Installation

Warning

Development of Sublime Text has moved on to version 3.

As a result, this branch for Sublime Text 2 will not be updated any more. Please select the latest branch in the panel on the bottom left and consider updating Sublime Text.

The process of installing Sublime Text is different for each platform.

Make sure to read the conditions for use on the official site. Sublime Text is not free.

32 bits or 64 bits?

Choose the 64-bit version if you’re running a 64-bit operating system, otherwise the 32-bit version.

On Windows, if in doubt, choose the 32-bit version. Modern 64-bit versions of Windows can run 32-bit software.

On Linux run this command in your terminal to check your operating system’s type:

uname -m

For OS X, you can ignore this section: there is only one version of Sublime Text for OS X.

Windows

Portable or Not Portable?

Sublime Text comes in two flavors for Windows: normal, and portable. If you need the portable installation, you probably know already. Otherwise, go with the normal one.

Normal installations separate data between two folders: the installation folder proper, and the data directory. These concepts are explained later in this guide. Normal installations also integrate Sublime Text with the Windows context menu.

Portable installations will keep all files Sublime Text needs to run in one single folder. You can then move this folder around and the editor will still work.

How to Install the Normal Version of Sublime Text

Download the installer, doubleclick on it and follow the onscreen instructions.

How to Install the Portable Version of Sublime Text

Download the package and uncompress it to a folder of your choice. You will find the sublime_text.exe executable inside that folder.

OS X

Download and open the .dmg file, and then drag the Sublime Text 2 bundle into the Applications folder.

Linux

You can download the package and uncompress it manually. Alternatively, you can use the command line.

For i386

cd ~
wget http://c758482.r82.cf2.rackcdn.com/Sublime\ Text\ 2.0.1.tar.bz2
tar vxjf Sublime\ Text\ 2.0.1.tar.bz2

For x64

cd ~
wget http://c758482.r82.cf2.rackcdn.com/Sublime Text 2.0.1 x64.tar.bz2
tar vxjf Sublime\ Text\ 2.0.1\ x64.tar.bz2

Now we should move the uncompressed files to an appropriate location.

sudo mv Sublime\ Text\ 2 /opt/

Lastly, we create a symbolic link to use at the command line.

sudo ln -s /opt/Sublime\ Text\ 2/sublime_text /usr/bin/sublime

In Ubuntu, if you also want to add Sublime Text to the Unity luncher, read on.

First we need to create a new file.

sudo sublime /usr/share/applications/sublime.desktop

Then copy the following into it.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=2.0.1
Name=Sublime Text 2
# Only KDE 4 seems to use GenericName, so we reuse the KDE strings.
# From Ubuntu's language-pack-kde-XX-base packages, version 9.04-20090413.
GenericName=Text Editor

Exec=sublime
Terminal=false
Icon=/opt/Sublime Text 2/Icon/48x48/sublime_text.png
Type=Application
Categories=TextEditor;IDE;Development
X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow

[NewWindow Shortcut Group]
Name=New Window
Exec=sublime -n
TargetEnvironment=Unity

If you’ve registered your copy of Sublime Text, but every time you open it you’re asked to enter your license, you should try running this command.

sudo chown -R username:username /home/username/.config /sublime-text-2

Just replace username with your account’s username. This should fix the permission error in the case that you opened up Sublime Text as root when you first entered the license.

Living Dangerously... or Not

Sublime Text has three release channels:

Furthermore, there are separate channels for the Sublime Text 3 Beta which is only available to users who own a licence:

If you are working on a NASA project or are on a tight deadline, keep using the stable releases and stop reading here. Stable releases are better tested and more reliable for everyday use than the others. The majority of users will want to use stable releases only.

The dev and nightly channels are unstable, which likely means that builds published through them will contain bugs and not work reliably. They are updated more often than stable releases.

Dev builds are available for everyone and are released inbetween stable releases. While not quite ready for everyday use yet, they showcase new features in a mostly unbroken fashion.

Lastly, nightly builds are the bleeding edge, with frequent updates and also frequent problems of various degrees of severity. They are fun to try out, but do so at your own risk. Nighlty builds are only available for registered users.