If you’ve been itching to upgrade to Ubuntu 26.04 LTS from Ubuntu 25.10, good news: the upgrade path has finally been enabled, as of 14 May, 2026.
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS released over a month ago, with GNOME 50, Linux 7.0 and new default apps. Snap app and web searching features were added to the overview, and you can enable Ubuntu Pro in the Security Center.
Plus, the ‘Resolute Raccoon’ brought a fresh set of folder icons, turned on password feedback for sudo commands and provides easy access to NVIDIA CUDA and AMD ROCm, since both are now an apt install away.
It’s always possible to force upgrade to new Ubuntu releases from the command-line, but that method comes with no guarantees or assurances that you get a working desktop at the end of it.
Indeed, the whole reason it’s taken almost a month for official upgrades for the new releases to go live was a handful of edge-case bugs that were uninstalling key packages on certain setups, leaving some systems with issues.
But now that the upgrade gate is officially open, you can at least complain if you get lost on your way to the other side.
How to upgrade from 25.10
Ubuntu 26.04 recommends a minimum of 6GB RAM for smooth running, whereas 25.10 only asked for 4GB – something to keep in mind.
Back up critical files, configs and settings before you begin. Ensure you’ve installed all pending updates and that you have enough free disk space for the upgrade to complete. You’ll need to be connected to the internet to upgrade, obviously.
You can wait for your system to notify you that a new version of Ubuntu is available, or open Update Manager and run an update check. If all updates are installed, this will mention that 26.04 LTS is available with the option to upgrade.
Click the prompts and follow the steps as lain out.
PPAs and third-party APT repos get disabled during the upgrade process. You need to re-enable those manually, on the other side, to receive updates. New installsdon’t include the Software & Updates tool for managing PPAs, but this is not removed during in-place upgrades.
Ubuntu 25.10 only receives ongoing support until July 2027, so you’ll need to upgrade at some point.