Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Users Can Now Finally Upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Here's How

Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS is out today as the first point release to the long-term supported Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) operating system series and Canonical has finally opened the upgrade path for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) users.

For those of you not in the know, Canonical opens the upgrade path from the previous Ubuntu LTS release to the new Ubuntu LTS release about six months after the launch of the latter, but not after it publishes the first point release to the new Ubuntu LTS series (in this case Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS). This is done to ensure a safe upgrade process.

Of course, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS will still be supported for three more years, until April 2025, so no one forces you to upgrade your perfect, rock-solid installation if you don’t want, but, personally, I recommend upgrading to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS if you want to enjoy its numerous new features including the latest GNOME 42 desktop environment series, new Dark and Light modes, accent colors, RDP support, and much more.

How to upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Before attempting to upgrade your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS installation, make sure that you have all the available updates installed and that you have a recent backup of your most important files (you know, just in case something bad happens during the upgrade process).

If you didn’t yet receive a notification that Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is available to upgrade, open the Software Updater utility and it will prompt you that Ubuntu 22.04 LTS “Jammy Jellyfish” is now available, so just click on the “Upgrade” button.

You will then be prompted by a bigger dialog with more information about the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) release. Click the “Upgrade” button on the bigger dialog to actually start the upgrade process, which will take up to an hour or more to complete, depending on your Internet bandwidth and computer’s specs.

All you have to do now is follow the on-screen instructions for a successful upgrade. Before the upgrade process starts, you will be informed about what packages will be upgraded, installed, or removed, that you must close all opened windows and documents to avoid data loss, and that the lock screen has been disabled and will remain disabled during the upgrade process.

During the upgrade process, you will also get a notification that the Mozilla Firefox web browser will only be provided as a Snap package. Unfortunately, the latest Ubuntu releases no longer offer native Firefox packages in the .deb file format, so you won’t be able to swap the Snap package for a DEB one in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

When the upgrade process is complete, you will be notified about the obsolete packages that will be removed and prompted to restart your computer to complete the upgrade, but don’t forget to save your work before doing so.