1# Zed on Linux
  2
  3## Standard Installation
  4
  5For most people we recommend using the script on the [download](https://zed.dev/download) page to install Zed:
  6
  7```sh
  8curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | sh
  9```
 10
 11We also offer a preview build of Zed which receives updates about a week ahead of stable. You can install it with:
 12
 13```sh
 14curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | ZED_CHANNEL=preview sh
 15```
 16
 17The Zed installed by the script works best on systems that:
 18
 19- have a Vulkan compatible GPU available (for example Linux on an M-series macBook)
 20- have a system-wide glibc (NixOS and Alpine do not by default)
 21  - x86_64 (Intel/AMD): glibc version >= 2.31 (Ubuntu 20 and newer)
 22  - aarch64 (ARM): glibc version >= 2.35 (Ubuntu 22 and newer)
 23
 24Both Nix and Alpine have third-party Zed packages available (though they are currently a few weeks out of date). If you'd like to use our builds they do work if you install a glibc compatibility layer. On NixOS you can try [nix-ld](https://github.com/Mic92/nix-ld), and on Alpine [gcompat](https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Running_glibc_programs).
 25
 26You will need to build from source for:
 27
 28- architectures other than 64-bit Intel or 64-bit ARM (for example a 32-bit or RISC-V machine)
 29- Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.x, Rocky Linux 8, AlmaLinux 8, Amazon Linux 2 on all architectures
 30- Redhat Enterprise Linux 9.x, Rocky Linux 9.3, AlmaLinux 8, Amazon Linux 2023 on aarch64 (x86_x64 OK)
 31
 32## Other ways to install Zed on Linux
 33
 34Zed is open source, and [you can install from source](./development/linux.md).
 35
 36### Installing via a package manager
 37
 38There are several third-party Zed packages for various Linux distributions and package managers, sometimes under `zed-editor`. You may be able to install Zed using these packages:
 39
 40- Flathub: [`dev.zed.Zed`](https://flathub.org/apps/dev.zed.Zed)
 41- Arch: [`zed`](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/zed/)
 42- Arch (AUR): [`zed-git`](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/zed-git), [`zed-preview`](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/zed-preview), [`zed-preview-bin`](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/zed-preview-bin)
 43- Alpine: `zed` ([aarch64](https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/package/edge/testing/aarch64/zed)) ([x86_64](https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/package/edge/testing/x86_64/zed))
 44- Nix: `zed-editor` ([unstable](https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=unstable&show=zed-editor))
 45- Fedora/Ultramarine (Terra): [`zed`](https://github.com/terrapkg/packages/tree/frawhide/anda/devs/zed/stable), [`zed-preview`](https://github.com/terrapkg/packages/tree/frawhide/anda/devs/zed/preview), [`zed-nightly`](https://github.com/terrapkg/packages/tree/frawhide/anda/devs/zed/nightly)
 46- Solus: [`zed`](https://github.com/getsolus/packages/tree/main/packages/z/zed)
 47- Parabola: [`zed`](https://www.parabola.nu/packages/extra/x86_64/zed/)
 48- Manjaro: [`zed`](https://packages.manjaro.org/?query=zed)
 49- ALT Linux (Sisyphus): [`zed`](https://packages.altlinux.org/en/sisyphus/srpms/zed/)
 50- AOSC OS: [`zed`](https://packages.aosc.io/packages/zed)
 51- openSUSE Tumbleweed: [`zed`](https://en.opensuse.org/Zed)
 52- Please add others to this list!
 53
 54When installing a third-party package please be aware that it may not be completely up to date and may be slightly different from the Zed we package (a common change is to rename the binary to `zedit` or `zeditor` to avoid conflicting with other packages).
 55
 56We'd love your help making Zed available for everyone. If Zed is not yet available for your package manager, and you would like to fix that, we have some notes on [how to do it](./development/linux.md#notes-for-packaging-zed).
