How to Install Tor on Ubuntu Linux

What is Tor Browser?

The answer to this question might need another dedicated post on Tor. But for now to those who are not aware of Tor here is short description about Tor Browser.

Tor is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication. Tor’s intended use is to protect the personal privacy of its users, as well as their freedom and ability to conduct confidential communication by keeping their Internet activities from being monitored.

Tor directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network consisting of more than seven thousand relays to conceal a user’s location and usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis.

Using Tor makes it more difficult to trace Internet activity to the user: this includes “visits to Web sites, online posts, instant messages, and other communication forms”

How to Install Tor on Ubuntu?

Tor Browser when paired with Linux, gives you good privacy protection features and you can completely get away from Online Trackers and browse the web anonymously. By Installing Tor Browser on Ubuntu you can get this protection every time you browse the web.

So in this Linux tutorial, you will learn how to install Tor browser on Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 21.04 by running a few simple commands in Linux Terminal.

So let’s dive in and learn installing Tor on Linux.

It is easy to install Tor on Ubuntu and will take only a few minutes. All you need to do is to run few commands to install Tor browser on Ubuntu and other Ubuntu based Linux distributions like Linux Mint and Zorin OS.

Steps to Install Tor on Ubuntu

1. Install apt-transport-https package to access Linux repository over a secure connection to do that run

sudo apt update && sudo apt install apt-transport-https

2. Using the wget command, acquire Tor Apt repository GPG key to the system to receive future updates. Just run below command

wget -q -O - https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89.asc | sudo apt-key add -

3. To enable Tor Repository run

echo "deb https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

4. Once the repo is enabled update the package list and install Tor Browser by running the following commands.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring torbrowser-launcher

Upon successful execution, Tor Browser will be installed on your Linux PC and is ready to protect your web sessions.

Uninstall Tor Browser

If you change your mind to remove Tor Browser from Linux you can easily do that by running the below command in terminal

sudo apt purge torbrowser-launcher

Install Mono on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Tor Browser Usage guide

Using Tor browser on Linux is very easy. It is similar to any other browser like Google Chrome or Firefox. The only additional steps you need to perform is during the first launch.

To start using Tor Browser type torbrowser-launcher in Linux terminal or you can simply search for Tor browser launcher from your Ubuntu applications menu.

This will launch a configuration window that will setup Tor Browser.

During the first launch, the Tor browser downloads all the required dependencies and packages. On a successful download, you will be asked to Connect to Tor Network.

Clicking on connect will connect you to secure Tor Network and will launch the Tor Browser which looks similar to Mozilla Firefox.

You can now quickly browse your favorite sites anonymously without getting tracked.

How to Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Step by Step with Screenshots

Tor Browser Usage Tips

Undoubtedly Tor is a great browser to protect your privacy. If you follow a few tips while using Tor on Ubuntu you can be safer on the Internet.

• Instead of using Google switch to other privacy based search engines like DuckDuckGo.
• Never try to install additional add-ons as they may track your activities.
• It is advised not to use Tor browser in full window as it may reveal your screen size to the site. Use Tor in the default Window size.
• Don’t bookmark sites while using Tor.
• If possible try to use the Onion services of Sites that use .onion address.
• It is suggested to stay away from illegal sites that promote shady activities.
• Before browsing on Tor make sure your connection is secured.
• To add an additional layer of Privacy use a trusted VPN Service to protect your privacy.

Final Verdict

So this is how you can install and start using Tor on Ubuntu Linux. For other Linux distributions like Fedora and Red Hat, you can check out the official Tor Project site to install Tor from RPM packages.