Google Chrome is a widely used web browser in the world. Google Chrome is fast and secure as well. However, it is not an open-source web browser. Hence, Debian comes with a pre-loaded Chromium browser, and not a Chrome. Chromium is an open-source browser.

If you still want to install the Google Chrome browser on Linux, this article is for you. Installing Chrome on Linux has a little twist as it’s not an open-source browser. So let’s check out how you can easily install Chrome browser from a Linux terminal.

Google Chrome Privacy Concerns

The source code of Google Chrome is free software. But, the binaries which Chrome is distributed with come under a restrictive BSD license. In Linux, a Google Chrome web browser is included as a pre-compiled RPM or DEB package. You need the root access to install Google Chrome from a RPM or DEB package.

The Linux Package Signing Key within an apt key ring gives Google a path to install anything virtually into the user's OS. This is done through the google-chrome-stable package because no additional involvement of the system administrator is required while updating this package in future. 

What You Need to Install Chrome

• Login as sudo user.

• Pre-installed wget package.

Installing Google Chrome Browser on Linux

Now I’ll guide you through the steps to install the Google Chrome browser on your Linux system.

Step 1: Download Google Chrome

First, open the Linux terminal using the terminal icon or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T. To download the latest updated version of Google Chrome, run the below-given wget command.

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

Side Note: Wget utility helps download files from the internet. Using Wget, HTTP, FTP, and HTTPS files can be downloaded. It uses the following syntax.

wget [options] [url]

Most of the Linux distros come with a pre-loaded wget utility. If not, please use the below command to get wget on your system.

sudo apt install wget

Step 2: Install Google Chrome

Once the browser is downloaded, install Chrome. To install, write:

sudo apt install ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

The above command is useful in installing the Chrome web browser. After completing the installation, you will be required to enter the user password.

Starting Google Chrome

Once you have installed Chrome on your Linux system, start it by typing “google-chrome” on the terminal. You can also open Google Chrome using the Google Chrome icon given within the Activities list.

After starting Google Chrome, you will get a window asking whether you wish to make Chrome your default web browser. Select as per your choice. And then hit the Ok button to move ahead.

As Google Chrome opens up, you can see Chrome’s welcome page. From there, you have to simply login using your own Google Account id and password. Your bookmarks, passwords, search history, and other settings will automatically be synced on all your devices.

Updating Google Chrome

During the process of installation, the entire Google repository is going to be added to your Debian system. To verify the file content, use cat command in the following way.

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list

At the time of a new Google Chrome release, update your package installed from the desktop using the standard Software Update tool. You can certainly have an option to update the web browser from your Linux terminal. Use the below-given commands for that purpose.

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

Conclusion

Today you have learned how you can install Google Chrome web browser on your Debian machine. If you were using a different browser earlier, like Mozilla Firefox or Opera, you can import your settings and bookmarks into the Chrome installed.

Hope you find this article helpful.