Installing Pop!_OS

The following guide describes how to download the Pop!_OS.iso image, write it to a flash drive, and install it on the hardware of your choice.

Requirements

System Specifications

Component	Requirement	Recommended
CPU	64-bit x86, ARM (RAS PI 4) architectures
RAM	4 GB	8 GB
Drive Storage	20 GB

From https://system76.com/pop/download/, choose DOWNLOAD under the section best matching your computer (generic, NVIDIA, or Raspberry Pi). The download page includes the current Requirements and download Filesize, as well as the image checksums used to verify the file once downloaded.

Installation Media

The Pop!_OS.iso can be easily flashed to a USB drive. See our Live Disk Creation article for instructions to create a bootable USB drive in Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Secure Boot

Secure boot must be disabled before installing Pop!_OS. Secure boot can be disabled in the BIOS of most computers; however, the process to disable secure boot will vary by laptop and motherboard model.

Selecting Your Bootable USB Drive as a Boot Device

Power off the target computer and insert the bootable USB. Power on the computer and enter the boot device menu selection for your BIOS or UEFI system. The table below lists lists several common methods for System76 laptops and desktops. Consult your computer manufacturer's documentation to access this menu on third-party computers.

Firmware	BIOS key	Boot Menu key
Laptop - Open Firmware	ESC	ESC (select one time boot option)
Laptop - Proprietary	F2	F7
Older Laptops	Depends on the system	F1
Thelio	Del	F8 or F12
Meerkat	F2	F10

Installing Pop!_OS

Once your bootable USB drive is selected as a boot device, your computer will boot into a live Pop!_OS environment.

Select your language:
Select a locale.
Select a keyboard input language.
Select a keyboard layout.
Choose the Clean Install option for a standard installation. This is the best option for new Linux users, but be aware that this will erase all contents of the target drive. Alternatively, you can select Try Demo Mode to continue testing Pop!_OS in the live environment.

Select Custom (Advanced) to access GParted. This tool allows configuring advanced features like dual booting, creating a separate /home partition, or placing the /tmp partition on a different drive.
Click Erase and Install to install Pop!_OS to your selected disk.

User Account Setup

The next section of the installer will guide you through creating a user account so you can log in to your new Pop!_OS installation.

Provide a full name (this can include any text you want, uppercase or lowercase), as well as a username (which must be lowercase):

Username setup Once the account has been created, you will be prompted to set a new password.

Password setup

Full Disk Encryption

Encrypting the system disk is not necessary, but it ensures user data is secure in the event that someone gains unauthorized physical access to the device.

The drive can be encrypted using your login password by checking Encryption password is the same as user account password, or you can uncheck this box and select Set Password at the bottom. Select Don't Encrypt to skip the disk encryption process.

Encrypt option

If you chose the Set Password button, you will see an additional prompt to set your encryption password. This will be requested every time the system boots.

Continue to the next step in the installer. Pop!_OS will now begin installing to disk.

Progress

When installation completes, reboot your computer and log in to complete the user account setup process.

ℹ️ If you changed the boot order to prioritize your live USB during startup, shut down the computer completely and remove the installation USB. If you are dual-booting, press the appropriate keys to enter setup and select the drive containing the Pop!_OS installation.

Success

NVIDIA Graphics

If you installed from the Intel/AMD ISO and your system has discrete NVIDIA graphics card or if you added one later on, you will need to manually install the drivers for your card to get the optimum performance. Run the following command in a command terminal to install the driver:

sudo apt install system76-driver-nvidia

Initial Setup

After rebooting, if you chose to encrypt your drive, you'll be prompted to enter the decryption passphrase first. After that, the COSMIC Greeter screen will appear and prompt for your user account password.

COSMIC Greeter screen with date and time, clickable settings icons underneath and a password prompt box to the right. Icons under the date and time from left to right include; accessibility, keyboard layout, user accounts, session settings, suspend, restart and shutdown.

At first login, the screen reader will be active. The first page of the initial setup is for accessibility settings and includes the screen reader, magnifier, high contrast, and color invert options. To disable the screen reader during initial setup, turn off the screen reader switch on the right. Click Next to advance to the next setup window.

Personalize the desktop appearance with one of the pre-configured color themes, then click Next. (You can further customize accent colors and the look of your desktop in Appearance Settings after the initial setup is complete.)

Personalize Appearance window during initial setup. Three options on top from left to right include COSMIC Dark, COSMIC Light, and Comet Light. The second row of options from left to right are Cream Light, Mocha Dark, and Nebula Dark.

Choose the layout configuration for your dock and panel, then click Next. (This screenshot shows the default "Top Panel & Bottom Dock" layout; later screenshots show the "Bottom Panel" layout.)

Layout configuration settings for the dock and panel during initial setup. The first option is Top Panel and Bottom Dock. The second option is Bottom Panel. Move the panel or dock to any edge, change the size and automatically hide them in Settings.

The following pages during initial setup are for informative purposes. Click Next on each page to advance to the next, or click Skip setup and close at any time to finish the setup.

New System Applications

"New System Applications" during initial setup window with icons for the applications highlighted in an image and text that says, "Enjoy an array of new system applications that come with the COSMIC desktop environment. Including Settings, COSMIC App Store, Files, Text Editor, and Terminal."

Workspaces for Your Workflow

"Workspaces for Your Workflow" describes the features to automatically tile or float windows per-workspace using the tiling applet. You can select vertical or horizontal workspaces and pin workspaces to make them static.

New Keyboard Shortcuts

"New Keyboard Shortcuts" explains new shortcuts like Shift+Super+arrows or drag with the pointer to move windows, and mentions the visual hints when using automatic window tiling.

Fast and Efficient

"Fast and Efficient" informative window during initial setup. Press the Super or Windows key to activate the Launcher. Search and press enter to open an app or switch to it. You can also jump to settings or system functions like suspend. Type "?" to learn about the Launcher's advanced features.