Install GitHub Desktop on Linux Mint

Linux Mint is built on Ubuntu, so GitHub Desktop 3.6.10 installs on Linux Mint with the same .deb package as Ubuntu. You can use the terminal commands below, or double-click the downloaded file to open it in Mint's package installer.

Linux Mint versions supported

Mint itself is not in the CI matrix; the Ubuntu and Debian versions it is based on are. Mint's desktops ship GNOME Keyring, so sign-in storage normally works out of the box.

How to install GitHub Desktop on Linux Mint

1. 01Download the .deb and its checksum

   Download GitHubDesktop-linux-amd64-3.6.10-linux1.deb and GitHubDesktop-linux-amd64-3.6.10-linux1.deb.sha256 from the latest release.

   shell

   cd ~/Downloads
   wget https://github.com/yehudah/desktop/releases/download/release-3.6.10-linux1/GitHubDesktop-linux-amd64-3.6.10-linux1.deb \
        https://github.com/yehudah/desktop/releases/download/release-3.6.10-linux1/GitHubDesktop-linux-amd64-3.6.10-linux1.deb.sha256

2. 02Verify the download

   Check the file against its SHA-256 checksum. The command must print OK.

   shell

   sha256sum -c GitHubDesktop-linux-amd64-3.6.10-linux1.deb.sha256

3. 03Install the package with apt

   Install the local .deb with apt, which also installs its dependencies (libc6 2.34 or newer and libcurl4).

   shell

   sudo apt install ./GitHubDesktop-linux-amd64-3.6.10-linux1.deb

4. 04Make sure sign-in will work

   Install a Secret Service keyring and desktop-file-utils if they are missing. Most desktop installs already have both.

   shell

   sudo apt install gnome-keyring desktop-file-utils

5. 05Start GitHub Desktop

   Open GitHub Desktop from your application menu, or run github-desktop in a terminal.

   shell

   github-desktop

Sign in to GitHub from GitHub Desktop

Choose Sign in to GitHub.com. Your browser opens GitHub's authorization page; approve it, and allow the browser to open the x-github-client:// link. The page names GitHub Desktop's development OAuth app, because unofficial builds cannot use GitHub's production app. If nothing happens after you approve, check that the .deb registered the link handler:

xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/x-github-client

It should print github-desktop.desktop. If you get signed out after every restart, your keyring is not running or is locked. See sign-in troubleshooting.

Update GitHub Desktop on Linux Mint

There is no auto-update. When a new version comes out (check the changelog), download the new .deb and install it the same way. apt upgrades the existing package in place and keeps your repositories and settings.

Uninstall GitHub Desktop

sudo apt remove github-desktop

Your settings stay in ~/.config/GitHub Desktop. Delete that folder too if you want a clean slate. Your cloned repositories are never touched.

Installing with a double-click on Linux Mint

Prefer not to use the terminal? After downloading the .deb from the download page, double-click it in the file manager and choose Install Package. You should still verify the checksum first (step 2 above).