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24Both Nix and Alpine have third-party Zed packages available (though they are currently a few weeks out of date).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
53See [Repology](https://repology.org/project/zed-editor/versions) for a list of Zed packages in various repositories.
54
55When 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).
56
57We'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).
58
59### Downloading manually
60
61If 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:
62
63Download the `.tar.gz` file:
64
65- [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))
66- [zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz](https://zed.dev/api/releases/stable/latest/zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz)
67 ([preview](https://zed.dev/api/releases/preview/latest/zed-linux-aarch64.tar.gz))
68
69Then ensure that the `zed` binary in the tarball is on your path. The easiest way is to unpack the tarball and create a symlink:
70
71```sh
72mkdir -p ~/.local
73# extract zed to ~/.local/zed.app/
74tar -xvf <path/to/download>.tar.gz -C ~/.local
75# link the zed binary to ~/.local/bin (or another directory in your $PATH)
76ln -sf ~/.local/zed.app/bin/zed ~/.local/bin/zed
77```
78
79If you'd like integration with an XDG-compatible desktop environment, you will also need to install the `.desktop` file:
80
81```sh
82cp ~/.local/zed.app/share/applications/zed.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
83sed -i "s|Icon=zed|Icon=$HOME/.local/zed.app/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/zed.png|g" ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
84sed -i "s|Exec=zed|Exec=$HOME/.local/zed.app/libexec/zed-editor|g" ~/.local/share/applications/dev.zed.Zed.desktop
85```
86
87## Uninstalling Zed
88
89### Standard Uninstall
90
91If Zed was installed using the default installation script, it can be uninstalled by supplying the `--uninstall` flag to the `zed` shell command
92
93```sh
94zed --uninstall
95```
96
97If there are no errors, the shell will then prompt you whether you'd like to keep your preferences or delete them. After making a choice, you should see a message that Zed was successfully uninstalled.
98
99In the case that the `zed` shell command was not found in your PATH, you can try one of the following commands
100
101```sh
102$HOME/.local/bin/zed --uninstall
103```
104
105or
106
107```sh
108$HOME/.local/zed.app/bin.zed --uninstall
109```
110
111The first case might fail if a symlink was not properly established between `$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.
112
113If 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.
114
115### Package Manager
116
117If Zed was installed using a package manager, please consult the documentation for that package manager on how to uninstall a package.
118
119## Troubleshooting
120
121Linux 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.
122
123### Zed fails to start
124
125If 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).
126
127### Graphics issues
128
129#### Zed fails to open windows
130
131Zed 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.
132
133If 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:
134
135```
136vkcube
137```
138
139> **_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.
140
141This 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.
142
143You can find out which graphics card Zed is using by looking in the Zed log (`~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log`) for `Using GPU: ...`.
144
145If 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))
146
147On 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).
148
149On others, you may be able to the environment variable `DRI_PRIME=1` when running Zed to force the use of the discrete GPU.
150
151If 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))
152
153If 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))
154
155If 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)).
156
157For more information, the [Arch guide to Vulkan](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Vulkan) has some good steps that translate well to most distributions.
158
159#### Forcing Zed to use a specific GPU
160
161There are a few different ways to force Zed to use a specific GPU:
162
163##### Option A
164
165You can use the `ZED_DEVICE_ID={device_id}` environment variable to specify the device ID of the GPU you wish to have Zed use.
166
167You can obtain the device ID of your GPU by running `lspci -nn | grep VGA` which will output each GPU on one line like:
168
169```
17008:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA104 [GeForce RTX 3070] [10de:2484] (rev a1)
171```
172
173where 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:
174
175```
176ZED_DEVICE_ID=0x2484 zed
177```
178
179Make sure to export the variable if you choose to define it globally in a `.bashrc` or similar.
180
181##### Option B
182
183If 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.
184
185##### Option C
186
187Using [vkdevicechooser](https://github.com/jiriks74/vkdevicechooser).
188
189#### Reporting graphics issues
190
191If 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.
192
193When 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.
194
195Passing the `--system-specs` flag to Zed like
196
197```sh
198zed --system-specs
199```
200
201will 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.
