How to Install Videomass on Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04

FFmpeg works well until a repeat job turns into a wall of flags, presets, and output folders. You can install Videomass on Ubuntu to handle conversions, audio extraction, and queue-based media jobs from a desktop window instead of building each FFmpeg command by hand.

Ubuntu’s default repositories do not currently ship Videomass under the videomass package name, so the project’s Launchpad PPA is the practical APT path on Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04. The PPA does not publish Ubuntu 26.04 metadata yet, and the GUI still needs a graphical session even if you install the package from an SSH shell.

Install Videomass on Ubuntu

For Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04, use the project’s Launchpad PPA. It supplies the videomass package, pulls FFmpeg through normal dependencies, and keeps updates under APT.

The PPA publishes usable noble and jammy package indexes with videomass 6.1.20-1. It does not publish resolute metadata yet, so Ubuntu 26.04 users should not add this PPA until Launchpad serves that suite.

Update Ubuntu Before Installing Videomass

Refresh APT metadata first so the new PPA is added against current package information.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

These commands use sudo for system-level package changes. If your account is not configured for sudo yet, follow the guide on how to add a new user to sudoers on Ubuntu.

Install the repository helper package if your Ubuntu system does not already include add-apt-repository.

sudo apt install software-properties-common -y

Add the Videomass PPA on Ubuntu

Add the project Videomass PPA with a release guard. On Ubuntu 26.04 or another unsupported codename, the guard prints a message, returns a failing status, and does not write a source file.

. /etc/os-release

case "${VERSION_CODENAME:-}" in
    noble|jammy)
        sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jeanslack/videomass -y
        ;;
    *)
        printf 'The Videomass PPA currently supports Ubuntu 24.04 (noble) and 22.04 (jammy), not %s.\n' "${VERSION_CODENAME:-this Ubuntu release}" >&2
        false
        ;;
esac

Continue only when the guard adds the PPA without printing the unsupported-release message. If your release is unsupported, use direct FFmpeg commands until the PPA adds your Ubuntu suite.

sudo apt update

Hit:5 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/jeanslack/videomass/ubuntu noble InRelease

Install the Videomass Package on Ubuntu

Install the package with APT. Videomass itself is small, but Ubuntu also pulls in FFmpeg and the wxPython runtime the GUI needs.

sudo apt install videomass -y

Verify the install with apt-cache policy. This shows both the installed package and the PPA source that supplied it.

apt-cache policy videomass

videomass:
  Installed: 6.1.20-1
  Candidate: 6.1.20-1
  Version table:
 *** 6.1.20-1 500
        500 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/jeanslack/videomass/ubuntu noble/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Ubuntu 22.04 shows jammy/main in the source line instead of noble/main, but the PPA currently provides the same 6.1.20-1 Videomass package for both releases.

The package installs the launcher in your app menu as Videomass and places the executable at /usr/bin/videomass.

Launch Videomass on Ubuntu

Once the package is installed, you can start Videomass from the terminal or from the desktop launcher. The first launch opens a short setup wizard, but the app needs a graphical session and will not open from a plain SSH-only shell.

Launch Videomass from the Terminal on Ubuntu

Open it from a terminal inside your desktop session when you want startup messages visible while you troubleshoot.

videomass

Launch Videomass from the Ubuntu Applications Menu

Most desktop users will just open it from the app grid.

• Press the Super key or click Activities.
• Open Show Applications.
• Search for Videomass.
• Click the launcher to open the application.

Complete the Videomass First-Run Setup on Ubuntu

Videomass uses FFmpeg underneath, so the first run is mostly about confirming the binary path and deciding whether to enable downloader support.

Start the Videomass Setup Wizard

The wizard opens automatically the first time you start the application. Click Next to move into the tool-detection steps.

Choose the Videomass FFmpeg Path

Auto-detection is the right choice on a normal Ubuntu install because FFmpeg lands in a standard path. If you removed FFmpeg manually at some point, reinstall it first or follow the guide to install FFmpeg on Ubuntu.

If the wizard cannot find FFmpeg, that usually means the dependency was removed after Videomass was installed.

sudo apt install --reinstall ffmpeg -y

After that, reopen the wizard and point it at /usr/bin/ffmpeg if auto-detection still misses it.

Enable yt-dlp in Videomass

Videomass can call yt-dlp for supported online video downloads, but the package is optional and is not installed automatically with Videomass.

sudo apt install yt-dlp -y

Verify that Ubuntu placed the downloader command in your PATH.

command -v yt-dlp

/usr/bin/yt-dlp

Once that package is present, leave the downloader option enabled in the wizard. If you only want local file conversions, you can skip it. Ubuntu archive builds can trail fast-moving site changes, so downloader failures that remain after a package update may need a newer yt-dlp package than the default archive currently provides.

Finish the Videomass Setup

The last screen summarizes your choices and writes the app’s settings into your home directory. Click Finish to open the main interface.

Run Your First Videomass Conversion on Ubuntu

The first useful test is a small transcode so you know the queue, presets, and output folder all behave the way you expect.

