The Raspberry Pi lineup consists of incredible little devices capable of running fully-functional operating systems. In my review of the latest iteration of the palm-sized ARM computer (pun intended), I praised the official Raspberry Pi OS for being optimized enough to power almost all my computing needs except gaming. That said, there’s no reason to stick with just one OS: one of the biggest advantages of using a Raspberry Pi is that you can switch between different operating systems by just swapping your microSD cards.

So, if you’ve grown tired of Raspberry Pi OS, you can spice things up by installing Ubuntu on another microSD card. To help you with that, we've created a step-by-step guide that goes over everything you need to know to install the most popular Linux distribution on your Raspberry Pi.

Note: I've used a Raspberry Pi 5 for this demonstration, but you can install Ubuntu on most models except Raspberry Pi 1, Zero, and Pico.

Flashing an Ubuntu ARM image on the microSD card

Since the Raspberry Pi lineup uses microSD cards as the primary storage, the installation procedure for Ubuntu is a bit different from how you’d set the OS up on a modern PC. To be more specific, you’ll have to write the Ubuntu files onto the microSD card instead of creating a bootable pen drive.

We’ll stick to the Raspberry Pi Imager app as it doesn’t require you to scour the Internet to search for an Ubuntu ARM image. But you can also use other flashing utilities like Balena Etcher and Rufus.

  1. Download the Raspberry Pi Imager app from the official link and run the setup.exe file with admin privileges.
  2. Press the Install button and run the Raspberry Pi Imager as an administrator once it has finished installing.
  3. Click on Choose Device and pick your Raspberry Pi model from the list of devices.
    A screenshot of Raspberry Pi Imager depicting the procedure to select the model of the Raspberry Pi
  4. Click on Choose OS and select Other general-purpose OS.
    A screenshot of Raspberry Pi Imager depicting the procedure to select the OS
  5. Choose the version of Ubuntu you wish to install on your Raspberry Pi.
    A screenshot of Raspberry Pi Imager depicting the procedure to select the Desktop version of Ubuntu
    For this guide, we'll go with the latest version of the Ubuntu Desktop.
  6. Click on Choose Storage and pick the microSD card where you wish to flash the Ubuntu image.
  7. Hit Next and press Yes when the warning window pops up.

Setting up Ubuntu

After Raspberry Pi Imager has written the Ubuntu files onto the microSD card, it’s time to boot into the OS for the first time.

  1. Insert the microSD card, plug in the power and micro HDMI cables, and connect a keyboard and a mouse to your Raspberry Pi before powering it on.
  2. Once Ubuntu boots up, pick the System language and click on Continue.
    A screenshot of the initial Ubuntu setup depicting the system language settings
  3. Choose the Keyboard layout and hit Continue.
    A screenshot of the initial Ubuntu setup with the keyboard layout settings highlighted
  4. If you haven’t connected the Raspberry Pi to a LAN cable, click on the Wi-Fi network of your choice and hit Connect after entering the password.
    A screenshot of the initial Ubuntu setup with the Wi-Fi settings highlighted
  5. Select your Location and press the Continue button.
    A screenshot of the initial Ubuntu setup with the Location option highlighted
  6. Enter the username, computer name, and password before clicking on Continue one last time.
    A screenshot of the initial Ubuntu setup with the username, password, and other highlighted

Wrapping up the Ubuntu installation

A screenshot of Ubuntu running on the Raspberry Pi

Ubuntu will take a couple of seconds (or minutes, depending on your Pi model and the speed of your microSD card) to complete the final stages of the setup procedure. If you’ve followed all the steps properly, the default GNOME desktop will appear, and Ubuntu will ask you to enable the location services and request permission to send system information to Canonical. With that, you’re free to embark on your journey into the Ubuntu landscape with your Raspberry Pi.

If you’re looking for more practical uses for the Raspberry Pi besides testing out different operating systems, you should check out our guide on how to turn your Raspberry Pi into a media server. Once you're more familiar with the Command-Line Interface, you can even convert the SBC into a NAS for all your file-sharing needs.