How to Install Wine on Linux Mint 20/21
If you’ve ever tried to run a Windows‑only program on Mint, you’ll know that the first step is usually “Install Wine.” I’ve done it more times than I can count—once after a bad driver update broke my gaming setup and again when I needed an old Office macro. Below is a no‑frills guide that gets Wine up and running on both Linux Mint 20 (Ulyssa) and Mint 21 (Vanessa).
Prerequisites
- A 64‑bit system (Wine for ARM isn’t supported in the official repo).
- An internet connection.
- A terminal window (Ctrl+Alt+T) or “Shell” from the menu.
Check Your System Version
lsb_release -a
Look at the Description field. If it shows Ulyssa you’re on Mint 20; Vanessa means Mint 21. The commands that follow are identical for both, but the repository URLs change slightly.
Remove Any Old Wine Installations (Optional)
If you’ve already tried installing Wine from a PPA or via apt, it’s safer to start clean.
sudo apt remove --purge winehq-stable wine
This deletes old packages and clears config files so there are no conflicts later.
Add the Official WineHQ Repository
1. Install prerequisite packages
These let you add external repositories securely and provide common libraries that Wine needs.
sudo apt update sudo apt install software-properties-common wget gnupg2 ca-certificates
2. Add the WineHQ signing key
This verifies the authenticity of the packages you’ll download.
wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key sudo apt-key add winehq.key
3. Register the repository
For Mint 20:
sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main"
For Mint 21:
sudo add-apt-repository "deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ jammy main"
> Why this matters: The WineHQ repo contains the latest stable build that’s been tested on recent Ubuntu releases, which Mint is based on. Using the official source keeps your system secure and up‑to‑date.
Install Wine
sudo apt update sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable
The --install-recommends flag pulls in extra libraries that most Windows apps expect (like DirectX). Skipping it can leave you with a half‑baked experience.
Verify the Installation
wine --version
You should see something like wine-6.0. If not, check the output for errors and revisit the steps above.
> Real‑world tip: After a bad driver update that broke your graphics stack, I ran this command to confirm Wine was still intact before I started troubleshooting the GPU again.
Configure Wine (Optional but Handy)
winecfg
This opens the Wine configuration dialog. Here you can set Windows version emulation, add libraries, or tweak drives. The default Windows 10 setting works for most modern apps.
Run a Windows Program
1. Navigate to the folder containing your .exe file.
2. Launch it with:
wine program.exe
If you want a more desktop‑like experience, right‑click the .exe, choose Open With => Wine Windows Program Loader, and then tick “Add this application to the menu.” This creates a launcher in your Mint applications list.
Troubleshooting Quick Fixes
| Symptom | What to Try |
|---|---|
| “wine: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory” | sudo apt install libvulkan1 (and other missing libs reported) |
| Program crashes on startup | Run wine program.exe from a terminal and read the error output. Often it’s a missing DLL; you can install it with winetricks. |
| Graphics glitches | Install libgl1-mesa-dri or xserver-xorg-video-intel; update your GPU drivers via Mint’s Driver Manager. |
> I’ve seen apps that suddenly fail after an OS upgrade because a new version of glibc drops support for some older Wine libraries. Re‑installing Wine from the repo usually fixes it.
Keep Wine Updated
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade winehq-stable
You’ll get security patches and performance improvements without having to touch the configuration again.
That’s all there is to it—no fancy scripts, no trial‑and‑error. Install the repo, run a couple of commands, and you’re ready to launch Windows software on Linux Mint 20 or 21.
