How to Upgrade to Ubuntu 25.10 (“Questing Quokka”)

Alessio Ligabue — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 10:46:20 +0000

What’s new in Ubuntu 25.10

Before you upgrade, it’s worth taking a quick look at what makes Ubuntu 25.10 stand out:

Ships with the Linux kernel 6.17 which brings newer hardware & graphics support.
The desktop environment is updated to GNOME 49, introducing improved lock-screen media controls, per-monitor brightness sliders, and a refreshed UI.
The default terminal emulator is now Ptyxis, replacing GNOME Terminal—built with GTK4/libadwaita, container-friendly, modern UI.
The default image viewer is now Loupe, replacing Eye of GNOME. Rust-built, GPU-accelerated, modern interface.
Transition to Wayland by default (dropping X11 session on GNOME) for better performance, security and future-proofing.
Advanced encryption support: TPM-backed full-disk encryption becomes available as an installer option (though still somewhat experimental).
Security-focused tools rewritten in Rust: for example, sudo-rs replaces the traditional sudo implementation, improving memory-safety.
Several other desktop and hardware enhancements: VRR support, RISC-V desktop session support, improved documentation and accessibility.

With all that in mind, if you’re running a supported Ubuntu version and are ready to upgrade—here’s how to do it.

Before you begin: Preparation checklist

Upgrading is straightforward —but as always with system upgrades, a little prep goes a long way.

Backup your data: Use your preferred method (Timeshift, Deja Dup, manual copy) to safeguard your important files.
Check your current version: Open a terminal and run lsb_release -a or cat /etc/os-release to confirm your current Ubuntu version.
Ensure you’re up to date: On your existing version, run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

sudo apt autoremove

Then reboot if a kernel update or other major change was installed.

Check supported upgrade path: Ubuntu 25.10 is an interim release (support lifetime ~9 months) so make sure you’re comfortable with that or that it suits your workflow.
Consider any special hardware or custom setups: If you’re using proprietary drivers (e.g., NVIDIA), custom kernels, or LUKS encryption, you may want to consult specific compatibility notes.
Free up disk space: Ensure you have enough free space (at least several GBs) for the upgrade process and to keep old packages around until you’re sure things work.
Note down any custom PPAs or third-party repos: These may need to be disabled or manually managed post-upgrade.

Step-by-step: Upgrading to Ubuntu 25.10

Here’s the general path to upgrade. (You’ll want to adapt slightly if you’re using a flavor like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc.)

Switch to the update manager

Open the “Software & Updates” tool → go to the “Updates” tab → set “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version” to For any new version (if it’s set to LTS only, you may not see the upgrade prompt).

Launch the upgrade tool

In a terminal, you can run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

sudo reboot

sudo do-release-upgrade

Alternatively, you may see the update notifier appear and you can click Upgrade when prompted.

Follow the on-screen prompts

The upgrade tool will:

Check your system and disabled unsupported repositories.
Download the upgrade packages.
Ask you to confirm you want to proceed.
Potentially ask you about obsolete packages to remove.
Perform the installation, which may take a while depending on your hardware and internet speed.

Reboot into Ubuntu 25.10

Once the download and install finish, you’ll be asked to reboot. After reboot you should find yourself running Ubuntu 25.10. Verify by running:

lsb_release -a

uname -r

You should see something like “25.10” and kernel version ~6.17.

Post-upgrade tasks

Open Software & Updates → “Other Software” tab to re-enable any PPAs you trust (or remove ones that are no longer supported).
Check for proprietary driver updates (for e.g., NVIDIA) via “Additional Drivers”.
Remove old kernels and packages:

sudo apt autoremove --purge

Review the new defaults: try the new terminal (Ptyxis) and image viewer (Loupe), and get familiar with GNOME 49 changes.
If you were using X11 sessions, note that Ubuntu 25.10 uses Wayland by default (you can still switch to XWayland if required)
If you had full-disk encryption or TPM-backed FDE in mind, check how your setup performs and review the new “Security Center” panel (if available) for TPM status.

Things to watch out for (and how to fix them)

Upgrades don’t always go perfectly — here are a few known caveats specific to 25.10:

Some older X11-only apps or workflows may behave differently under Wayland. If you run into compatibility issues, you can select an XOrg session at the login screen or use XWayland.
TPM-based full-disk encryption is still flagged as experimental for this release: if your hardware isn’t fully supported you may see warnings or recovery-key prompts at boot.
Because of the large foundational changes (e.g., Rust-based sudo, new terminal, new image viewer), certain edge-tools or scripts may require updates. For example the sudo command still works, but under the hood it's sudo-rs now.
If you had third-party PPAs or unsupported repos, they may get disabled by the upgrade tool — you’ll need to re-enable or remove them manually.
As this is an interim release, it is supported for about 9 months (until July 2026) so plan accordingly for your next upgrade path.

Wrap-up

Upgrading to Ubuntu 25.10 brings a refreshing mix of foundational modernisation (Rust tools, Wayland-by-default), user-facing improvements (new terminal, new image viewer, better hardware support) and a solid stepping stone to the next LTS cycle. With the proper preparation and a bit of post-upgrade cleanup, you should find yourself in a responsive, modern Ubuntu experience.

If you encounter any snags—unexpected behavior, disabled repositories, driver issues make sure to check logs (journalctl), use ubuntu-support-tools, look through the official release notes for known issues.