Zen

Zen for Linux

Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Linux Mint 21 or newer. Other distributions: Flatpak.

Recommended

Debian, Ubuntu, Mint: the .deb package

One command installs Zen and its menu entry.

Download for Linux x64. For ARM see Other ways.

  1. Download the package

    Click the button above and save Zen-Linux-x64.deb (usually into Downloads).

  2. Install it

    In a terminal in that folder run this, then open Zen from the menu:

    sudo apt install ./Zen-Linux-x64.deb

If something goes wrong

Zen cannot keep its key

Zen stores its encryption key in GNOME Keyring or KWallet. Install one of them and log in again.

No videos or voice notes

Install the GStreamer plugins:

sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-libav
No tray icon

Install libayatana-appindicator3-1 (GNOME also needs the AppIndicator extension).

Other ways

Other distributions: Flatpak (x64)

Download the file and run this. Flatpak does not update itself: when Zen says a new file is out, install it the same way.

flatpak install --user ./Zen-Linux-x64.flatpak
Zen-Linux-x64.flatpak
Raspberry Pi and other ARM computers, or a plain archive

The ARM .deb installs like the x64 one. The .tar.gz needs no installation: unpack it and run Zen/zen; Zen/install-desktop-entry.sh adds it to the menu.

Zen-Linux-arm64.deb Zen-Linux-x64.tar.gz Zen-Linux-arm64.tar.gz

Updates: the .tar.gz copy updates itself; with the .deb Zen saves the new package to Downloads, so install it like the first one.

Zen is installed. What now?

Add your first friend and learn the basics.

How to use Zen

All systems Discord