Manjaro is a great Arch-based linux distribution. If you have been here in this linux realm for a while, you probably know that Arch isn’t user-friendly. It requires elite knowledge and experience. At the same time, Manjaro eliminates these barriers and makes Arch Linux more user-friendly.
Manjaro isn’t a straightforward Arch but the base is the Arch. That means you can get all the Arch benefits in a more user-friendly manner. Manjaro comes with a bunch of pre-installed apps out of the box. The default browser is Firefox.
But if you want to use Google Chrome, you need to install it first. If you have used Google Chrome in Ubuntu or Fedora before, the process is simple. Download the app from Chrome’s website and install it.
That’s not the case here as you will not find any package for Arch/Manjaro on Chrome’s website. Fortunately, Google Chrome is available in AUR (Arch User Repository) for Arch and Arch-based distributions like Manjaro, EndeavourOS, Garuda Linux, Artix Linux, etc.
To use AUR, you need an AUR Helper to download the package, and build, and install Google Chrome. You can also install Google Chrome without any AUR Helper. Fortunately, Manjaro has an easy way built-in. But I will cover every possible way in this tutorial.
Method 1: Install Google Chrome Using Pamac Manager
Pamac is the default graphical package manager of Manjaro based on libalpm. It also supports Appstream, AUR, Flatpak, and Snaps. Pamac (Add/Remove Software) allows you to download various apps from different repos easily. Pamac is also an AUR Helper that has GUI and CLI.
Arch is mostly terminal-based but Manjaro takes a step further to build Pamac for regular users. You can also install Pamac in Arch Linux.
You can search for Add/Remove Software from the Application Menu to find Pamac. It has a simple interface with three tabs: Browse, Installed, and Update. These tabs can self-explain the purposes. You can update the whole system in Pamac.
Now click on the three-dot menu from the top right and open Preferences. Enter your password to continue.
Go to the Third-party tab and enable AUR.
Close the window and click on the Search icon from the top left corner. Click on AUR and search for google-chrome. Click the download button and Apply.
Apply again to start the transaction.
Enter your password to continue.
Wait until it finishes the process. After that, you will see a message on top Transaction completed successfully.
Now open the Application Menu and search for Google Chrome. You will find Google Chrome is installed.
After enabling AUR from the Preference, you can also download Google Chrome from the terminal using the following command.
pamac install google-chrome
You should not use sudo as pamac will ask for it later.
Methos 2: Install Google Chrome Using An AUR Helper
AUR (Arch User Repository) is the community-driven software repository for Arch users. It contains packages that are not validated directly by Arch Linux. People can develop apps for Arch Linux and distribute them through this AUR. This allows the end-users to access more apps than the official Arch repos.
If you are in Manjaro, you don’t need this as Pamac is installed by default. This method is for Arch Linux and other Arch-based distros that don’t have any AUR Helper built-in. I am going to use yay to install Google Chrome.
If you don’t have yay installed, use the following commands to install it.
sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-git.git cd yay-git makepkg -si
Now install Google Chrome using the following command.
yay -S google-chrome
You should not run yay with sudo privilege as there’s a risk of arbitrary code execution and it can be a security risk. yay will ask for sudo permission after it completes the build process.
If you want to remove Google Chrome, use the following command.
yay -R google-chrome
Method 3: Install Google Chrome Without An AUR Helper
You can also install an AUR package without using an AUR Helper. But you must have git and base-devel packages installed. The base-devel group has all the necessary tools to compile from the source. Use the following command to install git and base-devel packages.
sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
Now clone Google Chrome from AUR and install it using the following commands.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/google-chrome.git cd google-chrome makepkg -si
If you go to the file manager, you will see the google-chrome folder in the Home directory. Open the folder and start a terminal. Use the following command to update your Google Chrome.
git pull makepkg -si
Conclusion
If you are new to Arch, Manjaro, or any other Arch-base distros, you may find it challenging to install Google Chrome. But the Manjaro devs make it easier for the end users to install third-party apps than Arch itself. Arch is complicated BTW.
If you are facing any issues installing Google Chrome, let me know in the comment section below. I will be happy to answer your questions. And if this quick tutorial helps you, then don’t forget to share it with others. Until then, have a great day.
