Omarchy promises a beautiful, opinionated Arch Linux desktop in minutes — not hours. Built by DHH on top of Arch Linux and Hyprland, it ships ready to code, write, and tinker. This guide walks you through a clean install and the first 15 minutes after boot.

Omarchy is omakase — the chef chooses. Your job is to taste, then tweak.

What you’ll need

• 64-bit x86 machine with UEFI (dual-boot friendly)
• USB stick ≥ 4GB
• Stable internet (Ethernet or Wi-Fi)
• 15–25 minutes

1. Download and flash the ISO

Grab the latest ISO from omarchy.org or the official GitHub releases. Verify the checksum, then flash:

# Linux / macOS
sudo dd if=omarchy-4.0.2.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress && sync
# Or use BalenaEtcher / Popsicle for a GUI

Reboot → enter UEFI boot menu → select USB.

2. The installer: omakase, but transparent

Omarchy’s installer is Calamares-based with sane defaults:

• Partitions: Btrfs + Snapper + Limine by default. Keep it unless you know why you wouldn’t. Snapshots save you later.
• Encryption: Optional LUKS. Recommended for laptops.
• Desktop: Hyprland + Quickshell + preconfigured dotfiles. No desktop environment chooser — this is the point.
• Packages: Neovim, Alacritty, Chromium, Obsidian, LibreOffice, Kdenlive, OBS included.

Tip: If you plan to dual-boot with Windows, read Dual Boot Install first. Shrink Windows from within Windows, not the installer.

3. First boot — the Omarchy top bar

You should see:

• A minimal top bar (menu bar + system tray + notification center) powered by Quickshell
• Hyprland tiling your first window automatically
• Super + Space → app launcher

Try these immediately:

Hotkey	What it does
Super + Enter	Alacritty terminal
Super + Space	Launcher / Omarchy menu
Super + 1..9	Switch workspace
Super + Shift + 1..9	Move window to workspace
Super + Q	Close window
Super + F	Fullscreen

Explore the full list in Super + ? or the Hotkeys manual.

4. Post-install checklist (do this now)

Open a terminal (Super + Enter):

# 1) Update mirrors & system (Arch rolling)
omarchy update
# or
sudo pacman -Syu

# 2) Check snapshots work
sudo snapper list
sudo limine-snapper-hook check

# 3) Set your monitors (Hyprland dual-scale)
# Edit via menu → Monitors, or:
nvim ~/.config/hypr/hypr.monitors

# 4) Keyboard layout syncs from /etc/vconsole.conf
localectl status
omarchy theme set tokyo-night  # see theming guide

# 5) Install your editor fonts
omarchy font install jetbrains-mono

# 6) Git + SSH
gh auth login
omarchy dev setup

5. Omarchy CLI: the unified command

Everything flows through omarchy:

omarchy --help
omarchy theme list
omarchy capture screenshot
omarchy pkg add fzf ripgrep
omarchy font list

It routes to small helpers (omarchy-pkg-add, omarchy-notification-send, etc.) — a clean, composable design ideal for agents and automation.

6. Snapshots: your undo button

Btrfs + Snapper + Limine means boot-time rollback:

• Every pacman transaction creates a snapshot.
• If an update breaks boot → reboot → pick previous snapshot in Limine → you’re back in seconds.
• Read more in System Snapshots.

sudo snapper create --description "before ricing"
sudo snapper undochange 12..13

7. Ten settings to change now

1. Theme — omarchy theme set catppuccin (try rio, tokyo-night, everforest)
2. Backgrounds — Super + Space → Backgrounds → or ~/.config/omarchy/backgrounds
3. Idle & lock — customize hypridle in the Toggles manual
4. Default browser — xdg-settings set default-web-browser chromium.desktop
5. Neovim — run nvim → Lazy will bootstrap plugins (see our Neovim guide)
6. Starship prompt — tweak ~/.config/starship.toml
7. Dotfiles — omarchy dotfiles to track overrides
8. Shell plugins — enable fzf, zoxide via ~/.zshrc helpers
9. Web apps — pin Chromium site → “Install as app” for Gmail/Notion
10. Backups — rclone or restic to sync ~/ before you rice.

FAQ

Is Omarchy Arch? Yes — Arch base, Hyprland compositor, rolling release. You get pacman, AUR via yay/paru.

Is Omarchy good for beginners? If you’re comfortable with the terminal and editing config files, yes. It’s not trying to be Windows/macOS. It’s trying to be better.

Can I use Omarchy on a Mac? See Mac support — works on Intel Macs; Apple Silicon is experimental via Asahi caveats.

Where next? Jump to Hyprland Tiling Mastery or Theming Omarchy.

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Need help? Discuss in the Discord or open an issue on basecamp/omarchy. And remember: snapshot before you sudo.