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 24Both Nix and Alpine have third-party Zed packages available (though they are currently a few weeks out of date).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
 52See [Repology](https://repology.org/project/zed-editor/versions) for a list of Zed packages in various repositories.
 53
 54### Community
 55
 56When 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).
 57
 58We'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).
 59
 60The packages in this section provide binary installs for Zed but are not official packages within the associated distributions. These packages are maintained by community members and as such a higher level of caution should be taken when installing them.
 61
 62#### Debian
 63
 64Zed is available in [this community-maintained repository](https://debian.griffo.io/).
 65
 66Instructions for each version are available in the README of the repository where packages are built.
 67Build, packaging and instructions for each version are available in the README of the [repository](https://github.com/dariogriffo/zed-debian)
 68
 69### Downloading manually
 70
 71If 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:
 72
 73Download the `.tar.gz` file:
 74
 75- [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))
 76- [zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz](https://zed.dev/api/releases/stable/latest/zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz)
 77  ([preview](https://zed.dev/api/releases/preview/latest/zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz))
 78
 79Then ensure that the `zed` binary in the tarball is on your path. The easiest way is to unpack the tarball and create a symlink:
 80
 81```sh
 82mkdir -p ~/.local
 83# extract zed to ~/.local/zed.app/
 84tar -xvf <path/to/download>.tar.gz -C ~/.local
 85# link the zed binary to ~/.local/bin (or another directory in your $PATH)
 86ln -sf ~/.local/zed.app/bin/zed ~/.local/bin/zed
 87```
 88
 89If you'd like integration with an XDG-compatible desktop environment, you will also need to install the `.desktop` file:
 90
 91```sh
 92cp ~/.local/zed.app/share/applications/zed.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
 93sed -i "s|Icon=zed|Icon=$HOME/.local/zed.app/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/zed.png|g" ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
 94sed -i "s|Exec=zed|Exec=$HOME/.local/zed.app/libexec/zed-editor|g" ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
 95```
 96
 97## Uninstalling Zed
 98
 99### Standard Uninstall
100
101If Zed was installed using the default installation script, it can be uninstalled by supplying the `--uninstall` flag to the `zed` shell command
102
103```sh
104zed --uninstall
105```
106
107If there are no errors, the shell will then prompt you whether you'd like to keep your preferences or delete them. After making a choice, you should see a message that Zed was successfully uninstalled.
108
109In the case that the `zed` shell command was not found in your PATH, you can try one of the following commands
110
111```sh
112$HOME/.local/bin/zed --uninstall
113```
114
115or
116
117```sh
118$HOME/.local/zed.app/bin.zed --uninstall
119```
120
121The first case might fail if a symlink was not properly established between `$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.
122
123If 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.
124
125### Package Manager
126
127If Zed was installed using a package manager, please consult the documentation for that package manager on how to uninstall a package.
128
129## Troubleshooting
130
131Linux 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.
132
133### Zed fails to start
134
135If 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).
136
137### Graphics issues
138
139#### Zed fails to open windows
140
141Zed 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.
142
143If you see a notification saying `Zed failed to open a window: NoSupportedDeviceFound` this means that Vulkan cannot find a compatible GPU. you can try running [vkcube](https://github.com/krh/vkcube) (usually available as part of the `vulkaninfo` or `vulkan-tools` package on various distributions) to try to troubleshoot where the issue is coming from like so:
144
145```
146vkcube
147```
148
149> **_Note_**: Try running in both X11 and wayland modes by running `vkcube -m [x11|wayland]`. Some versions of `vkcube` use `vkcube` to run in X11 and `vkcube-wayland` to run in wayland.
150
151This 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 there is no Vulkan support yet.
152
153You can find out which graphics card Zed is using by looking in the Zed log (`~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log`) for `Using GPU: ...`.
154
155If 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))
156
157On 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).
158
159On others, you may be able to the environment variable `DRI_PRIME=1` when running Zed to force the use of the discrete GPU.
