Upgrading Linux Mint Debian Edition

Install Linux Mint Debian Edition? See there’s a new version? Want to upgrade? Well you can without downloading the new ISO image. The whole thing is done through the official mintupgrade tool. Here’s how:

⚠️ One important caveat first: Check to see your hardware can handle it and though many current machines are 64 bit, do verify.

Step 1 — Make sure your system is fully up to date

bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

Reboot if prompted.

Step 2 — Install the mintupgrade tool

bash

sudo apt install mintupgrade

Step 3 — Run the upgrade

bash

sudo mintupgrade

The Mint Upgrade Tool is an official utility that automates most of the complex steps — instead of manually editing APT sources, handling dependencies, and resolving conflicts, it walks you through the process step by step.

Do not close the Terminal during the upgrade, as this will interrupt the process and likely leave you with a broken system. Minimize it instead of closing.

The entire process typically takes between 30 and 60 minutes. Once complete, close the window, reboot, and you’ll be on the new LMDE!

Tips & Troubleshooting

Leftover temp files: Temporary files are left behind during the upgrade — check section 5.1.6 of the Debian 13 release notes for how to clean those up afterward.

Heavily customized themes: If the upgrade stalls or the GUI crashes, try resetting your icons and theme back to the default LMDE settings before running mintupgrade again.

Third-party repos (e.g. Brave): Temporarily disable all third-party repositories and PPAs if you run into conflicts. Ensure you have enough free disk space as well.