How to properly install Blender 4 on Linux

Last Updated on 19. December 2024 by Victor Karp

This tutorial is also available as a short video:

When you install Blender on Windows, you’re automatically able to open any .blend file on your computer with Blender afterwards. There’s also a new entry for Blender in your Start menu. Linux doesn’t have an installer, so you need to do things a bit differently here.

First, download Blender. You’ll end up with a .tar.xz archive file that you need to unpack. Your Linux distro will most likely have a tool for unpacking archives installed already, so you should be able to open the archive either by double-click or find an unpack option in the right-click menu.

Move the unpacked folder to any location you like. I place applications in an “Apps” folder inside my Home directory.

Then open the unpacked Blender folder and double-click the “blender” file (not the blender.desktop file) to start Blender.

Then go to Edit -> Preferences -> System and click on Register. Enter your password to confirm. You are now able to open .blend files with Blender and your have a new entry in the Grahpics section of your Start menu.

Visit the Blender Tutorials main page or the Linux Tutorials main page for more Blender and Linux tutorials.