How to Install Yandex Browser on Ubuntu Linux

Yandex Browser is a Chromium-based web browser that offers built-in ad blocking, a Turbo mode for compressing pages on slow connections, and integrated translation for foreign-language websites. If you need seamless access to Yandex services like Mail and Disk, want a privacy-focused alternative to Chrome with data compression for slower connections, or prefer built-in translation when browsing foreign-language sites, Yandex Browser delivers these capabilities without requiring extensions.

This guide walks through installing Yandex Browser on Ubuntu using the official Yandex APT repository. By the end, you will have the browser installed with automatic security updates enabled, ready to sync bookmarks across devices and compress pages on bandwidth-limited connections.

Yandex supports Yandex Browser only on 64-bit (amd64) systems. The official repository does not provide packages for 32-bit or ARM architectures.

The Yandex repository uses a universal package format that works on all current Ubuntu releases, including LTS versions and interim releases. Commands shown in this guide work identically regardless of your specific Ubuntu version.

Update Ubuntu Before Installation

First, open a terminal and update your package lists and installed packages to ensure compatibility with the new repository:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Import the Yandex GPG Key

Next, download and store the Yandex signing key in the system keyring directory. This key verifies that packages come from Yandex and have not been tampered with:

curl -fsSL https://repo.yandex.ru/yandex-browser/YANDEX-BROWSER-KEY.GPG | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg

Then, verify successful key import:

file /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg

/usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg: OpenPGP Public Key Version 4, Created Sat Feb  3 19:35:46 2018, RSA (Encrypt or Sign, 4096 bits); User ID; Signature; OpenPGP Certificate

Add the Yandex Browser Repository

Now, add the Yandex stable repository using the modern DEB822 .sources format, which provides cleaner syntax and scoped key signing compared to legacy .list files:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser-stable.sources
Types: deb
URIs: https://repo.yandex.ru/yandex-browser/deb
Suites: stable
Components: main
Architectures: amd64
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg
EOF

Yandex maintains a beta repository, but the Linux beta channel appears to be abandoned. The beta version is often older than stable, so use the stable channel for the most current builds.

Update the Package Index

After adding the repository, refresh APT to recognize the new Yandex repository:

sudo apt update

In the output, look for lines referencing repo.yandex.ru to confirm successful repository addition:

Get:5 https://repo.yandex.ru/yandex-browser/deb stable/main amd64 Packages [1,476 B]

Install Yandex Browser

With the repository configured, install the stable version:

sudo apt install yandex-browser-stable

Afterward, verify the installation by checking the version:

yandex-browser --version

Yandex 25.10.1.1173

Remove Duplicate Repository Files

During installation, the Yandex installer automatically creates its own .list file in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, which duplicates the repository you already added. As a result, APT displays warnings about duplicate sources:

W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser.list and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser-stable.sources

First, remove the auto-generated legacy files:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser*.list

Because the Yandex installer can recreate these files during future updates, replace them with read-only placeholders to prevent conflicts permanently:

sudo touch /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser.list
sudo chmod 444 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser.list

The read-only placeholder technique creates an empty file that APT ignores but prevents the installer from writing new configuration. Your yandex-browser-stable.sources file remains intact and continues receiving updates normally.

Finally, confirm the cleanup by running an update:

sudo apt update

The output should complete without duplicate source warnings, confirming APT now uses only your DEB822 .sources configuration.

Launch Yandex Browser

Launch from Terminal

To launch the browser, start Yandex Browser from the command line:

yandex-browser

Alternatively, add & to run it in the background and free up your terminal: yandex-browser &

Launch from Applications Menu

For a graphical approach, click Activities (top-left corner) or press the Super key, then type Yandex in the search bar. Click the Yandex Browser icon to launch.

Manage Yandex Browser

Update Yandex Browser

Since you installed from the official repository, Yandex Browser updates automatically through APT when you run system updates:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Remove Yandex Browser

If you no longer need the browser, uninstall Yandex Browser and remove orphaned dependencies:

sudo apt remove yandex-browser-stable
sudo apt autoremove

The autoremove command cleans up libraries and dependencies the system installed alongside the browser that other software no longer needs.

Remove Repository and GPG Key

Additionally, clean up the repository configuration, read-only placeholder file (if created), and signing key:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser-stable.sources
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser.list
sudo rm -f /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg

After removing the repository files, refresh APT and verify successful repository removal:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy yandex-browser-stable

The output should show no candidate version, confirming successful repository removal:

yandex-browser-stable:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:

Remove User Data (Optional)

The following commands permanently delete your Yandex Browser profile data, including bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history, and extensions. Export any data you want to keep before proceeding.

rm -rf ~/.config/yandex-browser/
rm -rf ~/.cache/yandex-browser/
rm -rf ~/.local/share/yandex-browser/

Additionally, remove any lingering desktop launcher files:

rm -f ~/.local/share/applications/yandex-browser*.desktop

Troubleshoot Yandex Browser

GPG Key Import Fails

Sometimes, the GPG key download fails with a connection error:

curl: (7) Failed to connect to repo.yandex.ru port 443

In this case, check your network connection and ensure your firewall allows outbound HTTPS traffic. Then, try downloading the key manually:

wget -O /tmp/yandex-key.gpg https://repo.yandex.ru/yandex-browser/YANDEX-BROWSER-KEY.GPG
sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg /tmp/yandex-key.gpg

Verify successful key import:

file /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg

/usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg: OpenPGP Public Key Version 4, Created Sat Feb  3 19:35:46 2018, RSA (Encrypt or Sign, 4096 bits); User ID; Signature; OpenPGP Certificate

Duplicate Source Warnings After Update

If APT shows warnings about duplicate sources after installation or updates, this occurs because the Yandex installer creates its own legacy .list file. Follow the steps in the “Remove Duplicate Repository Files” section above to resolve this issue.

Package Not Found Error

In some cases, apt install yandex-browser-stable returns “Unable to locate package”:

apt-cache policy yandex-browser-stable

If no candidate version appears, first verify the repository file exists and has correct content:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-browser-stable.sources

Next, confirm the GPG key is in place:

file /usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg

/usr/share/keyrings/yandex-browser.gpg: OpenPGP Public Key Version 4, Created Sat Feb  3 19:35:46 2018, RSA (Encrypt or Sign, 4096 bits); User ID; Signature; OpenPGP Certificate

If the key file shows as “OpenPGP Public Key,” the import succeeded. Finally, re-run the package cache update and check for errors:

sudo apt update

If the update completes without GPG errors and shows APT fetching the Yandex repository, the issue is resolved:

Get:5 https://repo.yandex.ru/yandex-browser/deb stable/main amd64 Packages [1,476 B]

Conclusion

You now have Yandex Browser installed on Ubuntu with automatic security updates enabled through the official repository. The Turbo mode compresses pages effectively on slower connections, and the built-in translation handles foreign-language sites without requiring extensions. As a next step, sign into your Yandex account for cross-device bookmark sync or configure privacy settings through the browser’s settings menu.

If you’re exploring other browser options on Ubuntu, consider Google Chrome for its sync ecosystem, Brave for enhanced privacy with built-in ad blocking, Chromium for an open-source experience without Google integration, Vivaldi for extensive customization options, or Opera for its built-in VPN and flow features.