The complete step-by-step guide for upgrading from Ubuntu Budgie 24.04 LTS to 26.04 LTS. Covers the Wayland-only transition, Budgie config backup, incompatible applets, and what to verify after the upgrade finishes.
ubuntu-budgie-desktop before upgrading – the official release notes require this meta-package to be present-d flag until thenThe Most Important Change: Wayland-Only Desktop
Before running the upgrade, understand what changes at the display level. Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 removes the X11 session entirely. After the upgrade, you will log into a Wayland session running on the labwc compositor – and that is the only session available.
For most users this is invisible. Applications built for X11 still run through XWayland, a compatibility layer that handles them automatically inside the Wayland session. You do not need to do anything for this to work. Where you may notice a difference: some screen recorders and remote desktop tools that interact directly with the X11 display layer will behave differently or require updates from their developers. If you depend on any of those, check compatibility before upgrading.
The display configuration tool has also changed. Under Wayland, wdisplays is the recommended tool for managing monitor layouts. The older display settings tools from the X11 era are no longer available.
Which Upgrade Path Applies to You?
Not every Ubuntu Budgie version can upgrade directly to 26.04. The table below shows the supported paths. If your current version is not listed as a direct source, follow the step column to know what to do first. If you would prefer a clean install over an in-place upgrade, the Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 download page has the official ISO link and verification steps.
| Current Version | Direct to 26.04? | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Budgie 24.04 LTS | Yes | Follow this guide directly |
| Ubuntu Budgie 25.10 | Yes | Follow this guide directly |
| Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 LTS | No | Upgrade to 24.04 first, then to 26.04 |
| Ubuntu Budgie 23.10 / 25.04 (EOL) | No | These releases are end-of-life. Fresh install of 26.04 recommended |
| Ubuntu Budgie 20.04 LTS or older | No | Upgrade through each LTS in sequence, or do a fresh install |
Before You Upgrade – 5 Steps
Do not skip this section. These steps are specific to Ubuntu Budgie and go beyond the standard Ubuntu pre-upgrade checklist. The Wayland transition and Budgie-specific package requirements make preparation more important here than on most other Ubuntu flavors.
The upgrade preserves your home directory, but hardware failures and power cuts do not care about timing. Back up anything important before starting. A full system snapshot is ideal if you are on a virtual machine.
Budgie stores your panel layout, applet positions, Raven widget settings, and keyboard shortcuts in ~/.config. Configuration files from older Budgie versions can cause a broken panel or missing applets on first login after the upgrade. Run this before starting:
This creates a single compressed archive in your home folder. If anything breaks after the upgrade, you can restore specific files from it.
The official Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 release notes explicitly require this. The ubuntu-budgie-desktop meta-package ensures all required Budgie components are present before the upgrade tool runs. If it is missing or was partially removed at some point, the upgrade may not install all 26.04 Budgie components correctly.
Two applets that may be on your panel are not supported in Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 and will break after the upgrade. Remove them from your panel before upgrading to avoid a broken panel configuration on first boot.
Depends on XEmbed, an X11-only technology. Not available on Wayland. Right-click it on your panel and remove it before upgrading.
Not compatible with Wayland. Remove it from your panel before upgrading.
The upgrade tool will refuse to run if your system has pending updates. Run all four commands and reboot if the kernel was updated.
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt autoremove
How to Upgrade via Terminal
This is the recommended method. It works on any Ubuntu Budgie system and gives you the most control over the process.
As required by the official Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 release notes, make sure the desktop meta-package is present before proceeding. This command installs it if missing and confirms it if already installed.
The update-manager-core package provides the do-release-upgrade command. It is usually already installed on Ubuntu Budgie 24.04, but this confirms it.
Because the automatic LTS-to-LTS upgrade prompt is not yet enabled (it activates with 26.04.1 in August 2026), use the -d flag. This tells the tool to fetch the newly available release directly. Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 is a full production release – the -d flag does not mean unstable.
After 26.04.1 ships in August 2026, you can drop the -d flag and run sudo do-release-upgrade on its own.
The tool walks you through a series of prompts. Here is what to expect at each stage:
The tool checks for blockers, then shows a summary: how many packages will be upgraded, installed, and removed. Read this. If anything looks unexpected, press N to cancel and investigate before continuing.
The tool downloads all required packages. This is the longest part on slower connections. The terminal shows a progress bar. Do not close the terminal or interrupt this process.
For system configuration files you have previously modified, the tool asks whether to keep your version or install the package maintainer’s version. If you have not customized the file, choose the maintainer’s version. If you have, keep yours and compare the two manually after the upgrade.
Near the end of the process, the upgrade tool may ask you to close open applications and will terminate the Budgie session to replace desktop components. Once all packages are installed, it prompts for a full system reboot. Choose yes – the system reboots into Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 on Wayland.
When you run sudo do-release-upgrade -d on a remote system over SSH, the tool automatically opens a secondary SSH port (default: 1022) as a fallback in case your main connection drops during the upgrade. Before starting, open port 1022 through your firewall. If you use UFW: sudo ufw allow 1022/tcp. The tool will remind you and wait for confirmation before continuing.
A clean install gives you a fresh Budgie 10.10.2 setup with no leftover configuration from older releases. Get the official ISO directly.
How to Upgrade via Software Updater (Desktop Only)
The graphical upgrade path uses Software Updater. There is one important caveat: Software Updater will not show a 26.04 upgrade prompt until Ubuntu Budgie 26.04.1 ships in August 2026. Until then, you need to launch it with a flag that tells it to check for newly available releases. Before using this method, still complete Steps 1-5 in the pre-upgrade section above – particularly the meta-package install and applet removal.
