Linux Mint does not ship Google Chrome. Its repositories carry Chromium instead, built by the Mint team as a normal .deb, so Chrome has to come from Google. The cleanest way is Google’s own .deb package. It installs Chrome and adds Google’s apt repository in one step, so later versions arrive through Update Manager with the rest of your updates.
This guide installs that package, shows exactly what it adds to your system, walks through the four dialogs Chrome opens on first launch, and removes it again cleanly. We ran every step in October 2026 on a fresh Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon install with Chrome 155.
Download the Google Chrome .deb
Google publishes one 64-bit package for every Debian-based distribution, and Mint 22.3 is built on Ubuntu 24.04, so it is the right file. Download it with wget into /tmp, which also keeps apt from printing a notice about downloading as root when it cannot read your home directory:
cd /tmp
wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.debThe file is about 144 MB. Before installing, you can read the version inside it, which is handy when you keep the file around for an offline machine (copy it out of /tmp first, because Mint empties that directory at boot):
dpkg-deb -f google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb VersionOurs was the current stable release:
155.0.8059.84-1If you prefer the browser, the same file is on Google’s Chrome download page. Pick the 64-bit .deb for Debian and Ubuntu, then double-click it in the file manager and Mint’s package installer takes over.
Install Chrome with apt
Install the downloaded file with apt-get rather than dpkg -i. Plain dpkg stops with a dependency error if a library is missing, and leaves a half-configured package behind. Give apt the path with ./ in front, so it treats the argument as a local file and pulls in any missing dependencies on its own:
sudo apt-get install -y ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.debOn our fresh Mint 22.3 install the package needed nothing else, so it was the only new package:
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 311 not upgraded.
Setting up google-chrome-stable (155.0.8059.84-1) ...Confirm the installed version from the terminal:
google-chrome --versionIt should match the version you read from the package:
Google Chrome 155.0.8059.84The browser itself lives under /opt/google/chrome, and the google-chrome command is a link to it.
Check the repository Chrome added
The package does more than install the browser under /opt/google/chrome. It also adds four files that matter for updates:
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.sources/usr/share/keyrings/google-chrome.gpg/etc/cron.daily/google-chrome/etc/default/google-chrome
Together they are how Chrome keeps itself updated, so it pays to know what each one holds before you clean up repositories later. Start with the source file:
cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.sourcesCurrent Chrome packages write a deb822 .sources file, not the one-line google-chrome.list that older guides show. The key goes to /usr/share/keyrings/google-chrome.gpg and is trusted for this repository only:
### THIS FILE IS AUTOMATICALLY CONFIGURED ###
# Changes to this file will not be preserved.
# This file will not be recreated if removed.
X-Repolib-Name: Google Chrome
Types: deb
URIs: https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb/
Suites: stable
Components: main
Architectures: amd64
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/google-chrome.gpgLeave this file as it is. The daily cron job and the settings in /etc/default/google-chrome decide whether it gets recreated. The header means what it says: hand edits get overwritten, and if you delete it, Chrome quietly stops updating. If an older Chrome install left a one-line google-chrome.list behind, the package’s own install script deals with it on the next Chrome update. It deletes the file when Google’s line is the only one in it, and comments that line out when the file holds other repositories too.
Refresh the package lists and check that apt now sees Google as the source:
sudo apt-get update
apt-cache policy google-chrome-stableThe version table should point at dl.google.com. If it shows only /var/lib/dpkg/status, the repository file is missing and you will never get updates:
google-chrome-stable:
Installed: 155.0.8059.84-1
Candidate: 155.0.8059.84-1
Version table:
*** 155.0.8059.84-1 500
500 https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb stable/main amd64 PackagesThe 500 is apt’s normal priority for an added repository, the same as Mint’s own sources.
Launch Chrome and finish the first run
Open the Mint menu, search for Chrome and click Google Chrome. You can also type google-chrome in a terminal. The first launch shows up to four prompts, and two of them catch Mint users out. If your machine logs you in automatically, decide about that now: turning off automatic login in Login Window settings before the first launch lets Chrome use the keyring your login password already unlocks, and it skips the keyring prompt below entirely.
