How to install Joplin on Ubuntu 20.04 – A Note Taking app for Linux

Joplin is a free and open source to-do and note taking application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. It’s an cross-platform application available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS.

Joplin Web Clipper (extension) lets you save web pages and screenshots from your browser. The extension is also available for Firefox and Chrome.

The notes are searchable, can be copied, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor. Full text search is available on all platforms to quickly find the information you need.

The app can be customised using plugins and themes, and you can also easily create your own. The notes are in Markdown format. The notes can be securely synchronised using end-to-end encryption with various cloud services such as Nextcloud, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Joplin Cloud.

Key features of Joplin

  • Free and Open-Source
  • Cross Platform application: Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS
  • End To End Encryption
  • Notes exported from Evernote can be imported into Joplin, including the formatted content, images, attachments, updated time, created time etc.
  • Support notes, to-dos, tags and notebooks.
  • Search functionality
  • File attachment support
  • Web Clipper(extension) for Firefox and Chrome
  • Choice of both Markdown and Rich Text editors
  • Many more…

This article explains three methods of installing Joplin on Ubuntu 20.04.

Choose the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment.

Method 1: Installing Joplin as a Snap Package

The easiest way to install Joplin on Ubuntu 20.04 is by using the snap packaging system.

A snap package is a type of universal Linux package that you can enjoy irrespective of the distro. Its an self-contained software packages that include the binary all dependencies needed to run the application.

All you need is the snap service pre-configured, In the case of Ubuntu 20.04, it comes with snap pre-installed.

If snapd package is not already installed then you can install it by running following command.

$ sudo apt install snapd

Note: Snap packages can be installed from either the command-line or via the Ubuntu Software application.

This is actually the Snap version of the Joplin. It can be used on any Linux distribution that has Snap support.

Open your terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type the following command to install the Joplin package.

$ sudo snap install joplin-james-carroll

At this step, you have successfully installed Joplin on Ubuntu 20.04 system.

If you are not comfortable with the command line, open Ubuntu Software, search for “Joplin” and install the application.

Type the following command to update Joplin package.

$ sudo snap refresh joplin-james-carroll

Method 2: Installing Joplin via AppImage

Before installation let’s understand what is AppImage.

What is AppImage?

We have .deb packages for Debian/Ubuntu based Linux distributions and .rpm for Fedora/SUSE based Linux distributions.

While these packages provide a convenient way of installing software to their respective distribution users, it is not the most convenient for the application developer.

The developers have to create multiple packages for multiple distributions. This is where AppImage comes into picture. AppImage is a universal software package format.

By packaging the software in AppImage, the developer provides just one file to rule them all. End user can use it in most modern Linux distributions.

Step #1

Click on following button to download the latest stable version of Joplin AppImage executable file for Linux.

Step #2

The downloaded file name would be something like: Joplin-2.6.10.AppImage.

By default, the downloaded AppImage file won’t have the execution permission. You will have to change the permission on the file to make it executable and You don’t need root privilege to do that.

Now type the following command to make the AppImage executable.

$ chmod u+x Joplin-2.6.10.AppImage

Step #3

Once you have made the AppImage file executable, just double click on it to run it Or run the following command to install through terminal.

$ ./Joplin-2.6.10.AppImage

That’s It.

Method 3: Installing Joplin via Official Script

As per the official documentation, the recommended way is to use the following script to install Joplin on all modern Linux distributions.

Note: Actually this script also downloads the AppImage executable file and installs it automatically.

$ wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laurent22/joplin/dev/Joplin_install_and_update.sh | bash

Once installed go to Start -> Type Joplin -> Start the application.

Starting Joplin

In the Activities search bar type “Joplin” and click on the icon to launch the application.

Joplin User Interface:

How to Uninstall Joplin from Ubuntu 20.04

For some reason, If you want to uninstall Joplin, refer following methods.

Method #1

If you have installed Joplin via Snap type the following command:

$ sudo snap remove joplin-james-carroll

Method #2

If you have installed the application via AppImage:

Since the software is never installed, there is no need of uninstalling it. Just delete the associated Joplin file and your software is removed from the system.

Conclusion

I hope that now you have a good understanding of How to install Joplin on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

If anyone does have any questions about what we covered in this guide then feel free to ask in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer those.

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