Software Updater opens and begins checking for updates. After applying any pending updates, it will show a banner: “Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 LTS is now available.” Click Upgrade to begin. The GUI walks you through the same process as the terminal method – with a visual progress bar and dialog boxes for configuration decisions. Total time: 40-60 minutes.
When the upgrade finishes, Software Updater will ask you to restart. Click Restart Now. Your system reboots into Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 on Wayland with Budgie Desktop 10.10.2.
After the Upgrade – What to Check
Once the system reboots into Ubuntu Budgie 26.04, run through these checks to confirm everything is working correctly. The Wayland session check and Budgie version check are specific to this flavor.
The output should show Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and codename resolute.
Should return wayland. If it returns x11 something went wrong with the session configuration.
Should report a 7.x kernel version.
sudo apt upgrade
A handful of packages often have updates available immediately after a release upgrade.
Known Issues and Fixes
These are the issues most likely to affect users upgrading from Ubuntu Budgie 24.04. Most have clear solutions or workarounds.
Cause: Old Budgie configuration files from the 24.04 release can conflict with Budgie 10.10.2’s updated component structure. Panels may appear empty, applets may fail to load, or the layout may look different from how you left it.
Fix: If you backed up your config before upgrading (Step 2 above), you can restore specific files from the archive. For a clean reset without losing application data, rename the problematic config file and let Budgie regenerate defaults:
Log out and back in. Budgie will recreate the panel from the default 26.04 layout. You can then re-add your preferred applets manually.
Cause: Both applets depend on X11-specific functionality that is not available on Wayland. If they were not removed before upgrading, they may cause panel load errors or prevent other applets from displaying correctly.
Fix: Open Budgie Desktop Settings, navigate to the panel, and remove the affected applets. Then remove their packages:
Cause: Some administrative GUI tools that do not use pkexec for privilege escalation may fail to launch graphically under Wayland. labwc is intentionally strict about this. This is noted in the official Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 release notes.
Workaround: For affected tools, use an xhost-based workaround: run xhost +si:localuser:root in a terminal first, then launch the GUI tool. This is a per-session workaround – it does not persist after reboot. Tools that properly use pkexec work without any workaround.
Cause: The upgrade tool disables third-party PPAs during the upgrade to prevent conflicts. They are not deleted, just disabled. Some may also not yet have packages built for Ubuntu 26.04.
Fix: Open Software & Updates, go to the Other Software tab, and re-enable the PPAs you need. Run sudo apt update after. If a PPA fails, check whether the maintainer has released a 26.04-compatible version yet.
If the upgrade is interrupted – by a power cut, a dropped SSH connection, or a package error – do not panic and do not try to reboot straight away. Open a terminal and run these two commands in order. They repair packages left in a half-installed state and resolve broken dependencies.
sudo apt install -f
Once both commands complete without errors, run the upgrade command again. The tool will pick up where it left off rather than starting from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I upgrade directly from Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 to 26.04?
No. Ubuntu Budgie follows the same LTS upgrade path as Ubuntu. You cannot skip releases. You must first upgrade from Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 LTS to 24.04 LTS, then from 24.04 LTS to 26.04 LTS. Run sudo do-release-upgrade on your 22.04 system first to reach 24.04, then repeat the process.
Why does do-release-upgrade say no new release found on my Ubuntu Budgie 24.04 system?
This is expected. The automatic LTS-to-LTS upgrade prompt is not enabled until the first point release, which for 26.04 is planned for around August 2026. To upgrade before then, run sudo do-release-upgrade -d to access the release directly. The -d flag means development or newly released, not unstable. Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 is a full production release.
Will Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 still have an X11 session after the upgrade?
No. Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 is Wayland-only. The X11 session has been removed entirely. The desktop now runs on the labwc Wayland compositor. Most applications continue to work through XWayland, a compatibility layer that runs X11 apps inside the Wayland session automatically. You will not see an X11 option on the login screen after the upgrade.
Do I need to back up my Budgie settings before upgrading?
Yes. Budgie stores your panel layout, applet configuration, and Raven settings in ~/.config. Configuration files from older Budgie versions can cause broken panels or missing applets on first login after the upgrade. Run tar -czf ~/budgie-config-backup.tar.gz ~/.config before starting.
What happens to budgie-carbon-tray-applet and budgie-pixel-saver-applet after upgrading?
Both applets are not supported in Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 and will break after the upgrade. budgie-carbon-tray-applet depends on XEmbed, which is an X11-only technology not available on Wayland. budgie-pixel-saver-applet is similarly incompatible. Remove them from your panel before upgrading to avoid a broken panel configuration on first boot.
What is the ubuntu-budgie-desktop meta-package and why does it matter for upgrading?
ubuntu-budgie-desktop is the meta-package that pulls in the complete set of Budgie desktop components. The official Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 release notes explicitly require this package to be installed before running the upgrade. If it is missing or was partially removed, the upgrade tool may not install all required Budgie 26.04 components correctly. Run sudo apt install ubuntu-budgie-desktop before starting.
How long does the upgrade from Ubuntu Budgie 24.04 to 26.04 take?
On a typical broadband connection, the full upgrade takes between 40 and 60 minutes including the download, package installation, and reboot. The process is unattended after the initial prompts, so you can leave it running.
More Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 guides: Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 ISO Download · What’s New in Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 · Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 Wallpapers