202
203Additionally, 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:
204
205```sh
206truncate -s 0 ~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log # Clear the log file
207ZED_LOG=blade_graphics=info zed .
208cat ~/.local/share/zed/logs/Zed.log
209# copy the output
210```
211
212Or, if you have the Zed cli setup, you can do
213
214```sh
215ZED_LOG=blade_graphics=info /path/to/zed/cli --foreground .
216# copy the output
217```
218
219It is also highly recommended when pasting the log into a github issue, to do so with the following template:
220
221> **_Note_**: The whitespace in the template is important, and will cause incorrect formatting if not preserved.
222
223````
224<details><summary>Zed Log</summary>
225
226```
227{zed log contents}
228```
229
230</details>
231````
232
233This will cause the logs to be collapsed by default, making it easier to read the issue.
234
235### I can't open any files
236
237### Clicking links isn't working
238
239These features are provided by XDG desktop portals, specifically:
240
241- `org.freedesktop.portal.FileChooser`
242- `org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI`
243
244Some 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.
245
246### Zed isn't remembering my API keys
247
248### Zed isn't remembering my login
249
250These feature also requires XDG desktop portals, specifically:
251
252- `org.freedesktop.portal.Secret` or
253- `org.freedesktop.Secrets`
254
255Zed 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.
256
257### Could not start inotify
258
259Zed relies on inotify to watch your filesystem for changes. If you cannot start inotify then Zed will not work reliably.
260
261If you are seeing "too many open files" then first try `sysctl fs.inotify`.
262
263- 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.
264- 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.
265
266It 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`.
267
268### No sound or wrong output device
269
270If 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.
271
272If your system uses PipeWire:
273
2741. **Install the PipeWire ALSA plugin**
275
276 On Debian-based systems, run:
277
278 ```bash
279 sudo apt install pipewire-alsa
280 ```
281
2822. **Configure ALSA to use PipeWire**
283
284 Add the following configuration to your ALSA settings file. You can use either `~/.asoundrc` (user-level) or `/etc/asound.conf` (system-wide):
285
286 ```bash
287 pcm.!default {
288 type pipewire
289 }
290
291 ctl.!default {
292 type pipewire
293 }
294 ```
295
2963. **Restart your system**
297
298### Forcing X11 scale factor
299
300On X11 systems, Zed automatically detects the appropriate scale factor for high-DPI displays. The scale factor is determined using the following priority order:
301
3021. `GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR` environment variable (if set)
3032. `Xft.dpi` from X resources database (xrdb)
3043. Automatic detection via RandR based on monitor resolution and physical size
305
306If you want to customize the scale factor beyond what Zed detects automatically, you have several options:
307
308#### Check your current scale factor
309
310You can verify if you have `Xft.dpi` set:
311
312```sh
313xrdb -query | grep Xft.dpi
314```
315
316If 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.
317
318#### Option 1: Set Xft.dpi (X Resources Database)
319
320`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.
321
322Edit or create the `~/.Xresources` file:
323
324```sh
325vim ~/.Xresources
326```
327
328Add this line with your desired DPI:
329
330```sh
331Xft.dpi: 96
332```
333
334Common DPI values:
335
336- `96` for standard 1x scaling
337- `144` for 1.5x scaling
338- `192` for 2x scaling
339- `288` for 3x scaling
340
341Load the configuration:
342
343```sh
344xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources
345```
346
347Restart Zed for the changes to take effect.
348
349#### Option 2: Use the GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR environment variable
350
351This Zed-specific environment variable directly sets the scale factor, bypassing all automatic detection.
352
353```sh
354GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR=1.5 zed
355```
356
357You 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.
358
359To make this permanent, add it to your shell profile or desktop entry.
360
361#### Option 3: Adjust system-wide RandR DPI
362
363This changes the reported DPI for your entire X11 session, affecting how RandR calculates scaling for all applications that use it.
364
365Add this to your `.xprofile` or `.xinitrc`:
366
367```sh
368xrandr --dpi 192
369```
370
371Replace `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.