Installing Telegram on Manjaro Linux – No More Confusion
If you’re looking for a quick, reliable way to get Telegram running on your Manjaro system, you’re in the right place. I’ve been on this ride many times, and there are a few neat paths that keep things tidy.
Why the Official Package Is Usually Your Best Bet
Manjaro ships with an “official” package for Telegram in its community repository. It’s the same one your friend who installed Manjaro from the ISO already has in their cache. No extra dependencies, no broken binaries, and it updates automatically with pacman.
I’ve seen folks download the Windows executable or the macOS DMG and then stare at a “not supported” error when they try to run it on Linux.
Steps
1. Refresh your package list –
sudo pacman -Sy
Keeps the database up‑to‑date so you get the right version.
2. Install Telegram –
sudo pacman -S telegram-desktop
Installs the community build with minimal fuss and pulls in only what it needs.
3. Run it –
telegram
or find “Telegram” in your application launcher.
That’s all there is to it. No post‑install tweaking, no manual .deb conversions, and you’ll get the latest security patches automatically.
When You Want a Fresh Build: The AUR Route
If you want the bleeding‑edge release that might include new UI tweaks or performance fixes before they hit the community repo, go to the Arch User Repository (AUR). Manjaro’s yay helper makes this painless.
I’ve seen users complain about stale binaries in official repos and decide to pull from AUR instead. It usually works unless you’re on a very old kernel that can’t run the newer binary.
Steps
1. Install yay (if you don’t already have it):
sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git && cd yay && makepkg -si
yay handles dependencies and builds the PKGBUILD for you.
2. Fetch and install Telegram from AUR –
yay -S telegram-desktop-bin
The -bin variant pulls the precompiled binary; if you prefer compiling yourself, drop that suffix.
3. Launch – same as before.
You’ll get a newer version than the community repo, but keep an eye on its dependencies—AUR packages can sometimes bring in odd libraries.
Sandbox Your Chat: Snap or Flatpak
If you’re paranoid about Telegram having too much access to your system (or just love the idea of a self‑contained bundle), both Snap and Flatpak have it.
I’ve noticed some people on Manjaro complain that installing from Flatpak keeps the app isolated, but they still get desktop shortcuts automatically. That’s one of the perks.
Snap
sudo pacman -S snapd # install the service sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket snap refresh # make sure you’re on the latest snaps snap install telegram-desktop
Flatpak
sudo pacman -S flatpak flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub org.telegram.desktop
Both give you automatic updates and keep Telegram separated from the rest of your system, but they’re a bit heavier on disk space.
Quick Troubleshooting Checklist
- “Command not found” after installation?
Make sure /usr/bin is in your $PATH. Run echo $PATH.
- Telegram crashes on launch?
Try launching with telegram --no-sandbox (Snap) or flatpak run org.telegram.desktop --no-sandbox (Flatpak). If it works, the issue may be a missing library that the sandbox blocks.
- Updates stuck?
For pacman installs, sudo pacman -Syu. For AUR, use yay -Syu. Snap and Flatpak have their own update commands (snap refresh / flatpak update).