 57
 58### Downloading manually
 59
 60If you'd prefer, you can install Zed by downloading our pre-built .tar.gz. This is the same artifact that our install script uses, but you can customize the location of your installation by modifying the instructions below:
 61
 62Download the `.tar.gz` file:
 63
 64- [zed-linux-x86_64.tar.gz](https://zed.dev/api/releases/stable/latest/zed-linux-x86_64.tar.gz) ([preview](https://zed.dev/api/releases/preview/latest/zed-linux-x86_64.tar.gz))
 65- [zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz](https://zed.dev/api/releases/stable/latest/zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz)
 66  ([preview](https://zed.dev/api/releases/preview/latest/zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz))
 67
 68Then ensure that the `zed` binary in the tarball is on your path. The easiest way is to unpack the tarball and create a symlink:
 69
 70```sh
 71mkdir -p ~/.local
 72# extract zed to ~/.local/zed.app/
 73tar -xvf <path/to/download>.tar.gz -C ~/.local
 74# link the zed binary to ~/.local/bin (or another directory in your $PATH)
 75ln -sf ~/.local/zed.app/bin/zed ~/.local/bin/zed
 76```
 77
 78If you'd like integration with an XDG-compatible desktop environment, you will also need to install the `.desktop` file:
 79
 80```sh
 81cp ~/.local/zed.app/share/applications/zed.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
 82sed -i "s|Icon=zed|Icon=$HOME/.local/zed.app/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/zed.png|g" ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
 83sed -i "s|Exec=zed|Exec=$HOME/.local/zed.app/libexec/zed-editor|g" ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
 84```
 85
 86## Uninstalling Zed
 87
 88### Standard Uninstall
 89
 90If Zed was installed using the default installation script, it can be uninstalled by supplying the `--uninstall` flag to the `zed` shell command
 91
 92```sh
 93zed --uninstall
 94```
 95
 96If there are no errors, the shell will then prompt you whether you'd like to keep your preferences or delete them. After making a choice, you should see a message that Zed was successfully uninstalled.
 97
 98In the case that the `zed` shell command was not found in your PATH, you can try one of the following commands
 99
100```sh
101$HOME/.local/bin/zed --uninstall
102```
103
104or
105
106```sh
107$HOME/.local/zed.app/bin.zed --uninstall
108```
109
110The first case might fail if a symlink was not properly established between `$HOME/.local/bin/zed` and `$HOME/.local/zed.app/bin.zed`. But the second case should work as long as Zed was installed to its default location.
111
112If Zed was installed to a different location, you must invoke the `zed` binary stored in that installation directory and pass the `--uninstall` flag to it in the same format as the previous commands.
113
114### Package Manager
115
116If Zed was installed using a package manager, please consult the documentation for that package manager on how to uninstall a package.
117
118## Troubleshooting
119
120Linux works on a large variety of systems configured in many different ways. We primarily test Zed on a vanilla Ubuntu setup, as it is the most common distribution our users use, that said we do expect it to work on a wide variety of machines.
121
122### Zed fails to start
123
124If you see an error like "/lib64/libc.so.6: version 'GLIBC_2.29' not found" it means that your distribution's version of glibc is too old. You can either upgrade your system, or [install Zed from source](./development/linux.md).
125
126### Graphics issues
127
128### Zed fails to open windows
129
130Zed requires a GPU to run effectively. Under the hood, we use [Vulkan](https://www.vulkan.org/) to communicate with your GPU. If you are seeing problems with performance, or Zed fails to load, it is possible that Vulkan is the culprit.
131
132If you see a notification saying `Zed failed to open a window: NoSupportedDeviceFound` this means that Vulkan cannot find a compatible GPU. You can begin troubleshooting Vulkan by installing the `vulkan-tools` package and running:
133
134```sh
135vkcube
136```
137
138This should output a line describing your current graphics setup and show a rotating cube. If this does not work, you should be able to fix it by installing Vulkan compatible GPU drivers, however in some cases (for example running Linux on an Arm-based MacBook) there is no Vulkan support yet.
139
140You can find out which graphics card Zed is using by looking in the Zed log (`~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log`) for `Using GPU: ...`.
