How to Install Tor Browser in Ubuntu 22.04

Tor is the most secure Linux browser for protecting your online privacy. Tor is a free and open-source Web browser based on Firefox. Your connection is encrypted and protected from trackers and network surveillance.

In this tutorial, we will walk you through the complete installation process of Tor in Ubuntu 22.04 or later, but this is also applicable to other Ubuntu-based Distributions such as Pop_OS, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Linux Mint, Elementary OS, and many more.

What Makes Tor Unique?

When you are surfing websites using your standard Browser, such as Chrome, you are directly connected to the website without any Encryption, which makes your IP known to the trackers and network surveillance tools.

On the other hand, Tor adds multiple layers of encryption to your connection and redirects your traffic to multiple relays, which are known as nodes. When your information passes from node to node, each node will only decrypt the data that specifies the next node.

Throughout the bouncing from node to node, your main IP and end node remain unknown until the end node. Your final node is also unknown to your primary IP and location and just passes the required information. 

Because of this complex process, none of the surveillance trackers will get your original Data at any node or final destination. You get a slower experience because your request will go through many nodes before reaching its End destination. 

Key Features of Tor Browser

1. It is free and open-source
2. Guarantees you complex encryption that is hard to break
3. Keeps your identity safe and secure over the internet
4. Allows you to visit restricted websites

Installing Tor Browser in Ubuntu 22.04

There are many ways to install the software in Ubuntu, but we are going for four specific methods that are easy to understand and can be applied without a Linux expert.

Method 1: Installing Tor Browser From Ubuntu Software Centre

This is the easiest method because you don’t have to use your Terminal, and it doesn’t involve any complexity. Just click here and there and have Tor installed on your Ubuntu Machine.

1. Click on Activities, search for Ubuntu Software, and hit Enter for the first result.

2. Search Tor browser by clicking on the search bar. You will get the first result for the Tor Browser launcher. Click on that option.

3. Click on the Install button. It would ask for your password. Enter your password, and it will start downloading.

4. Once the installation is complete, search for the Tor browser by clicking on Activities. Click on the Tor browser, and it will start downloading the browser.

5. After the installation, Tor will be launched. Click on Always connect automatically and then click on connect. 

6. That’s it. Tor is installed and configured for your daily usage.

Method 2: Installing Tor Browser using GUI

This is another beginner-friendly method to install Tor on your Ubuntu Machine. In this method, we will be downloading Tor from its official website. 

1.  Open any of your favorite browsers and go to the download page of Tor. Click on Download for Linux, and it will start downloading Tor.

2. Open your File Manager and click on Downloads. You will find the downloaded Tor file.

3. Right-click on the Download file and click on extract here. And you will see the new folder created.

4. Tor has been downloaded, but we are required to Register Tor as App so we can access it through the App menu. Open your Terminal and follow the given commands:

 cd Downloads/tor-browser-linux64-11.0.6_en-US/tor-browser_en-US/ 

5. You may have a newer version, so check your folder’s name accordingly.

 ./start-tor-browser.desktop –register-app 

And that’s it. Tor has been installed on your Ubuntu machine.

Method 3: Installing Tor Browser using Terminal

We all know the efficiency you can get using Terminal, and if you are a bit familiar with Terminal, you can easily. Just follow the commands, and your privacy-centric browser will be installed.

1. Click on Activities and search terminal. Open Terminal and use the following code to add a Repository for downloading Tor Browser.

 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:micahflee/ppa 

2. Once the required repository has been added to our System, we have to update all the repositories to get the latest software.

 sudo apt update 

3. After updating Repositories, we can download Tor by the given command:

 sudo apt install torbrowser-launcher 

Tor has been downloaded to your System. 

How to Uninstall Tor Browser from Ubuntu 22.04

Having Tor installed on your Ubuntu Machine won’t harm your System, but if you are running out of space, you can remove it easily from your system. 

Method 1: Uninstalling Tor from Ubuntu using Ubuntu Software

This is the easiest method to remove From your System. If you have followed the 1st method to install Tor, you can use this method. 

1. Open Ubuntu Software and search for Tor browser. You will get the first result with written “Installed” over it. Click on that Result.

2. Once you click on that result, you will be given details of Tor with the remove button. Click on the Remove button.

3. Click on remove again, and that’s it. Tor has been removed.

Method 2: Uninstalling Tor from Ubuntu using GUI

If you have installed Tor by downloading packages from their official site, similar to our 2nd method of installation, you can use this method.

1. Open your file manager and locate the folder which you have extracted. In our case, it was in Downloads. Delete that folder.

2. We have removed Tor, but it will still show you the Tor icon in the App gallery. Because we registered that App. To remove the icon of Tor, we are required to remove that entry. Open your Terminal and use the following commands:

This command is used to get up the path where we have registered our app.

 cd .local/share/applications/ 

3. Now use the given command to remove the entry:

 rm start-tor-browser.desktop 

Method 3: Uninstalling Tor from Ubuntu using Terminal

This method is for those who have to download Tor by adding repositories to their Systems which is similar to the 3rd method, which we have shown to install Tor using Terminal.

This command will remove all the configurations, which can be helpful for the reinstallation process. Open your Terminal and use this given command:

 sudo apt purge torbrowser-launcher tor 

Tor has been removed from Ubuntu successfully.

Frequently asked questions related to Tor Browser

Is it safe to use the Tor browser on Linux?

Yes, it is the safest browser you can get. Because it gives you advanced Encryption and Tor Relays to enhance your privacy. You can use it without worrying.

Does Tor keep history?

No. It does not store your history and will only store cookies for single sessions. Once you close Tor, all the cookies will be removed.

Why is Tor so slow?

Because it does not connect you to the website, it will add multiple layers of encryption, and your request will go through multiple nodes. This is the reason why it feels slower than your traditional browser.

Related Post:

• How to Install Brave on Ubuntu 22.04
• How to Install Chrome on Ubuntu
• Add a User to Sudoers on Ubuntu

Closing Thoughts

Tor is developed to protect your online privacy so that you can anonymously surf the web. You just have to install Tor in Ubuntu 22.04 System, and you are ready for being anonymous on the Web.