LTS disappeared after upgrading to Ubuntu-20.04-LTS and worse: a new installation of the actual .deb-file failed. Following your way the problem is solved.

    13. Stephen Griswold April 1, 2022 at 5:47 pm

      Ji, the unetbootin ppa fix also worked under Linux Mint 20.3, installing a front-end ide for the parallax P8X32 (aka the propeller chip) either the software hasn’t been upgraded the qt5, or a lot of software have lost dependencies because of depreciation of the libraries. Thanks for describing the patch!

    14. cleancasey May 9, 2022 at 11:13 pm

      None of that works on 22.04 Ubuntu Studio

    15. Leila February 4, 2023 at 1:06 am

      So, I need the qt4 i386 libraries

      any leads?