160
161If 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))
162
163If 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))
164
165If you are using `amdvlk`, the default open-source AMD graphics driver, you may find that Zed consistently fails to launch. This is a known issue for some users, for example on Omarchy (see issue [#28851](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/28851)). To fix this, you will need to use a different driver. We recommend removing the `amdvlk` and `lib32-amdvlk` packages and installing `vulkan-radeon` instead (see issue [#14141](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/14141)).
166
167For more information, the [Arch guide to Vulkan](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Vulkan) has some good steps that translate well to most distributions.
168
169#### Forcing Zed to use a specific GPU
170
171There are a few different ways to force Zed to use a specific GPU:
172
173##### Option A
174
175You can use the `ZED_DEVICE_ID={device_id}` environment variable to specify the device ID of the GPU you wish to have Zed use.
176
177You can obtain the device ID of your GPU by running `lspci -nn | grep VGA` which will output each GPU on one line like:
178
179```
18008:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA104 [GeForce RTX 3070] [10de:2484] (rev a1)
181```
182
183where the device ID here is `2484`. This value is in hexadecimal, so to force Zed to use this specific GPU you would set the environment variable like so:
184
185```
186ZED_DEVICE_ID=0x2484 zed
187```
188
189Make sure to export the variable if you choose to define it globally in a `.bashrc` or similar.
190
191##### Option B
192
193If you are using Mesa, 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. Furthermore, you can fallback to xwayland with an additional export of `WAYLAND_DISPLAY=""`.
194
195##### Option C
196
197Using [vkdevicechooser](https://github.com/jiriks74/vkdevicechooser).
198
199#### Reporting graphics issues
200
201If 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.
202
203When reporting issues where Zed fails to start due to graphics initialization errors on GitHub, it can be impossible to run the `zed: copy system specs into clipboard` command like we instruct you to in our issue template. We provide an alternative way to collect the system specs specifically for this situation.
204
205Passing the `--system-specs` flag to Zed like
206
207```sh
208zed --system-specs
209```
210
211will print the system specs to the terminal like so. It is strongly recommended to copy the output verbatim into the issue on GitHub, as it uses markdown formatting to ensure the output is readable.
212
213Additionally, it is extremely beneficial to provide the contents of your Zed log when reporting such issues. The log is usually located at `~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log`. The recommended process for producing a helpful log file is as follows:
214
215```sh
216truncate -s 0 ~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log # Clear the log file
217ZED_LOG=blade_graphics=info zed .
218cat ~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log
219# copy the output
220```
221
222Or, if you have the Zed cli setup, you can do
223
224```sh
225ZED_LOG=blade_graphics=info /path/to/zed/cli --foreground .
226# copy the output
227```
228
229It is also highly recommended when pasting the log into a github issue, to do so with the following template:
230
231> **_Note_**: The whitespace in the template is important, and will cause incorrect formatting if not preserved.
232
233````
234<details><summary>Zed Log</summary>
235
236```
237{zed log contents}
238```
239
240</details>
241````
242
243This will cause the logs to be collapsed by default, making it easier to read the issue.
244
245### I can't open any files
246
247### Clicking links isn't working
248
249These features are provided by XDG desktop portals, specifically:
250
251- `org.freedesktop.portal.FileChooser`
252- `org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI`
253
254Some 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.
255
256### Zed isn't remembering my API keys
257
258### Zed isn't remembering my login
259
260These feature also requires XDG desktop portals, specifically:
261
262- `org.freedesktop.portal.Secret` or
263- `org.freedesktop.Secrets`
264
265Zed 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.
266
267### Could not start inotify
268
269Zed relies on inotify to watch your filesystem for changes. If you cannot start inotify then Zed will not work reliably.
270
271If you are seeing "too many open files" then first try `sysctl fs.inotify`.
272
273- 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.
274- 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.
275
276It 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`.
