Elementary OS is a very beautiful Linux system. Many other Linux systems copy design from it because it looks very clean but it is free. Now the new version is out and it has many cool things inside. It use Wayland for default now instead of old X11, and it also support fractional display scaling so your screen look very sharp. It also have official support for ARM64 so you can run it on Apple Silicon Mac or Raspberry Pi 4 and 5. I will write this guide to help you install it from zero with clean UEFI computer. I already test all this on my own computer and it works. I write every steps so you do not get confused. If you just want the desktop called Pantheon on your Ubuntu, there is another guide for that but here we install the full elementary OS system.
Before we start we need to check if your computer can run this system. Elementary OS needs some things to work good. You need a 64-bit computer with Intel or AMD processor. If you have Apple M chip you need the special ARM64 version. For RAM memory you must have at least 4 GB but 8 GB is much more better so you can open many tabs in browser or write some code. Your disk storage need 15 GB minimum but please use 30 GB or more because apps from AppCenter and Flatpak take big space. Your computer must use UEFI firmware because old BIOS will not work and installer will fail. Also you need a USB drive that have 8 GB space or bigger because the file we download is 3.2 GB. And you need internet connection with cable or Wi-Fi so the installer can update things when we finish.
Step 1: Download elementary OS and check the file
First step is we must download the ISO file from the official website. The website ask you to pay money but you can type 0 in the box if you want it for free. The file name is elementaryos-8.1-stable-amd64.20260219.iso and size is about 3.2 GB. When download finish you must check the checksum because sometimes the download is broken. If download is broken the installer will crash in the middle of installation and you get sad. Open your terminal and type this command:
sha256sum elementaryos-8.1-stable-amd64.20260219.isoYou must see this long number and letters:
bda93040d08c05911fb159f8150bf8f4ef2db6567ef6e2acd197cb6f395d3446If the number is different even for one letter you must download again. Do not try to use broken file because it will fail.
Step 2: Write the ISO to your USB drive
Now you need to put the ISO file inside your USB drive so we can boot from it. You can use any software you like. I recommend balenaEtcher because it is very easy for beginners and it does not let you destroy your hard drive by mistake. Just open balenaEtcher, choose the ISO file, select your USB drive, and click Flash. If you use Windows you can also use Rufus. In Rufus choose GPT and UEFI option and make the system FAT32. If you like terminal in Linux you can use dd command but be very careful. You must type lsblk to see what is your USB name. Then type:
sudo dd if=elementaryos-8.1-stable-amd64.20260219.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=syncRemember to change sdX with your real USB name. If you write wrong name you will delete all your files on computer and you will cry.
Step 3: Boot the USB drive on your computer
Put your USB drive inside your computer and restart it. When the computer start you must press boot menu key quickly. Different computers have different keys. Lenovo usually use F12, HP use F9, Dell and ASUS use F11 or Esc. Choose your USB from the list. If the computer does not want to boot maybe you need to turn off Secure Boot in your UEFI settings first. The installer will open directly to Pantheon desktop with the installer app already open. There is no start menu or try button first. If you want to look around first you can click X button on top right of the installer to close it. Then you can play with the desktop. When you want to install just open the installer again.
Step 4: Choose your language
The first screen of the installer is for choosing your language. The language you select here will be used for the installer and also for the desktop when installation is finished. Pick your language from the list and then click Select button. If you pick English language it will show another screen and ask which region you are. You can choose US, UK, Canada, or Australia. This is important for your time format and money format. Click Select when you are done.
Step 5: Set your keyboard layout
Now we must choose keyboard layout. You must choose layout that matches the physical keys on your computer keyboard. There is a box at the bottom that says Try typing. You should type some symbols there like @ or # or | to make sure it works correctly. For most people using US keyboard just leave it to Default on next screen. Only change it to Dvorak or Colemak if you really have those special keyboards.
Step 6: Pick the installation type
Next screen is Try or Install screen. It have three choices. First choice is Try Demo Mode which let you test the system without changing anything on your computer. Second choice is Erase Disk and Install which will delete everything on your disk and install elementary OS. This is best choice if you have new computer or you do not have important files on it. Third choice is Custom Install for advanced users who want to make manual partition or dual boot with Windows. We choose Erase Disk and Install because it is simple. If you are doing this in virtual machine the installer will say a warning that it might run slow. This is because virtual machine does not have graphics speed. Do not worry just click Install Anyway.
