How to Install PyCharm on Debian 13, 12 and 11

Installing PyCharm on Debian now means choosing between JetBrains’ official Snap package and an unofficial APT wrapper. Current PyCharm Linux packaging uses the unified pycharm product name instead of separate Community and Professional packages, so older commands such as pycharm-community and pycharm-professional are legacy paths.

Use Snap when you want the JetBrains-published package with automatic Snap refreshes. Use the community APT repository only when you specifically want an APT-visible package that downloads JetBrains’ Linux tarball and installs it under /opt/pycharm.

Install PyCharm on Debian

Choose Your PyCharm Installation Method

Use this comparison to pick the source that matches your update preference and trust model:

Method	Source	Package	Updates	Best For
Snap	JetBrains on Snapcraft	pycharm	Automatic through Snap	Most users who want the official JetBrains command-line install
Community APT repository	JonasGroeger/jetbrains-ppa	pycharm	APT wrapper refreshes	Debian amd64 users who accept an unofficial package that installs PyCharm into /opt/pycharm

If you searched for a PyCharm .deb download or tried apt install pycharm from Debian’s default repositories, the source boundary matters. JetBrains documents Snap, Toolbox, and tar archive installs for Linux; the APT method here is a community wrapper around JetBrains releases, not an official JetBrains Debian repository.

These commands are written for Debian 13, 12, and 11. JetBrains currently lists Debian 13 in its Linux requirements and requires glibc 2.28 or later; Debian 12 and 11 satisfy that glibc floor, but Debian 13 is the Debian release JetBrains names in its support list.

The community APT repository method is documented for Debian amd64 only. On arm64 systems, use the Snap method or JetBrains’ official tar archive workflow instead of writing an APT source that cannot provide the package index used here.

Update Debian Before Installing PyCharm

Refresh package metadata and apply pending package updates before adding Snapd or an external APT source:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

If your account cannot use sudo, configure administrator access first with the Debian sudoers guide, then return to these commands.

Install PyCharm via Official Snap

The Snap method installs JetBrains’ official unified PyCharm package. It also avoids the old pycharm-community and pycharm-professional package split that many older Linux tutorials still show.

Install Snapd on Debian

Debian does not install Snapd by default. Install the daemon from Debian’s package sources first:

sudo apt install snapd

Wait for initial Snap seeding, then install the snapd snap that Snapcraft recommends for current snapd features on Debian:

sudo snap wait system seed.loaded
sudo snap install snapd

Log out and back in, or reboot, before relying on desktop launchers or the bare pycharm command from a new terminal session. You can continue installing the PyCharm snap from the current terminal.

Confirm the active snapd version and Debian release line:

snap version

The exact version changes over time, but the output should show snap, snapd, series 16, your Debian release, and your system architecture:

snap          2.x
snapd         2.x
series        16
debian        13
architecture  amd64

For a broader Snap setup, including Snap Store coverage and full snapd removal, use the Debian Snapd guide.

Install the Unified PyCharm Snap

Install the current stable PyCharm snap with classic confinement:

sudo snap install pycharm --classic

The --classic flag is required because PyCharm needs broad access to project folders, Python interpreters, SDKs, and development tools like a traditional desktop IDE.

Verify the Snap Installation

Confirm that Snap installed the unified PyCharm package:

snap list pycharm

The exact version and revision will change, but the output should show the pycharm package name, latest/stable tracking, JetBrains as the verified publisher, and classic confinement:

Name     Version   Rev  Tracking       Publisher    Notes
pycharm  2026.x    xxx  latest/stable  jetbrains**  classic

Install PyCharm via Community APT Repository

Use this method only when you want an APT-visible PyCharm package on Debian amd64. The repository is community-maintained, not published by JetBrains, and its current pycharm package is a thin wrapper: during installation, it downloads JetBrains’ Linux tarball, extracts it to /opt/pycharm, and installs a /usr/bin/pycharm launcher plus a desktop entry.

Do not enable both a legacy jetbrains-ppa.list file and the DEB822 jetbrains-ppa.sources file used here. Duplicate entries with different signing-key paths can break apt update with Signed-By conflicts.

Install Repository Prerequisites

Install the packages needed to fetch the signing key and add the external repository:

sudo apt install ca-certificates curl gpg

These packages provide HTTPS certificate validation, file downloading, and GPG key handling for the repository setup. The PyCharm package itself declares any extra download helper it needs during installation.

