The guide outlines four command‑line methods for installing the official Telegram Desktop client on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS: using APT from Ubuntu’s default repository, installing the Snap package, pulling the Flatpak from Flathub, and downloading the portable binary tarball directly from Telegram’s website. Each approach is presented with the exact commands needed, along with brief notes on integration (APT), sandboxing (Snap and Flatpak), or manual update control (portable binary). The author highlights the trade‑offs—APT offers seamless system updates, Snap provides confinement but can suffer breakage after refreshes, Flatpak delivers newer builds while keeping system libraries untouched, and the tarball gives full version control at the cost of automatic upgrades. By following any of these four procedures, users can get a functional Telegram client on a fresh Jammy installation quickly.
How to Install Telegram on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS – Four Command‑Line Ways
You’re probably tired of hunting down the right package, and you just want Telegram up and running. This guide shows four distinct ways to get the official client onto a fresh Jammy install, all from the terminal. Pick the method that matches your taste for stability, sandboxing or raw speed.
1. Install Telegram via APT (official Ubuntu repository)
Ubuntu ships a fairly recent Telegram Desktop package in its default repos. It’s the simplest route because the system already knows how to keep it updated.
sudo apt update # refreshes the package lists so you don’t get “package not found”
sudo apt install telegram-desktop
The first command makes sure your cache reflects the latest Jammy snapshot; skipping it can leave you with an outdated or missing version. After the install finishes, launch telegram-desktop from the menu or type telegram-desktop in a terminal.
Why use this? It integrates cleanly with GNOME/KDE, respects your system theme and gets automatic security patches through regular apt upgrades.
2. Grab the Snap package
Snapcraft publishes a containerised build that runs on any recent Ubuntu release. I’ve seen it break after an aggressive snap refresh that pulled in a newer core runtime incompatible with older graphics drivers – so keep an eye on it.
sudo snap install telegram-desktop
That single line pulls the latest stable snap, sets up confinement and creates a desktop shortcut automatically. If you ever need to roll back because of a nasty update, run sudo snap revert telegram-desktop.
Why use this? Snap isolates Telegram from the rest of your system, which can be handy on shared machines or when you don’t trust every library upgrade.
3. Install through Flatpak (Flathub)
Flatpak is another sandboxing option that tends to ship newer builds than Ubuntu’s APT repos. First make sure flatpak support is present:
sudo apt install flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Now pull the Telegram package:
flatpak install flathub org.telegram.desktop
When you run flatpak run org.telegram.desktop, Flatpak will set up a minimal runtime on the fly. I once ran into an issue where the app complained about missing codecs; installing ffmpeg inside the flatpak (flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Platform.ffmpeg) fixed it.
Why use this? You get very recent features, and the sandbox means your main system libraries stay untouched.
4. Download the Portable Binary from Telegram’s website
If you prefer to keep things completely out of the package manager, grab the official tarball. This method gives you the absolute latest version and lets you run it from any folder.
cd /tmp
wget https://telegram.org/dl/desktop/linux -O telegram.tar.xz
tar -xf telegram.tar.xz
sudo mv Telegram /opt/Telegram
sudo ln -s /opt/Telegram/Telegram /usr/local/bin/telegram
The wget line pulls the current build; tar extracts it, and moving it to /opt follows the Unix convention for third‑party apps. The symlink in /usr/local/bin makes telegram callable from any terminal without typing a full path.
Why use this? No automatic updates – you control when to pull a new version – and there’s zero interference with your system packages.
Pick the route that matches how much you trust automated updates versus manual control. All four methods land you a functional Telegram client on Jammy, so you can start sending memes right away.
