How To

Install Atom on Ubuntu 18.04: GitHub’s Code Editor APT Setup

Atom is a free, open-source, cross-platform code editor developed by GitHub. Built on Electron, it uses HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Node.js under the hood, which allows it to run on Windows, macOS, and Linux from a single codebase.

Atom includes a built-in package manager (APM), embedded Git and GitHub integration, smart autocompletion, syntax highlighting, multiple editing panes, and a full theming system with separate UI and syntax themes.

This guide covers how to install Atom on Ubuntu 18.04 using the official Atom APT repository. The same steps apply to Ubuntu 16.04, Debian, Linux Mint, and Elementary OS.

<strong>Before you begin:</strong>&nbsp;GitHub officially archived Atom on December 15, 2022. The software still installs and runs, but no longer receives updates, bug fixes, or security patches.

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

Install Atom on Ubuntu: Add the Official APT Repository

Install the required dependencies:

bashsudo apt updatesudo apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https wget

Import the Atom GPG key. The key is hosted on packagecloud.io, a package distribution service used by many open-source projects. The -q flag runs wget in quiet mode, and -O- pipes the downloaded key to stdout instead of saving it to a file — this lets apt-key read it directly:

bashwget -q https://packagecloud.io/AtomEditor/atom/gpgkey -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Add the Atom APT repository:

bashsudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://github.com/atom/atom/releases any main"

The [arch=amd64] directive tells apt this repository only provides packages for 64-bit x86-64 systems.

Install Atom:

bashsudo apt install atom

Launch Atom, Install Packages, and Customize the Editor

Start Atom from the Activities menu by searching for “Atom,” or from the terminal:

bashatom

The terminal command is atom, not code (code is Visual Studio Code’s command).

The first time Atom opens, a welcome tab appears with links to documentation and the community package registry. Close it and open a file or folder from File > Open to start working.

APM (Atom Package Manager) is the built-in tool for extending the editor with community plugins. Access it through Edit > Preferences > Install, or from the terminal:

bashapm install &lt;package-name&gt;

A few packages that significantly improve the editing experience:

file-icons: adds color-coded file-type icons to the tree view sidebar
minimap: renders a small full-file preview in the scrollbar gutter for fast navigation
emmet: expands CSS-like shorthand into complete HTML or CSS code in one keystroke
linter: real-time syntax and style error highlighting (requires a language-specific linter plugin alongside it)
atom-beautify: auto-formats code across dozens of languages

Theming. Atom separates UI themes (the editor chrome, sidebar, and panels) from syntax themes (the code coloring). You can mix them independently under Edit > Preferences > Themes. Popular choices include One Dark (bundled), Seti UI, and Atom Material.

Key keyboard shortcuts worth knowing:

Ctrl+P: fuzzy file finder (Goto File)
Ctrl+Shift+P: command palette
Ctrl+D: select next occurrence of the current word
Ctrl+\: toggle the tree view sidebar

Keep Atom Updated and Understand Its Current Status

Because Atom was installed through the official APT repository, updates were delivered through the standard Ubuntu package manager. To upgrade, the process is:

bashsudo apt updatesudo apt upgrade

About Atom’s end of life. GitHub announced the retirement of Atom on June 8, 2022, and the repository was archived on December 15, 2022. No further releases, patches, or security fixes will be issued. Running an unmaintained editor with known unpatched vulnerabilities on a development machine is a risk worth taking seriously.

If you are setting up a development environment now, consider these actively maintained alternatives:

Visual Studio Code: free, open-source, also Electron-based, and maintained by Microsoft. Nearly identical workflow to Atom with a larger extension marketplace
Zed: a newer, high-performance editor written in Rust with built-in collaboration features and significantly lower memory usage than Electron-based editors
Neovim: a terminal-based editor with a large plugin ecosystem for developers comfortable in the command line

Atom is now installed on your Ubuntu 18.04 system. Install the packages that match your workflow, set your preferred theme, and explore the keyboard shortcuts. Leave a comment below if you run into any issues.