Step 7: Select your hard drive
Now you must choose which disk to install the system. If you only have one hard drive inside your laptop it is very easy. If you have many disks like one fast SSD and one slow HDD you must choose the fast SSD drive. The installer warns you that everything on this drive will be deleted forever. Click the circle next to your drive and the Next button will become blue so you can click it.
Step 8: Turn on drive encryption
This screen ask if you want to encrypt your drive. It is very good for laptops because if someone steal your laptop they cannot read your files. But you must remember three things. First, the password only protect when computer is off. Second, you must type this password every time you boot computer and if you forget it you lose all your files forever because there is no reset key. Third, you need to plug keyboard directly to boot. If you want to do this type your password twice and click Set Encryption Password. If you are on home desktop computer or just testing you can click Don’t Encrypt.
Step 9: Choose additional drivers
Next screen is for additional drivers. It will ask if you want to install proprietary drivers for Broadcom Wi-Fi cards and NVIDIA graphics. You must have active internet connection for this to download the drivers. Tick the box if your computer have these graphics or wireless cards so your computer works good when first boot. If you have Intel or AMD graphics you can just leave it empty and click Next. You can also install drivers later from settings if you forget.
Step 10: Wait for installation to finish
Now the installation starts. The computer will copy files and show you some pictures of elementary OS features. If you have fast NVMe SSD drive it will finish in 5 to 8 minutes. If you have older SATA SSD it might take 10 to 15 minutes. The progress bar is very real. It does not stuck at 99%. It have two parts. First part is Extracting Files which copy system to disk. Second part is Finishing the Installation which install GRUB boot loader and updates system files. When it is 100% complete you will see Restart Device button. Click it and remove your USB when computer tells you.
Step 11: Create your user account
When computer restarts it will boot to setup screen. If you did encrypt your drive before, it will ask for encryption password first. After that the setup guide starts and ask for language and keyboard again. Then you see Create an Account screen. You must fill your Full Name, Username (use only small letters and no space), Password, and Device name. The password bar will show green color if your password is long and strong. Do not use very easy password. The device name is how your computer looks on network and Bluetooth. You can change it to something you like. Click Finish Setup when everything is green.
Step 12: Log in to your new desktop
Now you will see the login screen with your name and avatar. Type the password you created in Step 11 and press Enter. The first time you log in it will take some seconds because the system is making your home folder and settings. Next time you boot it will be very fast under one second on good hardware.
Step 13: Update everything first
Do not install apps yet. The ISO file is made some time ago so it has old packages. We must update everything first so we have latest security fixes. Open the terminal app (you can find it in Applications menu on top left). Type these two commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -yType your password when it asks. After finish if there was kernel update you must reboot your system so new kernel is active. Type:
sudo systemctl rebootPost-Installation Steps to Make It Good
Now we must do some things to make elementary OS good to use. First we need to enable Flathub because AppCenter does not have all apps. Go to website flathub.org and click setup. Download the repository file and open it with AppCenter. Now you can search and install popular apps like Spotify, Discord, or Steam.
Second we must install media codecs so you can play MP4 videos or listen to MP3 music. Open your terminal and run this command:
sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extrasPress Enter and accept the agreement if it shows.
Third, if you have high resolution screen like 4K you can change display scaling. Go to Settings, then Displays and choose 125% or 150% fractional scaling so text does not look very tiny.
Fourth, you can schedule dark mode so it turns dark when night time comes. Go to Settings, then Desktop, then Appearance and change style to automatic. It will follow your local sunset time.
Finally we must turn on automatic security updates. Go to Settings, then System, then Updates and check the box for security updates so your computer stays safe without you doing anything.
Conclusion
Installing elementary OS 8 is not very hard if you follow these steps carefully. The system is very beautiful and runs fast because it uses Wayland. It is good for old laptops and new computers too. I hope this guide help you to get a nice desktop that works good. Enjoy your new beautiful Linux system!