Install Postman on Ubuntu 18.04: Snap Setup and First API Request

Postman is a complete API development environment used by developers at every stage of building APIs — from writing and testing initial requests to running automated test suites, generating documentation, and monitoring production endpoints. It started as a Chrome browser extension and quickly became one of the most widely used API tools in the world. Postman is trusted by teams across startups and enterprises alike to test REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket APIs, and to run automated collections in CI/CD pipelines.

Today, Postman is a native desktop application built on Electron, available for macOS, Linux, and Windows. The Chrome app version has been deprecated, so the Snap package is the recommended way to install it on Ubuntu.

This guide shows you how to install Postman on Ubuntu 18.04 and make your first API request.

<strong>Prerequisite:</strong>&nbsp;You need sudo access.

Install Postman on Ubuntu

The easiest way to install Postman on Ubuntu 18.04 is via the Snap packaging system. Snap packages are self-contained, update automatically in the background, and always give you the latest stable version.

Open your terminal and run:

bashsudo snap install postman

Once the download finishes, you will see:

postman 6.7.1 from 'postman-inc' installed

Postman is installed and ready to use. If you prefer a graphical approach, you can also find it in the Ubuntu Software Center by searching for “Postman” and clicking Install.

Launch Postman from the application menu via Activities > Postman, or run postman in your terminal.

Snap packages update automatically, but you can manually trigger an update with sudo snap refresh postman. To uninstall Postman completely, run sudo snap remove postman.

Sign In or Use Postman Without an Account

The first time you open Postman, a sign-in screen appears. You can create a free account, log in with an existing one, or skip login entirely. Creating an account unlocks several useful features:

• Workspaces: organize your API requests, collections, and environments into shared spaces accessible from any machine
• Sync: your collections and history are backed up to the cloud and kept in sync across every device you log into
• Team collaboration: invite teammates to shared workspaces to review and work on APIs together

If you do not want to create an account right now, click “Skip signing in and take me straight to the app”. All local features remain fully available.

Send Your First API Request

To confirm Postman is working, send a simple GET request to a public test API.

In the Untitled Request tab, enter the following URL:

https://reqres.in/api/users

Leave the method set to GET and click Send. The response panel at the bottom displays a JSON object containing a paginated list of users. That confirms Postman can successfully send requests and parse API responses.

From here, explore the Postman Learning Center to learn about Collections (groups of saved requests), Environments (variable sets for switching between dev, staging, and production), and Test Scripts (automated assertions that run after each request).

Postman is now installed on your Ubuntu 18.04 machine. Visit the Postman Learning Center to explore workspaces, collections, environment variables, and automated testing. Leave a comment below if you run into any issues.