How To Install Ubuntu 20.04 Alongside With Windows 10 in Dual Boot

Apr 26, 2020 Raj 8 min read

Ubuntu 20.04 was released on April 23, 2020, with a support of 5 years, by Canonical. This post helps you perform the installation of Ubuntu 20.04 in dual boot with Microsoft Windows 10 on a laptop or desktop.

New Features in Ubuntu 20.04

Refreshed Yaru theme with Light/Dark switching
GNOME 3.6 with the new lock screen, system menu, and app folder design.
Linux Kernel 5.4
Support for ZFS 0.8.3
Builtin support for WireGuard VPN
Support for raspberry pi
Boot speed improvements via changing the default kernel compression algorithm
Netplan supports GSM modems via the Network Manager

You can read more about the new features here.

Try Before Installing Ubuntu 20.04

If you have VMware Workstation or VirtualBox software on your system, you can download the Ubuntu 20.04 VM images to try it out.

Fresh Installation / Upgrade Ubuntu

For fresh installation of Ubuntu 20.04:

READ: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) on UEFI and Legacy BIOS System – Step by Step Guide

For upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04 from Ubuntu 18.04 or Ubuntu 19.10:

READ: How To Upgrade To Ubuntu 20.04 From Ubuntu 18.04 / Ubuntu 19.10 [Detailed Guide]

Install Ubuntu 20.04 Alongside With Windows 10 in Dual Boot

I assume that you already have a Windows operating system on your laptop or desktop and want to install Ubuntu 20.04 in dual boot with Windows 10.

This tutorial should also work if you are installing Ubuntu 20.04 in dual boot with previous versions ofo Microsoft Windows such as Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.

If your laptop or desktop doesn’t have any operating system, then you can follow the Step by Step Guide to Install Ubuntu 20.04.

Ubuntu 20.04 supports Legacy BIOS / UEFI firmware with secure boot enabled. So, you should not face any problems installing Ubuntu 20.04.

Step 1: Download Ubuntu 20.04 LTS ISO

Download Ubuntu 20.04 LTS desktop iso image from the Ubuntu website.

Step 2: Create a Live USB / Write a Bootable CD

Create a Bootable CD/DVD

Write the downloaded Ubuntu OS image to a DVD using your favorite DVD burner in Windows.

Create a bootable USB disk

Use Rufus (BIOS / UEFI compatible) to create a bootable USB disk.

Step 3: Prepare the Windows System for Dual-Boot

In most of the cases, Laptop / Desktop vendors ship machines with Windows OS pre-installed and the whole disk used for the operating system (c: drive). So, machines will not have any free space (unallocated disk space) left for Ubuntu 20.04 installation.

Ubuntu 20.04 requires 25GB of disk space for the installation. If your system already has unallocated space (at least 25GB), then you can skip this step and go directly to the installation of Ubuntu 20.04.

Otherwise, as the first thing, we will create free disk space on the hard drive for Ubuntu 20.04 installation.

Go to Windows OS. Press Win + R to open Run. Then, type diskmgmt.msc to open the Disk Management utility.

Since my machine has only one partition, i.e., C:, I will shrink it for Ubuntu installation.

Consider shrinking the last partition in case your system has more than one partition.

Right-click on C: drive partition and then select Shrink Volume to resize the partition.

Enter the size in MB and then click Shrink to begin the shrinking operation.

For Example: To get a 100GB free disk space on the 1TB partition, you would need to enter 102400.

Wait for a few minutes, and you will see an unallocated space of 100GB.

Step 4: Boot from USB Stick or CD

Insert the DVD or USB stick on the system and then reboot the machine. Change the boot sequence on BIOS/UEFI to boot a system from DVD/USB by pressing F2, F10 or F12 keys (read the vendor manual for more information).

Step 5: Preparing To Install Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

UEFI System

Once the system boots up from DVD/USB drive, the grub boot screen should appear on your machine. Select Ubuntu from the menu and then press Enter.

Legacy BIOS System

Do not interrupt the booting from DVD or USB.

Press Ctrl+C to cancel all filesystem checks.

Wait for few minutes to let DVD/USB disk loads into memory and bring up the Ubuntu Live system.

Click Install Ubuntu on the welcome screen.

Choose the Keyboard and then click Continue to proceed further.

Step 6: Normal/Minimal Installation

On this screen, you need to select the apps for installation.

Normal Installation – You will get a graphical desktop environment with all regular software. Minimal Installation – You will get a basic desktop environment with a browser and core system administration utilities.

You can optionally choose to install system updates and third-party software during OS installation.

The system requires an active internet connection to download updates and software. The installation may take a bit more time depends on the downloadable contents.

Step 7: Disk Partitioning

Installation type is the most important step in the Ubuntu installation. Here, you need to select Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager or Something else to install Ubuntu 20.04 along with Windows 10

Do not choose Erase disk and install Ubuntu as this option will wipe out all your data and install Ubuntu, potentially a dangerous one.

Please follow any one of the methods.

7a: Automatic Partitioning

UEFI System:

If you choose to install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager, the installer will take care of creating partitions for Ubuntu installation and install Ubuntu 20.04 along with Windows 10. Use this option only if you don’t mind about the partition layout and its size.

Click Continue to confirm the automatic partition creation.

Legacy BIOS System:

If you choose to Install Ubuntu Alongside Windows 10, the installer will take care of creating partitions for Ubuntu installation and install Ubuntu 20.04 along with Windows 10. Use this option only if you don’t mind about the partition layout and its size.

Click Continue to confirm the automatic partition creation.

7b: Manual Partitioning

If you want create partitions manually with the size you want, select Something else option and then click Continue.

Here, in this step, we will create partitions manually for Ubuntu 20.04 installation.

We will create below partitions.

UEFI System:

/home – 10GB
swap – 4GB
/ – Remaining (86GB)

Legacy BIOS:

/boot – 1GB (Optional)
/home – 10GB
swap – 4GB
/ – Remaining (85GB)

You should see some free disk space we created earlier. Select the free space and then click on the + sign to create a partition for Ubuntu 20.04 installation.

/boot – 1GB (Optional) – For Legacy BIOS System Only:

/home Partition:

SWAP Partition:

/ (root) Partition:

Once you have created the required partitions, click Install Now to write the changes to disk.

Click Continue to write the changes to disks.

Step 8: Additional Configurations

Select your location from the map and then click Continue. This is for your system timezone.

Fill the user creation form to create a user account (administrative account (sudo)) for your system. Also, set the hostname for your system and then click on the Continue to begin the installation.