How to Install Zsh on Linux

Install and configure Zsh on your system with these simple steps. Optimize your terminal with oh-my-zsh for an enhanced command-line experience.

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Installation

  1. To begin, install zsh using your package manager. In this case, I’ll use pacman with the following command:
Terminal window
sudo pacman -S zsh
  1. Next, verify the newly installed zsh version:
Terminal window
zsh --version
  1. To confirm that you are using the new shell, check the current shell with:
Terminal window
echo $SHELL
  1. Now, open the /etc/passwd file with your preferred text editor. For example, you can use nvim:
Terminal window
sudo nvim /etc/passwd
  1. Within the file, find the line corresponding to your username and replace /bin/bash with /bin/zsh. In my case, my username is rxtsel:
/etc/passwd
rxtsel:x:1000:1000::/home/rxtsel:/bin/bash


rxtsel:x:1000:1000::/home/rxtsel:/bin/zsh
  1. Change the default shell by running the following command:
Terminal window
sudo chsh -s /bin/zsh
  1. Continue by installing oh-my-zsh and git:
Terminal window
sudo pacman -S git &&
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

  1. Restart your terminal to apply the changes.

  2. Then, edit the .zshrc file with your favorite text editor, which should be in the root of the user folder /home/rxtsel/.zshrc. In my case, I already have my customized configuration for WSL, but feel free to use the one you prefer:

    • For this configuration, you will need to install the following plugins and programs:

.zshrc
export ZSH="$HOME/.oh-my-zsh"


# Set name of the theme to load --- if set to "random", it will
ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"


plugins=(
  sudo
  git
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
  )


source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh


# CUSTOM ALIAS
alias zz="cd ~/.config"
alias vim=nvim
alias v=nvim
alias vcfg="cd ~/.config/nvim/ && nvim init.lua"
alias zr="source ~/.zshrc"
alias -s {html,js,css,py,go,lua}="nvim"
alias pro="cd ~/Projects"
alias t="tmux"
alias thunar="/mnt/c/Windows/explorer.exe ."


# fnm
export PATH="/home/rxtsel/.local/share/fnm:$PATH"
eval "`fnm env`"


# bun completions
[ -s "/home/rxtsel/.bun/_bun" ] && source "/home/rxtsel/.bun/_bun"


# bun
export BUN_INSTALL="$HOME/.bun"
export PATH="$BUN_INSTALL/bin:$PATH"

Congratulations! Now you have Zsh installed, configured with oh-my-zsh, and your terminal is ready to be used efficiently.