Are you trying to use an AppImage in Ubuntu but wondering why it won’t run? Relax; you’re not alone and there is an easy fix.
In older versions of Ubuntu you could download an .appimage, mark it executable (i.e. give it permission to run, usually via the file manager Properties dialog), then double-click on it to start it. The app opens, you can use it, everyone’s happy.
But as of Ubuntu 23.04 (and above) that no longer works.
Instead, you do all of the same steps but after you double-click on the AppImage file nothing happens.
Nothing.
So why don’t AppImages work out-of-the-box in Ubuntu 23.04 and above? Is it down to some ideological-imposed limitation to try and persuade you to use snaps?
No.
Rather, newer versions of Ubuntu use a newer version of FUSE (the ‘Filesystem in User Space’ interface that AppImages rely on to work) that AppImages aren’t designed for. Ubuntu ships with FUSE v3 but AppImages need FUSE v2 to work.
Discussions are taking place between AppImage devs, distro makers, and community folks on how to move the situation forward (it’s not a simple thing to solve, see the linked thread for details).
While a solution is worked on you can get AppImages to run in Ubuntu easily: install FUSE 2.
You do not need to add a PPA or compile anything as the libfuse2 package is available in the Ubuntu Universe repo (enabled by default usually).
Plus, you can install FUSE 2 alongside FUSE 3 in Ubuntu without any issues (that is not the case for FUSE 1 so do not install that).
To install libfuse2 in Ubuntu open a new Terminal window and paste the following command:
sudo apt install libfuse2
Press your enter/return key, enter your password to authenticate the installation, wait a for seconds for the package to download, unpack, and install and then…
You’re done!
You can now double-click on an AppImage to launch it (assuming you’ve given it permission to run first, of course — if you haven’t do that first, then try).
Scores of Linux apps are available as AppImages, including the Kdenlive video editor, Audacity audio editor, and image writing tool BalenaEtcher so this “issue” is affecting lots of people.
Follow the steps above and you’ll be able to run your favourite AppImages in Ubuntu without any dramas.