How to install Neovim on Linux
Neovim is a highly customizable, Vim-based text editor for Linux, as well as other platforms. It takes VIM and greatly improves upon it with strong defaults, bracketed paste functionality, a built-in terminal emulator, and more. Here’s how to install it on your system.
Ubuntu installation instructions
To get Neovim installed on Ubuntu, you will need to rely on the Ubuntu official software sources. On Ubuntu, there are two versions of Neovim you can install. These versions are console and GUI.
To start the installation, open up a terminal window. Once the terminal window is open on the desktop, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined below to get Neovim set up on Ubuntu.
console version
The console version of Neovim can be installed on your Ubuntu Linux operating system using the following Apt command.
sudo apt install neovim
GUI version
If you want to try out the GUI release of Neovim on your Ubuntu Linux PC, you will need to install a different package. This package is called “neovim-qt.” To get it up and running, execute the apt command below.
sudo apt install neovim-qt
Debian installation instructions
On Debian Linux, Neovim is available in the “Main” software package repository. Though, keep in mind, Debian updates their software at a significantly slower rate than other Linux operating systems. As a result, Neovim might not have as many features.
Note: want a newer version of Neovim on your Debian Linux system? Follow along with the Snap or Flatpak instructions instead. These releases of Neovim are much more up to date!
To start installing Neovim on Debian, open up a terminal window, and follow the instructions down below!
console version
The console-based version of Neovim is installable on Debian through the following Apt-get command. Keep in mind that you will need to be using at least Debian 9 to gain access to it.
sudo apt-get install neovim
GUI version
To get the GUI version of Neovim on Debian Linux, you will need to install the “neovim-qt” package onto your computer. To install it, make use of the Apt-get command below.
sudo apt-get install neovim
Arch Linux installation instructions
If you’re an Arch Linux user, you’ll have an easy way of getting the latest release of Neovim installed on your computer. To start the installation process, open up a terminal window on the Arch Linux desktop.
Once the terminal window is open, follow the command-line installation instructions below to get either the console or GUI version of the app set up and installed.
Note: to use Neovim on Arch Linux, you will need to have the “Community” software repository enabled. To enable it, access your /etc/pacman.conf file and edit it so that “Community” is turned on.
console version
To install the console version of Neovim on your Arch Linux PC, you will need to install the “neovim” package with the command below.
sudo pacman -S neovim
GUI version
Are you looking to get the GUI version of Neovim on your Arch Linux PC instead? To do that, you will need to install the “neovim-qt” package with the command below.
sudo pacman -S neovim-qt
Fedora installation instructions
Every release of Fedora Linux (31, 32, 33, and Rawhide) has access to Neovim through the Fedora main software repositories. To start the installation of Neovim on your Fedora Linux PC, begin by launching a terminal window on the Fedora desktop. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions outlined below.
console version
To get the console version of Neovim on your Fedora Linux OS, you need to install the “neovim” package from the Fedora repositories using the dnf command below.
sudo dnf install neovim
GUI version
When you install the “neovim” package with the command above in the “console version” section on Fedora Linux, you will also have the GUI version. It is included within the same package, rather than two separate ones.
OpenSUSE installation instructions
All versions of OpenSUSE Linux have Neovim support, so installing it isn’t difficult at all. To start the installation on your system, open up a terminal window on the OpenSUSE desktop. Then, follow along with the installation instructions outlined below.
console version
The console version of Neovim is available to all OpenSUSE users in the form of the “neovim” package. To install it on your computer, make use of the following Zypper command.
sudo zypper install neovim
GUI version
On OpenSUSE, you will be able to install the GUI version of Neovim. However, unlike a lot of other Linux operating systems, it is not the Qt version. Instead, the GUI is built with GTK. To install it, use the zypper command to install “neovim-gtk.”
sudo zypper install neovim-gtk
Flatpak installation instructions
Neovim is on the Flatpak store. However, there is only one version of the app and not two. If you want to use it, you’ll first need to enable the Flatpak runtime on your system. To do that, follow this guide.
After setting up the Flatpak runtime, execute the commands below to install the latest release of Neovim.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub io.neovim.nvim
Snap package installation instructions
Both the GUI version of Neovim as well as the console version of Neovim are available as Snap packages. However, before installing either of these packages, you will need to enable the Snapd runtime on your computer. To do that, follow along with this guide here.
After setting up the Snapd runtime on your Linux PC, open up a terminal window and follow the instructions below to get Neovim.
console version
To install the console version of Neovim via Snap, install the “nvim” package.
sudo snap install nvim --classic
GUI version
To get the GUI version of Neovim working on your Linux PC via Snap, install the “nvim-gtk” package.
sudo snap install nvim-gtk --candidate
