How to install Blender on Linux

Blender is the leading, free 3D modeling tool on Linux. It’s highly advanced and can be used for everything from video game development, films, as well as basic animation projects.

The Blender application is an open-source project, so it enjoys widespread support on all modern Linux distributions, like Ubuntu, Debian, Arch Linux, Fedora, and OpenSUSE. Additionally, Blender is available for installation in both Flatpak and Snap package formats. Follow along with this guide to learn how to install Blender on your Linux system

Ubuntu installation instructions

On Ubuntu Linux, the Blender app can easily be set up through the software repositories built into the system. However, if you want the latest and greatest, it’s highly recommended that you install it through a PPA. To enable the Blender PPA, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T and enter the command below.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thomas-schiex/blender

After adding the Blender PPA to your Ubuntu Linux PC, you must run the update command to ensure that Ubuntu’s software sources are refreshed.

sudo apt update

Following the update command, install the Blender application to Ubuntu with the apt install command.

sudo apt install blender

Debian installation instructions

Debian Linux carries the Blender app in the “Main” software repository for most versions of the operating system. To install Blender on your Debian Linux PC, open up a terminal window with Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T. From there, use the command below to get the app working.

sudo apt-get install blender

It should be noted that though Blender is readily available to all Debian Linux users, the app is out of date due to the nature of how the operating system releases their software updates. If you need a newer release of Blender on Debian, consider following this guide here to learn how to enable Debian Backports. Alternatively, follow the Flatpak or Snap instructions further on in this guide.

Arch Linux installation instructions

To use Blender on Arch Linux, you must enable the “Community” software repository. To do this, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, from there, open up your Pacman configuration file in the Nano text editor.

sudo nano -w /etc/pacman.conf

Using the Down Arrow on the keyboard, locate the “Community” section of the file, and remove the # symbol from in front of “Community.” Be sure to also remove the # symbol from all lines directly below it.

Once you’ve made the edits to the Pacman configuration file in the Nano text editor, it’s time to save the edits. To save, press Ctrl + O on the keyboard, and press the Enter key. Then, close the Nano text editor by pressing Ctrl + X.

After saving edits to the Pacman configuration file, use the Arch package manager to re-sync software sources, so that “Community” is accessible.

sudo pacman -Syy

Finally, install the Blender app on your Arch Linux PC with the following command.

sudo pacman -S blender

Fedora installation instructions

Fedora Linux users can get their hands on a relatively recent release of the Blender application through the “Fedora” software repository. To install Blender on your Fedora Linux PC, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, from there, use the Dnf package management command below to install the app on the system.

sudo dnf install blender -y

OpenSUSE installation instructions

Every release of OpenSUSE Linux has the Blender application available in the “Oss all” software repository. To get the Blender app installed on your OpenSUSE Linux PC, start by launching a terminal window with Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T. Then, with the terminal window open, use the Zypper package manager to install Blender.

sudo zypper install blender

Blender works pretty well on OpenSUSE Linux. That said, the operating system is pretty out of date, compared to a lot of other Linux distributions out there. If you’d like a more recent release of Blender on your OpenSUSE PC, consider following the Snap or Flatpak instructions instead.

Snap package installation instructions

The Blender 3D modeling application is available for installation via the Snap store. So, if you’re running a Linux operating system that has Snap support, getting Blender working is a quick and painless process.

To install Blender via Snap, open up a terminal window and run the installation command below to get it going. Or, launch the Snap store app, search for “Blender,” and click the blue “install” button.

Note: to use Snap packages on Linux, you must enable Snapd. To learn how to do this, click here.

sudo snap install blender

Flatpak installation instructions

Blender is installable as a Flatpak, which means that if you’re having issues getting the app working through your Linux OS’s software repository, you’ll still be able to use the program.

To set up Blender through Flatpak on Linux, open up a terminal window and enter the commands below.

Note: Flatpak programs require the Flatpak runtime. Before attempting to install Blender, follow our guide to learn how to enable Flatpak on your system.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub org.blender.Blender