How to Install the Latest Version of Handbrake on Ubuntu-based Linux Distributions [Quick Tip]

This quick tutorial shows how to install the latest version of HandBrake on Ubuntu-based distributions using its official PPA.

HandBrake is one of the most popular open-source video converters for Linux, Windows, and macOS.

This GUI application enables you to convert videos from one format to another in just a few clicks. You can also customize the output video as per your requirement.

HandBrake is available in the universe repository of Ubuntu but it might not always provide the latest version. Let me show you how you can get the latest HandBrake on Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-based distributions like Linux Mint, Linux Lite, elementary OS etc.

Installing the latest HandBrake on Ubuntu-based Linux Distribution and Other

There are three methods available to get it installed:

• Using the official PPA (for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or older)
• Through the Ubuntu repositories (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and higher)
• Using the Flatpak package

Using the official PPA

The developers of HandBrake maintain an official PPA for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and older. Using this PPA, you can easily install the latest version of HandBrake on your Ubuntu-based distribution.

Open a terminal and use the following command to add the PPA repository. Press enter when asked for it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases

You may have to update the local package cache after adding the PPA (not required in Ubuntu 18.04 and higher versions):

sudo apt update

Now install the latest version of the HandBrake using this command:

sudo apt install handbrake-gtk

The best thing is that this method removes the older handbrake package on your system avoiding installing two different instances of handbrake.

Using the Ubuntu repository

With Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and above, you can easily install the handbrake package without adding the PPA using the following command:

sudo apt install handbrake

Using the Flatpak package

You can also utilize the Flatpak package available on Flathub. Follow our Flatpak guide if you cannot install the Flatpak package on your system.

With the setup done, you can find it using the software center (or your package manager). In either case, you can use the following command to install it via the terminal:

flatpak install flathub fr.handbrake.ghb

Uninstall HandBrake from your system

For some reason, if you don’t like HandBrake and want to remove it, here’s what you need to do.

Open a terminal and use the following command to uninstall HandBrake:

sudo apt remove handbrake-gtk

If that does not work, you can try:

sudo apt remove handbrakesu

Now that you have removed the application, it will be a good idea to remove the PPA (if you added it) as you don’t need it anymore.

sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases

Confirm when asked for it.

In this quick Ubuntu tutorial, you learned the steps for installing the latest HandBrake using PPA. You also learned the steps for removing it properly.

I hope you find this quick tip useful. If you have questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.