277
278### No sound or wrong output device
279
280If 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.
281
282If your system uses PipeWire:
283
2841. **Install the PipeWire ALSA plugin**
285
286   On Debian-based systems, run:
287
288   ```bash
289   sudo apt install pipewire-alsa
290   ```
291
2922. **Configure ALSA to use PipeWire**
293
294   Add the following configuration to your ALSA settings file. You can use either `~/.asoundrc` (user-level) or `/etc/asound.conf` (system-wide):
295
296   ```bash
297   pcm.!default {
298       type pipewire
299   }
300
301   ctl.!default {
302       type pipewire
303   }
304   ```
305
3063. **Restart your system**
307
308### Forcing X11 scale factor
309
310On X11 systems, Zed automatically detects the appropriate scale factor for high-DPI displays. The scale factor is determined using the following priority order:
311
3121. `GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR` environment variable (if set)
3132. `Xft.dpi` from X resources database (xrdb)
3143. Automatic detection via RandR based on monitor resolution and physical size
315
316If you want to customize the scale factor beyond what Zed detects automatically, you have several options:
317
318#### Check your current scale factor
319
320You can verify if you have `Xft.dpi` set:
321
322```sh
323xrdb -query | grep Xft.dpi
324```
325
326If this command returns no output, Zed is using RandR (X11's monitor management extension) to automatically calculate the scale factor based on your monitor's reported resolution and physical dimensions.
327
328#### Option 1: Set Xft.dpi (X Resources Database)
329
330`Xft.dpi` is a standard X11 setting that many applications use for consistent font and UI scaling. Setting this ensures Zed scales the same way as other X11 applications that respect this setting.
331
332Edit or create the `~/.Xresources` file:
333
334```sh
335vim ~/.Xresources
336```
337
338Add this line with your desired DPI:
339
340```sh
341Xft.dpi: 96
342```
343
344Common DPI values:
345
346- `96` for standard 1x scaling
347- `144` for 1.5x scaling
348- `192` for 2x scaling
349- `288` for 3x scaling
350
351Load the configuration:
352
353```sh
354xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources
355```
356
357Restart Zed for the changes to take effect.
358
359#### Option 2: Use the GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR environment variable
360
361This Zed-specific environment variable directly sets the scale factor, bypassing all automatic detection.
362
363```sh
364GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR=1.5 zed
365```
366
367You can use decimal values (e.g., `1.25`, `1.5`, `2.0`) or set `GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR=randr` to force RandR-based detection even when `Xft.dpi` is set.
368
369To make this permanent, add it to your shell profile or desktop entry.
370
371#### Option 3: Adjust system-wide RandR DPI
372
373This changes the reported DPI for your entire X11 session, affecting how RandR calculates scaling for all applications that use it.
374
375Add this to your `.xprofile` or `.xinitrc`:
376
377```sh
378xrandr --dpi 192
379```
380
381Replace `192` with your desired DPI value. This affects the system globally and will be used by Zed's automatic RandR detection when `Xft.dpi` is not set.
382
383### Font rendering parameters
384
385When using Blade rendering (Linux platforms and self-compiled builds with the Blade renderer enabled), Zed reads `ZED_FONTS_GAMMA` and `ZED_FONTS_GRAYSCALE_ENHANCED_CONTRAST` environment variables for the values to use for font rendering.
386
387`ZED_FONTS_GAMMA` corresponds to [getgamma](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/dwrite/nf-dwrite-idwriterenderingparams-getgamma) values.
388Allowed range [1.0, 2.2], other values are clipped.
389Default: 1.8
390
391`ZED_FONTS_GRAYSCALE_ENHANCED_CONTRAST` corresponds to [getgrayscaleenhancedcontrast](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/dwrite_1/nf-dwrite_1-idwriterenderingparams1-getgrayscaleenhancedcontrast) values.
392Allowed range: [0.0, ..), other values are clipped.
393Default: 1.0