Install Brave Browser on Manjaro 21
Brave is the privacy‑first browser that many Manjaro users love for its ad‑blocking and speed. This article shows how to get it up and running on a fresh Manjaro 21 installation, what pitfalls to avoid, and why you might prefer the AUR package over a pre‑built binary.
5.1 Check if Brave is already in your official repos
Manjaro’s community repo usually carries a fully packaged Brave build.
Run:
pacman -Ss brave | grep '^community/brave'
If you see output, the package is available and can be installed straight with pacman.
Why this matters: Installing from the official repo guarantees that updates are handled automatically by pacman, avoiding the extra maintenance of an AUR helper.
5.2 Add or enable the community repository
Sometimes a fresh install disables the community section. Open /etc/pacman.conf as root and make sure the [community] block is not commented out:
[community]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Then refresh mirrors:
sudo pacman -Syy
After that, retry the search above. If it still fails, move on to the AUR route.
5.3 Install Brave from the official repo
If the community repo lists community/brave, install it with:
sudo pacman -S brave
The package pulls in all runtime dependencies automatically. Once done, launch Brave from the application menu or via:
brave-browser
Why this matters: A direct pacman installation means you get the same update cadence as other system packages; no need to manually rebuild on kernel upgrades.
5.4 When the community repo is missing: use an AUR helper
Brave’s latest releases sometimes lag behind in the official repos. On Manjaro, many users prefer yay or paru. The most common AUR package is brave-bin, which installs the binary from Brave’s own repository.
# Using yay (install if you don't have it yet)
sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay && makepkg -si
# Then install Brave
yay -S brave-bin
During the build, you'll be prompted to accept the license and confirm dependencies. The helper will also set up a systemd service so Brave starts automatically if you choose that option.
Why this matters: AUR builds keep you on the bleeding‑edge version of Brave, but they require manual intervention when Brave releases a new update or when your kernel changes.
5.5 Verify the install and fix common hiccups
Launch from terminal:
brave-browser --headless
If you get “cannot open shared object file”, double‑check that all dynamic libraries (libX11, libxcb) are present—sudo pacman -S xorg-x11-server-utils.
After a kernel upgrade:
Some users have reported Brave crashing until the brave package is recompiled against the new headers. Running:sudo pacman -Syu --asdeps brave
forces an update and rebuild.
If you see “Failed to load configuration”:
Delete ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser (or rename it for backup) and restart Brave. It will regenerate defaults cleanly.
Real‑world observation: After the 21.2 kernel bump, a handful of users noticed Brave would open but immediately exit with “Segmentation fault”. Reinstalling via pacman solved that without any manual tweaking—proof that the packaged build is more resilient than raw binaries on a rolling‑release distro.
5.6 Keep Brave in sync
For repository installations, updates happen automatically:
sudo pacman -Syu
For AUR builds, you’ll need to run the helper periodically:
yay -Syu brave-bin
A quick check is handy: brave-browser --version tells you which release you’re on.
That’s all there is to it. Once Brave is installed, you can enjoy ad‑free browsing with minimal fuss—no more guessing at which repository or build will work.
