Install Zorin OS - Zorin Help
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Install Zorin OS

A step-by-step guide to help you install Zorin OS alongside your current operating system or instead of it.

What you need

  • A computer capable of running Zorin OS. View System Requirements ›
  • A USB flash drive with enough capacity for your Zorin OS edition:
    • Core and Lite: 4 GB
    • Pro/Pro Lite and Education/Education Lite: 8 GB
  • An external drive or cloud storage for backup. (optional)

Download your Zorin OS .iso file

If you haven’t already downloaded your copy of Zorin OS, you will need to get it from our website to proceed.

Download Zorin OS

Please keep the downloaded .iso file on your computer when following the next steps.

Back up your data

We recommend that you copy the important files on your computer to an external drive or cloud storage service. Installing a new operating system may overwrite your data.

Create a bootable USB Install Drive

You will need to write the Zorin OS .iso file to your USB flash drive using an app called balenaEtcher. The computer that you use to do this can be different from the computer you plan to install Zorin OS onto.

Download balenaEtcher

  1. Plug the USB flash drive into your computer.
  2. Double-click on the balenaEtcher download file to launch the app.
    • On Linux. If you downloaded a .zip file for balenaEtcher, you need to right-click on this file in the Files app and select “Extract Here”. Afterwards, navigate into the newly extracted folder and double-click on the first file named “balena-etcher” to launch the app.
  3. Press “Flash from file” and select the downloaded Zorin OS .iso file on your computer. The file should be in your “Downloads” folder. balenaEtcher
  4. Press “Select target” and choose the correct USB flash drive in the list. balenaEtcher USB flash drive list
  5. Press “Flash!” to begin writing Zorin OS to the USB flash drive. balenaEtcher press Flash!
  6. After a few minutes, the USB flash drive will be ready for booting into Zorin OS.

Boot from the USB Install Drive

To install Zorin OS, you must boot your computer from the USB Install Drive.

  1. Switch off the computer you want to install Zorin OS onto. Make sure it’s completely powered off, and not in sleep or hibernate mode.

  2. Plug the Zorin OS USB Install Drive into the computer.

  3. Switch on the computer. Immediately at start-up, repeatedly press the designated key to open the Boot Device Menu.

    • On a PC. This key should be indicated on the screen at start-up or in your computer’s manual. If you’re unsure which key to press, it is usually either Esc, Delete, F2, F12, or another function key.
    • On a Mac. Press and hold the ⌥ Option key at start-up. If you’re using a wireless keyboard, you may need to plug in a USB keyboard instead to be able to select the boot device.

  4. At the Boot Device Menu, use the arrow keys to highlight the option which mentions “USB”, “EFI”, or the flash drive manufacturer’s name. Press Enter to boot from the Install Drive.

    • On a Mac. Sometimes the Install Drive might be incorrectly identified as “Windows”, which is normal.

  5. Select the “Try or Install Zorin OS” option in the Zorin OS boot selection menu using the Enter key.

    • If your computer has a modern NVIDIA graphics card (produced after 2013). You can select the “Try or Install Zorin OS (modern NVIDIA drivers)” option using the ↓ ↑ keys. Press Enter to boot and install with the official NVIDIA proprietary graphics drivers.
    Welcome menu

  6. Important: While booting, Zorin OS will check the USB Install Drive to ensure there aren’t any defects. We recommend that you do not skip this check the first time you use the USB Install Drive. It helps prevent issues while installing Zorin OS to your computer.

Install your new copy of Zorin OS

Complete the installation of your new copy of Zorin OS to your computer.

  1. Follow the on-screen instructions to start the installation. Installer
  2. When prompted by the installer, please connect to the Internet (if possible). This makes sure all necessary software gets downloaded during the installation process.
  3. You should reach a step titled “Installation type”.
    • If you want to keep your current operating system installed alongside Zorin OS (dual-boot). Select the “Install Zorin OS alongside [your current operating system]” option and press “Continue” to choose how much space to allocate to Zorin OS. If this option didn’t appear for you, see the “Manual partitioning” instructions below.
    • If you want to have only Zorin OS installed on your computer. Select the “Erase disk and install Zorin OS” option and press “Install Now”. Use this option to enable advanced features like disk encryption and LVM.
    • Manual partitioning. If your computer has a non-standard storage drive configuration (such as multiple internal hard drives/SSDs), select the “Something else” option and press “Continue”. You can learn how to use this option in this article ›
  4. Continue following the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
  5. After the installation completes, restart the computer to boot into your installed copy of Zorin OS.

That’s it! We hope you’ll enjoy using Zorin OS 😃️