![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/nvidia-logo-250x250.webp\"){kind=logo}
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This is a step by step guide shows how to enable NVIDIA GPU accelerated video decoding for Google Chrome, Chromium, Brave, Edge, etc web browsers in Ubuntu.<\/p>\n
As you may know, Chromium based web browsers do not support NVDEC (NVIDIA Decoder) for video acceleration in Linux by default. The open-source NVIDIA VA-API driver workaround the issue by translating VA-API calls (that most browsers supported) into NVIDIA’s NVDEC video decoding functionality.<\/p>\n
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In this tutorial, I\u2019m going to show you how to install the workaround and set it up for Chrome\/Chromium based browsers on Ubuntu.<\/p>\n
NOTE: This tutorial does NOT work on Optimus laptop. See this bug report<\/a>. It does NOT for Snap apps as well!<\/b><\/p>\n This tutorial was tested and works in Ubuntu 26.04 with Google Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave browsers. It should also work in Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 22.04 and with other Chromium based browsers.<\/b><\/p>\n The open-source driver was initially designed for Firefox web browser, while, Chromium browser support was added since version 0.0.18.<\/p>\n 1.<\/b> To install the driver, press 2.<\/b> Then refresh cache by running command:<\/p>\n Ubuntu now updates the cache automatically while adding PPA, though Linux Mint user needs to run it manually unless adding PPA through the built-in “Software Sources” utility.<\/p>\n 3.<\/b> Finally, the driver package:<\/p>\n During the installing process, you may keep an eye on the terminal output to see if the package from PPA (version >= 0.0.18<\/strong>) is being installed.<\/p>\n For those who don’t trust 3rd-party PPAs<\/b>, download the source tarball from Github releases<\/a> page, then extract and open the source folder in terminal.<\/p>\n Finally run the commands below one by one to build from source:<\/p>\n To make it work, you need to launch your Chromium based browser with certain parameters. It’s better to try it out in command line before making it permanent.<\/p>\n 1.<\/b> First, launch terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run commands to set environment variable and display VA-API driver information:<\/p>\n Run 2.<\/b> For beginners who are new to Linux and don’t even know how to launch an app from command line, do this step to find out the command to launch your browser.<\/p>\n If you installed the web browser through the native In the case, run the similar command line to tell the executable name:<\/p>\n Here replace In my case as the screenshot below shows, I can run If your browser was installed as Flatpak package<\/b>, then run the command below to find out the App ID:<\/p>\n According to the app ID, you can launch the browser with a command similar to the one below:<\/p>\n Here replace 3.<\/b> Once you find out how to launch your web browser from command line, run a command similar to the one below to launch it with the parameters that use NVIDIA VA-API driver:<\/p>\n Here replace When the browser opens, play a video from either your local folder or websites, such as Youtube. (You probably need to install enhanced-h264ify<\/b> extension<\/a> for Youtube video). And, use Resources<\/b> app to monitor if your GPU is decoding.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/chromium-nvidiaacc.webp\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStep 1: Install NVIDIA VA-API Driver<\/h3>\n
Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> on keyboard to launch terminal, and run command to add this unofficial PPA<\/a>:<\/p>\nsudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1\/nvidia-vaapi<\/pre>\n
<\/p>\nsudo apt update<\/pre>\n
sudo apt install nvidia-vaapi-driver<\/pre>\n
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sudo apt install build-essential meson gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad libffmpeg-nvenc-dev libva-dev libegl1-mesa-dev libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-dev libgles2-mesa-dev<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
.\/test.sh<\/pre>\n
meson setup build<\/pre>\n
meson install -C build<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Step 2: Test If the Driver Works for You<\/h3>\n
export LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia<\/pre>\n
vainfo<\/pre>\n
sudo apt install vainfo<\/code> to install the tool if command not found. If everything goes well, it should output driver version: “VA-API NVDEC drver [direct backend]” as the screenshot below shows you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n.deb<\/code> package<\/b>, then the executable file was mostly installed in \/usr\/bin<\/code> directory.<\/p>\nls \/usr\/bin\/ |grep -i \"chromium\"<\/pre>\n
chromium<\/code> with chrome<\/code>, edge<\/code>, brave<\/code>, opera<\/code> etc according what browser you use.<\/p>\ngoogle-chrome<\/code> or google-chrome-stable<\/code> to launch the Chrome browser from command line, and run chromium-browser<\/code> to launch chromium from terminal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nflatpak list --app --columns=name,application<\/pre>\n
flatpak run org.chromium.Chromium<\/code><\/p>\norg.chromium.Chromium<\/code> with your browser’s app ID, e.g., com.brave.Browser<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nLIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia google-chrome<\/b> --enable-features=AcceleratedVideoDecodeLinuxGL,VaapiOnNvidiaGPUs --ignore-gpu-blocklist --use-gl=angle --use-angle=gl --ozone-platform=wayland<\/pre>\n
google-chrome<\/code> in command with chromium-browser<\/code>, microsoft-edge<\/code>, or flatpak run org.chromium.Chromium<\/code> etc according the last step. And, skip ozone-platform=wayland<\/code> if you’re NOT on Wayland that’s default in GNOME and KDE Plasma desktops.<\/p>\n