Import the Community Repository Key

Download the repository’s ASCII-armored signing key and convert it into a binary keyring for APT:

curl -fsSL https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/jetbrains-ppa/0xA6E8698A.pub.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /usr/share/keyrings/jetbrains-ppa-archive-keyring.gpg

Display the saved keyring and confirm the fingerprint before adding the source:

gpg --quiet --show-keys --with-fingerprint /usr/share/keyrings/jetbrains-ppa-archive-keyring.gpg

pub   rsa4096 2018-04-29 [SC]
      C647 DF71 1B0C CC6A 9F87  69D0 F3A7 67B5 A6E8 698A
uid                      TravisCI Jetbrains PPA
sub   rsa4096 2018-04-29 [E]

Add the Community APT Source

Create the repository file in DEB822 format. The command stops before writing the source on unsupported architectures so non-amd64 systems do not add a repository that cannot refresh correctly for this method:

arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)"

case "$arch" in
    amd64)
        printf '%s\n' \
        'Types: deb' \
        'URIs: http://jetbrains-ppa.s3-website.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com' \
        'Suites: any' \
        'Components: main' \
        'Architectures: amd64' \
        'Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/jetbrains-ppa-archive-keyring.gpg' \
        | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jetbrains-ppa.sources > /dev/null
        ;;
    *)
        printf 'The community APT method supports Debian amd64 only. Use the Snap method on %s.\n' "$arch" >&2
        false
        ;;
esac

This repository URL uses HTTP because AWS S3 static website hosting does not provide HTTPS for that endpoint. APT still verifies package metadata and packages through the imported signing key.

Refresh APT and Verify PyCharm

Update package metadata so APT reads the new source:

sudo apt update

Check the unified PyCharm package candidate before installing:

apt-cache policy pycharm

The exact version will change, but the candidate should come from the community repository:

pycharm:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2026.x
  Version table:
     2026.x 500
        500 http://jetbrains-ppa.s3-website.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com any/main amd64 Packages

Install PyCharm from APT

Install the unified PyCharm package:

sudo apt install pycharm

After installation, confirm that the wrapper command and extracted IDE directory exist:

command -v pycharm
ls -ld /opt/pycharm /opt/pycharm/bin/pycharm

Relevant output should show the command in /usr/bin and the extracted PyCharm files under /opt/pycharm:

/usr/bin/pycharm
drwxr-xr-x ... /opt/pycharm
-rwxr-xr-x ... /opt/pycharm/bin/pycharm

The APT package installs a /usr/bin/pycharm wrapper that runs /opt/pycharm/bin/pycharm, so the APT method can launch PyCharm with the pycharm command.

Launch PyCharm

Launch PyCharm from the Terminal

The terminal launch command depends on the installation method. For the Snap package, use Snap’s method-specific launcher:

snap run pycharm

After logging out and back in, or rebooting, the Snap launcher is usually also available through /snap/bin as pycharm. For the community APT package, use the wrapper installed in /usr/bin:

pycharm

Launch PyCharm from the Applications Menu

You can also open PyCharm from your desktop environment’s application launcher:

• Open the application launcher or menu on your Debian desktop.
• Search for PyCharm or check the programming/development category.
• Select PyCharm to start the first-run setup.

If old Community or Professional launchers still appear after installing the unified package, remove the old package or snap that owns those launchers before relying on the menu result.

Update PyCharm

The update command depends on the installation method you chose.

Update the Snap Package

Snap refreshes packages automatically. To check manually, refresh the PyCharm snap:

sudo snap refresh pycharm

Update the Community APT Package

If you installed PyCharm from the community APT repository, update only the PyCharm wrapper package after refreshing metadata. When the repository publishes a newer package, the install scripts refresh the extracted IDE under /opt/pycharm:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade pycharm

Remove PyCharm

Use the removal path that matches your installation method. Package removal does not automatically delete your personal settings, plugins, caches, or projects.

