Installing QCAD on a Chromebook

This page guides you through the installation of QCAD on ChromeOS on your Chromebook computer.

On ChromeOS, QCAD runs inside the Linux development environment as a Flatpak. This is the only supported way to install QCAD on a Chromebook.

Version numbers are written as 3.x.x below. Replace this with the actual version number of the QCAD release you have downloaded, for example 3.32.9.

Am I Using ChromeOS?

If you are using a laptop which mentions “Chromebook” somewhere, chances are that it has ChromeOS installed on it.

A typical ChromeOS desktop has a shelf at the bottom of the screen with a circle in the bottom left corner for the launcher:

Installing the Linux Environment

QCAD runs inside the Linux development environment of ChromeOS, which has to be set up once.

Click on the circle in the bottom left corner (Launcher) to show the launch menu and start the Settings app.

Navigate to About ChromeOS and scroll down to Linux development environment:

Click Set up, then click Next.

Enter a user name for the Linux environment. This can be a nickname or, for example, your first name. User names may not contain spaces and are all lowercase.

For the disk size, leave the default of 10.0 GB.

Click Install and wait for the installation to complete.

Eventually, a black window opens with the text username@penguin:~$, where username is the user name you have chosen. This window is a terminal and we will use it to install QCAD:

Installing Flatpak

Copy the following command to your clipboard and paste it into the terminal. You can paste into the terminal with a right-click or by tapping with two fingers on the trackpad of your Chromebook.

sudo apt install flatpak

Hit the Enter key.

When the terminal asks you “Do you want to continue?”, hit Enter again.

Wait for the installation of Flatpak to complete, which typically takes a few minutes. When you see the username@penguin:~$ line in green again, the installation has completed.

Adding the Flathub Repository

Copy the following command to your clipboard and paste it into the terminal:

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Hit Enter, enter your password and hit Enter again.

Finding Out the CPU Type

Next, we need to find out which CPU your computer is based on. In the terminal, enter:

uname -m

This displays your CPU type, for example aarch64 or x86_64:

If your computer displays aarch64, you have a 64-bit ARM CPU. If it displays x86_64, you have a 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU. Keep in mind which CPU type you have.

Installing the Correct Runtime

If your CPU is aarch64:

sudo flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Platform/aarch64/25.08

If your CPU is x86_64:

sudo flatpak install flathub org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/25.08

Downloading the QCAD Package

Open the download area using the link you have received after your purchase.

Scroll down to the downloads with the .flatpak ending: Linux > Qt 6 > 64-bit Intel if you have an Intel or AMD CPU, or Linux > Qt 6 > ARM (64-bit) if you have an ARM CPU.

Below the title you have scrolled to, click on the item with “Flatpak” in its name to download the Flatpak file for that platform. The Chrome browser shows a file dialog and suggests saving the file in your Downloads folder. This is fine, so click Save.

Wait for the download to complete.

Sharing the Downloads Folder with Linux

The Linux environment cannot access your ChromeOS files until you share them explicitly.

Open the Files app (blue folder icon) from the shelf at the bottom of the screen. On the right hand side, right-click on Downloads and choose Share with Linux:

Close the Files app.

Installing QCAD

Go back to the terminal app or open it again. In the terminal, navigate to the shared Downloads folder:

cd /mnt/chromeos/MyFiles/Downloads

If you have an Intel or AMD CPU, enter:

flatpak install --user qcad-3.x.x-pro-linux-qt6-x86_64.flatpak

If you have an ARM64 CPU, enter:

flatpak install --user qcad-3.x.x-pro-linux-qt6-arm64.flatpak

Hit Enter. Remember to replace 3.x.x with the exact version number of the package you have downloaded.

The terminal prompts you:

Required runtime for org.qcad.QCAD/... (runtime/org.freedesktop.Platform/...) found in remote flathub
Do you want to install it? [Y/n]:

Hit Enter.

The terminal then prompts you:

Proceed with these changes to the user installation? [Y/n]:

Hit Enter to confirm.

Depending on your Internet speed, this takes a few minutes. When the installation has finished, the terminal shows “Installation complete.”

Running QCAD

To start QCAD from the terminal, enter:

flatpak run org.qcad.QCAD

Alternatively, use the Launcher, where you can find QCAD in the Linux apps folder:

QCAD starts with its welcome screen where you can choose some initial settings. Once you confirm, the QCAD application window is shown and you can start working:

Uninstalling QCAD on ChromeOS

To remove QCAD again, enter the following in the terminal:

flatpak uninstall --user org.qcad.QCAD