• Click Add and import one or more media files.
• Choose a preset such as MP4 with H.264/AAC when you want broad playback compatibility.
• Set the destination folder, then click Start to queue and process the job.
• For MKV or WebM to MP4 work, start with a small sample file first so you can confirm the preset and output folder before running a larger batch.

Update Videomass on Ubuntu

Because Videomass comes from a PPA, targeted updates use the normal APT package flow.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade videomass -y

If you enabled downloader support, update the optional yt-dlp package through APT as well. The command skips it when the package is not installed.

sudo apt install --only-upgrade yt-dlp -y

Check the package state afterward to confirm the installed version matches the current PPA candidate.

apt-cache policy videomass

videomass:
  Installed: 6.1.20-1
  Candidate: 6.1.20-1
  Version table:
 *** 6.1.20-1 500
        500 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/jeanslack/videomass/ubuntu noble/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

If the installed and candidate versions match, Videomass is already on the newest build the PPA currently provides.

Fix Common Videomass Problems on Ubuntu

Most problems come down to FFmpeg path issues, missing downloader support, or codec expectations that do not match the local FFmpeg build.

Fix FFmpeg Detection in Videomass on Ubuntu

Use which command examples in Linux to confirm which FFmpeg binary your shell will run.

which ffmpeg

/usr/bin/ffmpeg

If that command prints nothing, reinstall FFmpeg and then rerun the Videomass setup wizard. If you need the full package walkthrough again, use the guide to install FFmpeg on Ubuntu.

sudo apt install --reinstall ffmpeg -y

Fix yt-dlp Downloads in Videomass on Ubuntu

Videomass does not ship its own downloader backend. If the downloader window is empty, first check whether the yt-dlp command exists.

command -v yt-dlp || echo "yt-dlp not installed"

Install the package if the command prints yt-dlp not installed.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install yt-dlp -y

Restart Videomass after installing or updating the downloader. If failures started after a video site changed and the command already exists, the Ubuntu package may still lag upstream; local file conversions through FFmpeg should continue to work.

Check FFmpeg Codec Support for Videomass on Ubuntu

If one preset fails while others work, use grep command examples in Linux to filter FFmpeg’s codec list down to the encoder or decoder you need.

ffmpeg -hide_banner -codecs | grep -i hevc

DEV.L. hevc                 H.265 / HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) (decoders: hevc hevc_qsv hevc_v4l2m2m hevc_cuvid) (encoders: libx265 hevc_nvenc hevc_qsv hevc_v4l2m2m hevc_vaapi)

If the codec you want is missing, switch to a preset backed by codecs your current FFmpeg package provides, such as H.264 for MP4 output.

Fix Videomass Display Errors over SSH

If videomass returns Unable to access the X Display, is $DISPLAY set properly?, the package is installed but the app is not connected to a graphical session. Launch it from the local desktop menu or from a terminal inside the Ubuntu desktop session. On headless servers, use direct ffmpeg commands instead of the Videomass GUI.

Remove Videomass on Ubuntu

Removing Videomass starts with the package and PPA source. Then decide whether to remove the optional downloader package and local settings for your account.

Remove the package first.

sudo apt remove videomass -y

If you installed yt-dlp only for Videomass and no other application needs it, remove that optional downloader package separately.

sudo apt remove yt-dlp -y

Then clean up the automatic dependencies that were only needed for the Videomass GUI or downloader support.

sudo apt autoremove -y

Remove the PPA so APT stops checking it on future package refreshes.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:jeanslack/videomass -y

Remove any PPA-specific source or trust files left by older add-apt-repository behavior.

sudo rm -f \
  /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jeanslack-ubuntu-videomass*.list \
  /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jeanslack-ubuntu-videomass*.sources \
  /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/jeanslack-ubuntu-videomass.gpg \
  /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/jeanslack-ubuntu-videomass.gpg~ \
  /etc/apt/keyrings/jeanslack-ubuntu-videomass.gpg \
  /etc/apt/keyrings/jeanslack-ubuntu-videomass.gpg~

Refresh package metadata and confirm Ubuntu no longer sees a Videomass package source.

sudo apt update

apt-cache policy videomass

(no output)

An empty response here means APT no longer has a Videomass package available from your configured repositories.

Package removal does not delete personal data automatically. The cleanup command deletes Videomass settings, cache, and local application data for the current account.

Check which paths exist first. No output means there is nothing to remove for that account.

find ~/.config/videomass ~/.cache/videomass ~/.local/share/videomass -maxdepth 0 -print 2>/dev/null

rm -rf ~/.config/videomass ~/.cache/videomass ~/.local/share/videomass

Conclusion

Videomass is ready on Ubuntu 24.04 or 22.04 from the project PPA, with FFmpeg installed as a dependency and yt-dlp available when you need downloader support. For command-line control, install FFmpeg on Ubuntu. For playback checks or capture work around the same files, install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu or install OBS Studio on Ubuntu.