This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install Telegram instant messaging app in Ubuntu 22.04 & Ubuntu 24.04.
The popular Telegram Messenger is available in most platforms. For Linux, it available as official tarball, universal Flatpak ans Snap packages. And, Ubuntu has third-party repositories to make it easy to keep updated.
So, as far as I know there are 4 ways to install the app in Ubuntu Linux. Choose any one that you prefer.
This simple tutorial shows how to install the desktop app of the Signal private messenger in Ubuntu and Debian in 2 official ways. It should also work on their based systems, e.g., Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Kali Linux, and more.
Method 1: Install Signal Desktop via Apt Repository:
The desktop app has an official apt repository that contains the software packages for 64-bit Ubuntu and Debian based systems.
1. Get the gpg key:
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window (or search for and open it from start menu). Then, run the command below to download the key:
Install wget downloader via sudo apt install wget if it’s not installed on your system.
Next, put the key into ‘/usr/share/keyrings’ directory via command:
cat signal-desktop-keyring.gpg | sudo tee -a /usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg > /dev/null
2. Add Signal apt repository:
Now add the apt repository by creating new config file signal-xenial.list under ‘/etc/apt/sources.list.d’ directory. And, add source URL and specify arch and signed key.
All this can be done via the single command below:
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main' | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list
NOTE the package works on all Ubuntu/Debian releases, though it publishes packages through ‘xenial’ release.
3. Install Signal:
Finally, update package cache by running command in terminal:
sudo apt update
And then install the app package via command:
sudo apt install signal-desktop
After installation, search for and open the app from overview screen, and scan the QR code via your phone to login:
Method 2: Install Signal Desktop as Flatpak:
If you’re OK with the universal Flatpak package, things can be a bit easy. However, it takes more disk space due to run-time libraries!
Firstly, open terminal and run command to install the flatpak daemon: