How to Install Omarchy Safely

The difficult part of installing Omarchy is not clicking Continue. It is proving that you are changing the intended device and knowing how to recover if something fails. This page provides the decision path; boot media and dual boot have dedicated guides.

Four confirmations before installation

1. Recoverable data: open samples of backed-up documents, photos, keys, and projects;
2. recoverable device: prepare original-system recovery media and another internet-capable device;
3. identified storage: record the brand, capacity, and partitions of every physical drive;
4. application fallback: verify essential software, VPNs, input methods, and peripherals or retain an alternative.

Choose a path

Common installation flow

1. Start with the official source

Use the Omarchy website, official manual, or a repository explicitly linked by the project. Check the domain, HTTPS, and release notes. Do not obtain an operating-system image or installer script from a file-sharing mirror or repackaging site.

2. Create and verify boot media

The imaging tool will erase the USB drive. Eject it safely after writing, then choose it from the UEFI boot menu. If it does not boot, investigate integrity, boot mode, and current Secure Boot guidance before touching the internal disk.

3. Identify storage again in the installer

Cross-check brand, capacity, and partition structure. On a multi-drive desktop, disconnecting drives that must not be changed can reduce risk. Be especially careful on laptops where that is impractical.

4. Keep power and networking stable

Connect a laptop to power. Do not close the lid, force a shutdown, or switch to unreliable Wi-Fi during installation. Capture the complete error rather than repeatedly rerunning a failing step.

5. Verify the first boot

Test networking, audio, displays, keyboard layout, trackpad, suspend, and resume before importing a large dataset or heavily customizing the system. Find the update and recovery paths before making it a primary environment.

First tasks after installation

• Open built-in help or the official manual and verify shortcuts for the installed version;
• complete one normal reboot to test boot and disk unlock;
• configure timezone, keyboard, and display scaling;
• establish a user-data backup in addition to any system snapshots;
• read the safe update guide.