Install Blender on Linux Mint 20 or 21 – Fast, Reliable Ways
Blender is a beast of an application, but getting it up and running on Mint is usually one line of code… unless you’re dealing with the wrong driver or a stale package. Below are four proven methods that cover every situation—pick the one that fits your workflow.
1. Make sure your graphics stack is healthy
Before you even touch Blender, check that your GPU drivers and kernel are up‑to‑date. A faulty driver can make Blender crash on launch or render black frames.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y lspci | grep VGA
If you recently updated the kernel (common after a “system update”) and now see blank windows, roll back to a known‑good driver version from Driver Manager or reinstall the current one.
(I’ve seen this happen after a bad driver update on Mint 20: Blender would launch but immediately die with “GL error: 1280”. Fixing the driver sorted everything out.)
2. Method A – Official Ubuntu PPA (recommended for stability)
The easiest way to stay current without pulling in a full distribution upgrade is the Blender PPA maintained by Thomas Schiex.
1. Add the repository
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thomas-schiex/blender
2. Refresh package lists and install
sudo apt update && sudo apt install blender
3. Verify
blender --version
You should see the latest stable release (e.g., 3.5).
Why this matters: The PPA ships compiled binaries that match your Mint version, so you avoid dependency hell and get a reasonably quick install time.
3. Method B – Snap package
Snaps bundle everything they need, but they can be heavy on disk space and a bit slower to start. They’re still handy if you prefer an auto‑update cycle.
sudo snap install blender --classic
After installation, run blender from the terminal or find it in your app menu.
Note: Snap’s confinement can occasionally block access to your GPU drivers on older Mint releases. If Blender complains about missing OpenGL extensions, you might have to switch to a different method.
4. Method C – Flatpak (great for sandboxing)
Flatpak gives you the same isolation as snaps but often has better performance with graphics drivers.
# Add Flathub if you haven’t already flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo # Install Blender flatpak install flathub org.blender.Blender -y
When launching, set environment variables so Blender can use your GPU:
export BLENDER_GLES=1 flatpak run org.blender.Blender
Why you’d pick Flatpak: If you’re already using Flatpak for other apps, this keeps everything tidy in one ecosystem.
5. Method D – AppImage (the ultimate “no‑install”)
If you hate keeping things in your package manager, grab the single executable that runs on any Linux distro.
1. Download from [Blender’s website](https://www.blender.org/download/).
2. Make it executable and run:
chmod +x Blender-3.x.x-linux-x64.AppImage ./Blender-3.x.x-linux-x64.AppImage
The downside? No automatic updates; you’ll need to download a new version manually each cycle.
6. Verify everything works
Open Blender, load the default cube, and hit Render > Render Image. If you see a rendered image that matches the scene’s lighting, congratulations—you’re good to go. Check Help > System Info for a quick sanity check of your GPU drivers and OpenGL version.
7. Clean up old installs
If you had an older Blender from apt or another source, remove it to avoid conflicts:
sudo apt purge blender
Do the same for any stale snap or flatpak packages if you’re switching methods.
That’s it. Pick a method that matches your preference for updates and sandboxing, run the commands, and start sculpting.
