When working with Raspberry Pi, many hobbyists' and makers' go-to operating system for their board is the Raspberry Pi OS, and for good reason. It's easy to install and all but guaranteed to work on your Pi with no issues. If you do run into some problems, you can always rely on the comprehensive official documentation or the huge Raspberry Pi community for help.
But while the Raspberry Pi OS is a great general-purpose OS for both simple and advanced projects, you might want to switch to a different system that fits your needs better. One of the top OS options for Raspberry Pis, especially for beginners, is Ubuntu. It's among the major Linux flavors out there, so it's well-supported, and its community is just as massive. If you plan on using Ubuntu for your Pi, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of how to install this OS to your board of choice.
Step 1. Flash Ubuntu to your microSD card
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Using the Raspberry Pi Imager, Raspberry Pi's official OS installer, is the easiest way to flash Ubuntu to your microSD card. The OS images are directly available in the Imager, so you won't have to download it yourself. Follow these steps to get Ubuntu on your microSD card:
You now have Ubuntu ready for setup on your microSD card.
Before you can use the OS, you first need to configure it to your preferences. Here's how to do so:
Once on the desktop, you can start using Ubuntu as you wish. If you plan on installing more software, click the App Center (orange basket icon) from the left side panel, type the app you need in the search bar, and select it from the results. Then, press Install to proceed. Enter your password when prompted.