First comes Google’s additional terms of service for Chrome, which covers licensed components such as the AVC video codec. Chrome will not open until you click Accept:
Choose password for new keyring
Next, Mint may ask you to choose a password for a new keyring called “Default Keyring”. Chrome keeps the key that encrypts its saved passwords in the desktop keyring. If you log in automatically, no keyring was unlocked at login, so Chrome asks to create one:
Use your login password here. With automatic login nothing unlocks this keyring when you sign in, so expect Chrome to ask for it again when it starts. Leaving it blank removes the prompt, but the keyring is then stored unencrypted and anyone with access to your files can read what Chrome keeps in it. If you already created the keyring and later switch to a password login, tick “Automatically unlock this keyring whenever I’m logged in” the next time the unlock prompt appears, and it stops asking.
Then Chrome asks whether it should be your default browser and whether to send usage statistics. Both boxes come ticked:
We left the default browser box ticked and cleared the statistics box. Both choices can be changed later in Chrome’s settings, so neither is a trap, but the default-browser box decides which app opens links from your mail client and terminal. You can confirm that the default actually changed from a terminal:
xdg-settings get default-web-browserLinks from other apps now open in Chrome:
google-chrome.desktopThe last screen offers to sign you in to sync bookmarks and passwords:
We clicked “Stay signed out” and Chrome opened its new tab page. You can sign in later from the profile icon next to the address bar, so there is nothing to lose by skipping it now.
Keep Chrome updated
Chrome on Linux has no built-in updater. Open the About page from the menu (three dots, Help, About Google Chrome) or go to chrome://settings/help, and you will see the version but no Update button:
Updates come through apt from the repository the package added. Mint’s Update Manager handles packages from added repositories as well, so new Chrome releases appear there with your system updates. To update just Chrome from a terminal:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y google-chrome-stableWhen you are already current, apt says so and changes nothing:
google-chrome-stable is already the newest version (155.0.8059.84-1).Restart Chrome after an update. The running browser keeps using the old version until you close every window and start it again.
Remove Google Chrome
Use purge rather than remove. That way the repository file and the signing key go too, and you will not keep fetching Google’s package list for a browser you no longer have:
sudo apt-get purge -y google-chrome-stableAfter the purge, /etc/apt/sources.list.d held only Mint’s own official-package-repositories.list, and the key in /usr/share/keyrings was gone. Your profile stays, though. Ours had grown to 160 MB in ~/.config/google-chrome plus 5.2 MB of cache after one session, and it holds your bookmarks, history and saved logins. Delete it only if you do not plan to reinstall:
rm -rf ~/.config/google-chrome ~/.cache/google-chromeRun it as your own user, not with sudo, because each account on the machine has its own Chrome profile.
Choose Chrome, Chromium or the Flatpak
Search Software Manager for Chrome on a default Mint 22 install and you will not find it. The only Chrome it can offer is the Flathub package com.google.Chrome, and Flathub marks it “Not verified”, which Mint hides until you allow unverified Flatpaks in Software Manager’s preferences. Google does not publish it. It is a wrapper that downloads Google’s .deb when you install it, which is why Flathub lists a 9.7 MB download for a browser that’s over 140 MB on its own. Here’s how the three options compare on Mint 22.3:
| Option | Where it comes from | Version we saw | Updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Chrome .deb (this guide) | Google’s repository | 155.0.8059.84 | Update Manager or apt |
Flathub com.google.Chrome | Community wrapper of the .deb, unverified | 155.0.8059.84 | Update Manager (Flatpak) |
| Chromium | Linux Mint repository | 148.0.7778.178 | Update Manager |
We’d use the .deb. It comes straight from Google and updates with the rest of the system. The Flatpak suits you only if you have already enabled unverified Flatpaks and want every app managed the same way. If you’d rather avoid Google’s builds altogether, Mint’s Chromium is a native package too, though seven major versions behind Chrome when we checked. Our Chromium install guide covers it. For the rest of a new setup, see how to install Linux Mint, add Visual Studio Code on Linux Mint, and compare the Chrome install on Ubuntu if you also run Ubuntu machines. Mint itself is a close cousin, as our Ubuntu vs Linux Mint comparison shows.
