How to Install Flatpak on Debian

Flatpak installs sandboxed desktop applications from remotes such as Flathub—Firefox, Steam, GIMP, and thousands of others—without mixing their dependencies into APT. On Debian, you install the flatpak package from main, add the Flathub remote once, then run flatpak install (official Debian setup, Debian Wiki — Flatpak).

This guide covers install Flatpak on Debian for Debian 11 (Bullseye), 12 (Bookworm), and 13 (Trixie): install flatpak, configure Flathub, install apps (system or user scope), optional GNOME Software integration, update, and uninstall. I ran these steps on Debian 13 and kept real terminal output below. For apps you can also install through other channels, see install Firefox on Debian and install Steam on Debian.

Choose an install path

There is no separate flatpak third-party repository for current Debian releases—flatpak comes from Debian main on Bookworm and Trixie.

Flatpak on Debian releases

Check what is installed

List files shipped by a package with dpkg -L; the dpkg command shows how to locate binaries and configuration paths.

. /etc/os-release && echo "$PRETTY_NAME"
command -v flatpak || echo "flatpak: not installed"
flatpak --version 2>/dev/null
flatpak remote-list 2>/dev/null
dpkg -l flatpak 2>/dev/null | grep ^ii

Before install on the test host:

Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
flatpak: not installed

After apt install flatpak:

Flatpak 1.16.6
flathub	system
ii  flatpak  1.16.6-1~deb13u1  amd64  Application deployment framework for desktop apps

Prerequisites

• Debian 11, 12, or 13 on amd64 or arm64 with a desktop session (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, etc.) for GUI apps.
• sudo for system-wide installs and the flatpak package.
• Outbound HTTPS to deb.debian.org and dl.flathub.org.
• xdg-desktop-portal (often pre-installed on desktops) so sandboxed apps can open files and URLs—xdg-desktop-portal-gtk on GTK desktops.

Commands below that need root use sudo command.

dpkg -l xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gtk 2>/dev/null | grep ^ii

ii  xdg-desktop-portal      1.20.3+ds-1
ii  xdg-desktop-portal-gtk  1.15.3-1

Disk space: a single app plus runtimes used about 1.7 GB under /var/lib/flatpak on the test host—plan more for games or IDEs.

• For broader CLI reference beyond the apt and sudo steps below, see the Linux commands.

Install Flatpak from Debian apt

Per flatpak.org — Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y flatpak

Selecting previously unselected package flatpak.
Unpacking flatpak (1.16.6-1~deb13u1) ...
Setting up flatpak (1.16.6-1~deb13u1) ...

Verify:

List every PATH match with which -a; the which command compares which to type -a and command -v.

flatpak --version
which flatpak

Flatpak 1.16.6
/usr/bin/flatpak

Log out and back in (or reboot) after the first install if your desktop’s app menu does not show new Flatpaks—Flathub’s Debian notes mention this for some sessions.

Add the Flathub remote

Flathub is the default application store for Flatpak:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-list

flathub	system

Search before installing:

flatpak search firefox | head -3

Firefox	Fast, Private & Safe Web Browser	org.mozilla.firefox	152.0.3	stable	flathub

Install Flatpak applications

System-wide install (all users)

Use sudo so apps land in /var/lib/flatpak:

sudo flatpak install -y flathub com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
flatpak list --app

Flatseal	com.github.tchx84.Flatseal	2.4.1	stable	system

Flatseal is a small permissions manager—useful for testing Flatpak without downloading a large browser.

Per-user install

For installs under ~/.local/share/flatpak without root:

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user -y flathub io.github.zaedus.spider
flatpak list --user

Spider	io.github.zaedus.spider	0.0.7	stable

Examples: Firefox and Steam

sudo flatpak install -y flathub org.mozilla.firefox
flatpak run org.mozilla.firefox --version

See install Firefox on Debian for firefox-esr, Mozilla APT, and Snap comparisons.

sudo flatpak install -y flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
flatpak run com.valvesoftware.Steam

Steam via Flatpak is covered in install Steam on Debian.

Launch and inspect apps

flatpak run com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
flatpak info com.github.tchx84.Flatseal | head -12

Flatseal - Manage Flatpak permissions

          ID: com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
         Ref: app/com.github.tchx84.Flatseal/x86_64/stable
     Version: 2.4.1
      Origin: flathub
Installation: system

GNOME Software integration (optional)

On GNOME, install the Flatpak plugin so Software can browse Flathub:

sudo apt install -y gnome-software-plugin-flatpak

KDE users can install plasma-discover-backend-flatpak when using Discover. These packages are optional—the flatpak CLI works without them.

Update Flatpak and applications

Update installed Flatpaks

flatpak update

When nothing is pending:

Looking for updates…
Nothing to do.

Update the flatpak package itself

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade flatpak
flatpak --version

Uninstall Flatpak applications and the framework

Remove one app

flatpak uninstall com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
flatpak uninstall --user io.github.zaedus.spider

Remove unused runtimes after deleting apps:

flatpak uninstall --unused

Remove the flatpak package

sudo apt purge flatpak
sudo apt autoremove --purge

Dry-run removing flatpak:

The following packages will be REMOVED:
  flatpak
Remv flatpak [1.16.6-1~deb13u1]

Delete leftover data

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/flatpak
rm -rf ~/.local/share/flatpak

Installed Flatpak apps stop working if you delete these directories without uninstalling first.

Troubleshooting

References

• Flatpak — Debian setup
• Flatpak — official setup index
• Debian Wiki — Flatpak
• Flathub
• flatpak package on Debian
• , , ,

Summary

Install Flatpak on Debian with sudo apt install flatpak, add Flathub via flatpak remote-add, and install apps with flatpak install flathub APP_ID. Use system scope (sudo) or --user scope for per-account installs—add Flathub at the matching scope. Update apps with flatpak update, list them with flatpak list, and remove flatpak plus /var/lib/flatpak when you no longer need sandboxed packages.