Before the official client, projects like and Franz (now called Ferdium) filled the gap. These still work well:
If you use the official client, enable "Mark as read when notification clicked" in settings and set your own keyboard shortcuts via Ubuntu’s system settings for the best experience. whatsapp linux ubuntu
To install WhatsApp-Desktop on Ubuntu, Rahul followed these steps: Before the official client, projects like and Franz
However, the Linux ecosystem recently received a significant boost from a surprising source: Meta (formerly Facebook) itself. The tech giant decided to rebuild its Windows and macOS clients using the Electron framework—a technology that essentially packages web applications into desktop executables. Because Electron is cross-platform, this architectural shift made it infinitely easier for the community to port the application to Linux. Recently, a project simply titled "WhatsApp for Linux" (often found on GitHub and Flatpak repositories) has emerged as a robust solution. It is a native-feeling, Electron-based client that offers the exact same feature set as the official Windows version, including dark mode, file sharing, and voice calling support. This marks a turning point where Linux users no longer have to rely on "hacks" but can use a stable, purpose-built client. The tech giant decided to rebuild its Windows
Rahul, a software developer, was working on a project in Ubuntu Linux and needed to stay in touch with his team and clients on WhatsApp. However, WhatsApp didn't have an official desktop app for Linux, and he couldn't use the web version on his browser.