MegaPDF for Linux

MegaPDF for Linux: fill in a form, check the boxes, sign it, redact what has to go, and save it back — several documents at once, as tabs in one window. Save As can write the document's text as Markdown, and megapdf-cli does the same from a terminal. For 64-bit PCs (x86-64); ARM computers aren't supported yet.

Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS Add the MegaPDF repository. Updates arrive with your system's. Any distribution with Snap Install from the Snap Store. Updates are automatic. Anything else Unpack the tarball into your home folder. No root needed.

The MegaPDF APT repository

Recommended for Debian 12 and 13, Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and 26.04, and the distributions built on them

Paste these into a terminal. They add MegaPDF's signing key and repository, then install the app:

sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://electricrv.ca/megapdf/apt/megapdf.gpg \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/megapdf.gpg > /dev/null
curl -fsSL https://electricrv.ca/megapdf/apt/megapdf.sources \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megapdf.sources > /dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install megapdf

MegaPDF then appears in your applications menu, PDF files offer it under Open With (a second one opens as a tab in the running window), and megapdf file.pdf works from a terminal. So does megapdf-cli extract file.pdf, which writes the document's text; --format md writes Markdown. If curl is missing, install it first with sudo apt install curl.

Debian without sudo? If you gave Debian a root password when you installed it, your account can't use sudo. Run su - first, enter the root password, and paste the commands without the word sudo.

Updates

They arrive with your system's own updates, in Software Updater or with sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade. There's nothing to do in MegaPDF itself.

Check the signing key

The repository is signed, and apt refuses anything the key didn't sign. To confirm you have the right key:

gpg --show-keys /etc/apt/keyrings/megapdf.gpg

It should say MegaPDF APT repository, with this fingerprint, which gpg prints as one string:

1982176FF9E614A7C60D20D1009749E244B5848B

The same, in groups of four: 1982 176F F9E6 14A7 C60D 20D1 0097 49E2 44B5 848B

Uninstall

sudo apt remove megapdf

To stop getting updates from the repository as well:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megapdf.sources /etc/apt/keyrings/megapdf.gpg
sudo apt update

The Snap Store

For Ubuntu, and any distribution with snapd

Find MegaPDF in Ubuntu's App Center, or in a terminal:

sudo snap install megapdf

Documents on a USB drive

The snap reads the documents in your home folder straight away. To open ones on a USB drive or another removable disk too, allow it once, in App Center's permissions for MegaPDF or in a terminal:

sudo snap connect megapdf:removable-media

Updates

Automatic. The Snap Store installs new versions in the background.

Uninstall

sudo snap remove megapdf

Just the .deb

Debian and Ubuntu, if you'd rather not add a repository

Download megapdf_2.2.1_amd64.deb and install it, which also pulls in anything it needs:

sudo apt install ./megapdf_2.2.1_amd64.deb

This copy won't update itself. For updates, add the repository as shown above. It takes over this install with no need to remove it first.

Uninstall

sudo apt remove megapdf

The tarball

Any distribution. Installs into your home folder, no root needed.

Download megapdf-linux-x64-2.2.1.tar.gz, then:

tar -xzf megapdf-linux-x64-2.2.1.tar.gz
cd megapdf-linux-x64-2.2.1
./install.sh

That puts MegaPDF in ~/.local, in your applications menu, and on your PATH as megapdf — and, for the command line, as megapdf-cli: megapdf-cli extract file.pdf writes the text, and --format md writes Markdown. If a terminal then says megapdf isn't found, log out and back in: on most distributions ~/.local/bin joins your PATH at the next login.

It needs glibc 2.35 or later and the ICU, OpenSSL, fontconfig and X11 libraries, which almost every desktop already has. On a minimal system, the repository or the .deb is simpler: apt installs those for you.

Updates

MegaPDF doesn't check for them: it makes no network connection at all. Come back to this page, download the newer tarball and run its ./install.sh, which replaces the old version. About MegaPDF has a link here.

Uninstall

From the unpacked folder:

./uninstall.sh

Checksums

Each download on the release page has a .sha256 file beside it. Save both in the same folder and run:

sha256sum -c megapdf_2.2.1_amd64.deb.sha256

Packages from the APT repository and the Snap Store are checked automatically.

Your signatures and settings

They live in ~/.local/share/MegaPDF, and uninstalling doesn't touch them, so reinstalling brings them back. Delete that folder to remove them. MegaPDF sends nothing anywhere; see the privacy policy.