How to Install Chromium Browser via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10

Last updated: May 24, 2021

Since Ubuntu replaced Chromium in its universe repository with Snap package, users are looking for deb package or apt method to install the browser.

The Linux Mint team has been maintaining the chromium deb package for a while. You can install the package in Ubuntu and keep updated. It’s stable and trustworthy, however the installing process is not as easy as an Ubuntu PPA does.

Another Ubuntu PPA now contains the latest packages (90.0.4430.212 at the moment) for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 20.10. The PPA also contains most recent versions of other useful apps, e.g., avidemux, filezilla, youtube-dl, and more. And it’s also trusty.

Chromium package in the PPA is backported from Debian Unstable repository. So it’s marked as ‘Developer build’. If you don’t want to add Linux Mint repository, the PPA can be a good alternative.

1.) Add the Ubuntu PPA:

Firstly open terminal from system app launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xtradeb/apps

2.) Install Chromium:

Same to Linux Mint, the package name has changed from chromium-browser to chromium. Simply run apt command in terminal to install it:

sudo apt install chromium

Add --install-suggests flag in the command if you want to enable minimal shell and WebDriver support.

Remove the PPA:

To remove the Ubuntu PPA, either open Software & Updates -> Other Software and remove the relevant line:

or run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xtradeb/apps

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8 responses to How to Install Chromium Browser via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10

  1. Thanks Ji. I am not a fan of snaps, and had been looking for a Chromium deb package. I had been using Slimjet in the mean time, which is okay but each update has to be downloaded and installed, they don’t have an official Linux repository.

  2. Thanks Ji m, that’s awesome!

  3. Package not available for arm64

  4. You can download latest official .deb build for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal), 21.04 (Hirsute) and 21.10 (Impish) here:
    https://launchpad.net/~phd/+archive/ubuntu/chromium-browser/

    This is a PPA repository with official Ubuntu packages released originally for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic) and updated as soon as a new version is released.

    • I can’t understand how you state it is the official build?
      How is this PPA related to Canonical or Chromium community?
      Checking the PPA I can clearly see it’s an individual repository managed by a few people.
      Also the packages are not built on launchpad’s infra. Are built locally and pushed by participants in the PPA. That is not providing any trust in it.

  5. xtradeb PPA contains too many packages besides chromium, and enforces the user to understand how to choose the intended version if wants some app from another repo or from the official repos.

    phd’s repo looks better to be used, but still it is pushing the builds from another location, which makes it not trustworthy.

  6. I actually think that Slimjet is a better alternative to using Chromium. All the Chromium developer tools are available in Slimjet and it is indeed very fast!