Remove the Snap Installation

Remove the PyCharm snap package:

sudo snap remove pycharm

Verify that the snap is no longer installed:

snap list pycharm 2>/dev/null || echo "pycharm not installed"

Snap can keep an automatic snapshot after removal. Review saved snapshots before deleting rollback data:

sudo snap saved

If the output lists a PyCharm snapshot that you no longer want, forget that snapshot by ID:

sudo snap forget SNAPSHOT_ID

Remove the Community APT Installation

Remove the unified PyCharm package installed from the community repository. The package removal script also removes /opt/pycharm:

sudo apt remove pycharm

Verify that the command wrapper and extracted IDE directory are gone:

command -v pycharm || echo "pycharm command removed"
ls -ld /opt/pycharm 2>/dev/null || echo "/opt/pycharm removed"

If you previously installed an older package name from the same repository, check whether any PyCharm APT packages are still installed before cleaning up the source:

dpkg-query -W -f='${binary:Package}\t${db:Status-Abbrev}\t${Version}\n' 'pycharm*' 2>/dev/null | grep '^pycharm.*\tii' || echo "No installed PyCharm APT packages found."

Remove any installed PyCharm package that still appears, then preview orphaned dependencies before approving automatic cleanup:

sudo apt autoremove --dry-run

If the preview lists only packages you no longer need, run the cleanup:

sudo apt autoremove

If you do not plan to install PyCharm or another JetBrains IDE from this community repository again, remove the repository file and keyring:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jetbrains-ppa.sources
sudo rm -f /usr/share/keyrings/jetbrains-ppa-archive-keyring.gpg
sudo apt update

Remove User Configuration Files

The next commands delete per-user PyCharm settings, plugins, caches, and local IDE state. Back up anything you want to keep before running them.

For the APT-installed desktop application, first review matching JetBrains directories:

find "$HOME/.config/JetBrains" "$HOME/.cache/JetBrains" "$HOME/.local/share/JetBrains" -maxdepth 1 -type d -name 'PyCharm*' -print 2>/dev/null

Delete the matching PyCharm directories only when you are ready to reset the user profile:

rm -rf "$HOME"/.config/JetBrains/PyCharm*
rm -rf "$HOME"/.cache/JetBrains/PyCharm*
rm -rf "$HOME"/.local/share/JetBrains/PyCharm*

For the Snap package, check whether a per-user Snap directory exists:

ls -ld "$HOME/snap/pycharm" 2>/dev/null || echo "No per-user PyCharm snap data found."

Delete the Snap user directory only when you no longer need its local data:

rm -rf "$HOME/snap/pycharm"

Troubleshoot PyCharm on Debian

Snap Launcher Is Missing from the Terminal

Fresh Snap installs can leave the current shell without /snap/bin until you log out and back in. Check the Snap package and current PATH before changing anything else:

snap list pycharm
printf '%s\n' "$PATH" | tr ':' '\n' | grep -x '/snap/bin' || echo "/snap/bin is not active in this session"

If /snap/bin is missing, use the method-specific launcher immediately, then log out and back in before relying on the bare pycharm command:

snap run pycharm

Community APT Source Stops on Architecture

The APT source block is intentionally limited to Debian amd64. Confirm your architecture if the command prints the unsupported-architecture message:

dpkg --print-architecture

Use the Snap method on arm64 or another non-amd64 architecture. Do not remove the guard and write the APT source anyway, because APT will not receive the package index this method depends on.

APT Reports a Signed-By Conflict

A Signed-By conflict usually means an older one-line source and the DEB822 source both reference the same repository. Inventory matching entries first:

grep -RIn "jetbrains-ppa.s3-website.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com" /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d 2>/dev/null

If the output shows both jetbrains-ppa.list and jetbrains-ppa.sources, remove the older legacy file and refresh APT:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jetbrains-ppa.list
sudo apt update

Wrong PyCharm Command Opens

If you previously installed PyCharm from another source, verify which launcher your shell resolves before removing anything:

command -v pycharm
readlink -f "$(command -v pycharm)"

An APT install should resolve through /usr/bin/pycharm, while a Snap shortcut usually resolves under /snap/bin. Remove the old method you no longer use, then recheck the command path.

Conclusion

PyCharm is installed on Debian through either the official Snap package or the community APT wrapper, with launch, update, and removal paths matched to the source you chose. For a stronger Python development setup, add Git on Debian for version control, Docker on Debian for containers, or GitHub Desktop on Debian for a graphical Git workflow.