141
142If you see errors like `ERROR_INITIALIZATION_FAILED` or `GPU Crashed` or `ERROR_SURFACE_LOST_KHR` then you may be able to work around this by installing different drivers for your GPU, or by selecting a different GPU to run on. (See [#14225](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/14225))
143
144On some systems the file `/etc/prime-discrete` can be used to enforce the use of a discrete GPU using [PRIME](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME). Depending on the details of your setup, you may need to change the contents of this file to "on" (to force discrete graphics) or "off" (to force integrated graphics).
145
146On others, you may be able to the environment variable `DRI_PRIME=1` when running Zed to force the use of the discrete GPU.
147
148If you're using an AMD GPU and Zed crashes when selecting long lines, try setting the `ZED_PATH_SAMPLE_COUNT=0` environment variable. (See [#26143](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/26143))
149If you're using an AMD GPU, you might get a 'Broken Pipe' error. Try using the RADV or Mesa drivers. (See [#13880](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/13880))
150
151If you are using Mesa, and want more control over which GPU is selected you can run `MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT=list zed --foreground` to get a list of available GPUs and then export `MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT=xxxx:yyyy` to choose a specific device.
152
153If you are using `amdvlk` you may find that zed only opens when run with `sudo $(which zed)`. To fix this, remove the `amdvlk` and `lib32-amdvlk` packages and install mesa/vulkan instead. ([#14141](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/14141)).
154
155For more information, the [Arch guide to Vulkan](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Vulkan) has some good steps that translate well to most distributions.
156
157If Vulkan is configured correctly, and Zed is still not working for you, please [file an issue](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed) with as much information as possible.
158
159### I can't open any files
160
161### Clicking links isn't working
162
163These features are provided by XDG desktop portals, specifically:
164
165- `org.freedesktop.portal.FileChooser`
166- `org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI`
167
168Some window managers, such as `Hyprland`, don't provide a file picker by default. See [this list](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/XDG_Desktop_Portal#List_of_backends_and_interfaces) as a starting point for alternatives.
169
170### Zed isn't remembering my API keys
171
172### Zed isn't remembering my login
173
174These feature also requires XDG desktop portals, specifically:
175
176- `org.freedesktop.portal.Secret` or
177- `org.freedesktop.Secrets`
178
179Zed needs a place to securely store secrets such as your Zed login cookie or your OpenAI API Keys and we use a system provided keychain to do this. Examples of packages that provide this are `gnome-keyring`, `KWallet` and `keepassxc` among others.
180
181### Could not start inotify
182
183Zed relies on inotify to watch your filesystem for changes. If you cannot start inotify then Zed will not work reliably.
184
185If you are seeing "too many open files" then first try `sysctl fs.inotify`.
186
187- You should see that max_user_instances is 128 or higher (you can change the limit with `sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=1024`). Zed needs only 1 inotify instance.
188- You should see that `max_user_watches` is 8000 or higher (you can change the limit with `sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=64000`). Zed needs one watch per directory in all your open projects + one per git repository + a handful more for settings, themes, keymaps, extensions.
189
190It is also possible that you are running out of file descriptors. You can check the limits with `ulimit` and update them by editing `/etc/security/limits.conf`.
191
192### No sound or wrong output device
193
194If you're not hearing any sound in Zed or the audio is routed to the wrong device, it could be due to a mismatch between audio systems. Zed relies on ALSA, while your system may be using PipeWire or PulseAudio. To resolve this, you need to configure ALSA to route audio through PipeWire/PulseAudio.
195
196If your system uses PipeWire:
197
1981. **Install the PipeWire ALSA plugin**
199
200   On Debian-based systems, run:
201
202   ```bash
203   sudo apt install pipewire-alsa
204   ```
205
2062. **Configure ALSA to use PipeWire**
207
208   Add the following configuration to your ALSA settings file. You can use either `~/.asoundrc` (user-level) or `/etc/asound.conf` (system-wide):
209
210   ```bash
211   pcm.!default {
212       type pipewire
213   }
214
215   ctl.!default {
216       type pipewire
217   }
218   ```
219
2203. **Restart your system**