Overview

You can run a full version of Pop!_OS or Ubuntu from a USB drive (often known as a thumb drive, flash drive, or USB stick) in what's known as a live environment. Using a live environment (live disk) is useful for:

• Installing Pop!_OS
• Installing Ubuntu
• Recovering your existing operating system
• Backing up files when you can't boot
• Determining if an issue is caused by hardware or software
• Fixing the boot loader

A live disk can be helpful when doing hardware troubleshooting.

Downloading the ISO

In order to install Pop!_OS or Ubuntu, you must first download the .iso image. This is a disk image with the operating system and installer on it. You can download Pop!_OS here or Ubuntu here.

Verifying the Download

A "checksum" for Pop!_OS images is available on the software download page, and it's recommended to verify your download matches the checksum before trying to install. This ensures you've received the full, complete download and that it's not corrupted.

For Ubuntu/Pop!_OS

Assuming you downloaded Pop!_OS to your ~/Downloads folder, open the Terminal (SUPER + T on Pop!_OS or Ctrl + Alt + T on Ubuntu) and run the following command:

sha256sum Downloads/pop-os_*.iso

Version numbers: This command will list the checksums for all Pop!_OS .iso files. If you're trying to verify a specific .iso version, replace the * with the version name in the .iso filename.

An example of the terminal output to expect is below. The large block of numbers and letters is the checksum to match with the download page. The version of the iso is indicated in the filename. In this example, we are viewing the checksum for the Pop!_OS 24.04 generic version 20 .iso.