System requirements and recommended USB sticks

  1. System requirements
    1. Requisiti hardware dettagliati
    2. Recommended laptops
  2. Recommended USB sticks
    1. How many USB sticks should I buy?

System requirements

Tails works on most PC computers that are less than 10 years old.

Tails does not work on:

  • Mac computers with an Apple processor (M1, M2, and so on)
  • Smartphone o tablet
  • Raspberry Pi

Tails might not work on some PC computers, for example, if their graphics card is incompatible with Linux. Nvidia or AMD Radeon cards often do not work in Tails.

Vedi il nostro elenco di problemi noti di compatibilità hardware.

Requisiti hardware dettagliati

  • 3 GB of RAM to work smoothly.

    Tails can work with less than 3 GB RAM but might experience reduced performance, instability, or crashes.

  • Possibilità di avviare da una chiavetta USB o da lettore DVD.

  • Un processore 64-bit x86-64 IBM PC compatibile.

    • Tails non funziona sui processori ARM o PowerPC.

    • Tails non funziona su computer a 32 bit a partire da Tails 3.0 (June 2017).

Recommended laptops

I modelli di computer portatili si evolvono troppo rapidamente per poter fornire un elenco aggiornato dell'hardware consigliato. Di seguito sono riportate alcune linee guida se tu, o la tua organizzazione, state pensando di acquistare un computer portatile dedicato all'esecuzione di Tails.

Per PC

  • Evita i modelli "gaming" con schede grafiche Nvidia o AMD Radeon.

  • Considera l'acquisto di un computer portatile ricondizionato di una serie di fascia alta (professionale). Sono più economici e durano più a lungo dei portatili nuovi ma di qualità inferiore.

    • Ad esempio, la serie ThinkPad di Lenovo funziona bene con Tails, compresi i modelli X250, X1 Carbon, T440, T480 e T490.

    • Se vivi in una parte del mondo in cui l'acquisto di computer portatili ricondizionati è poco comune, cerca su eBay e Amazon. Amazon offre una garanzia di 90 giorni [Amazon Renewed Guarantee] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G4ZAA22U35N373NX).

  • Considera l'acquisto di un nuovo portatile da fornitori che garantiscono la compatibilità con Linux e Tails come ThinkPenguin.

Per Mac

Tails still works on some older Mac computers with an Intel processor.

Purtroppo non conosciamo alcun modello di Mac che funzioni bene con Tails e che possa eseguire l'ultima versione di macOS.

Recommended USB sticks

You need a USB stick of 8 GB minimum to use Tails.

All the data on this USB stick is lost when installing Tails.

The quality of your USB stick is crucial when using Tails. A bad USB stick will be slower and more likely to corrupt the files in your Persistent Storage.

We recommend that you:

  • Buy new USB sticks.

    USB sticks become slower and less reliable over the years. Older USB sticks were also built with slower technology.

  • Buy USB sticks from well-known brands, such as Kingston, Samsung, and SanDisk.

    Generic brands are more likely to be slower and less reliable.

    Any modern USB stick from a well-known brand is fast enough to use Tails comfortably.

  • Buy your USB sticks from a reputable local store.

    If you are in a place where counterfeit electronics are common, buy your USB stick from an international supermarket chain, which should have a more reliable supply chain.

    Avoid buying USB sticks online or using USB sticks that were given to you, because they could contain malware.

    In 2020, the FBI warned US companies to avoid USB sticks received by mail because some of them contained malicious software, such as BadUSB.

  • Consider buying faster USB sticks that support USB version 3.0 or later.

    Check the specifications of your computer to determine whether your USB ports support USB 3.0 or later. USB 3.0 ports are sometimes blue.

    USB 3.0 can be up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0. USB 2.0 has a maximum read speed of around 50 MB/s on USB sticks, while USB 3.0 has a maximum read speed of around 500 MB/s.

    Most quality USB sticks nowadays have read speeds of at least 100 MB/s and are faster when used on USB 3.0 ports. Some USB sticks advertised for USB 3.0 have even greater speeds.

    You can test the write speed of your different USB sticks by comparing the time it takes to clone Tails, for example.

How many USB sticks should I buy?

If you want to store personal files and configuration in an encrypted Persistent Storage, we recommend that you buy 2 USB sticks, ideally 3:

  • 1 USB stick to be your primary Tails.

  • 1 USB stick of the same size to be your backup Tails, if you use the Persistent Storage.

    We recommend that you create a backup Tails by cloning your primary Tails, including its Persistent Storage.

  • 1 USB stick to do manual upgrades on a few occasions when automatic upgrades are not available.

    This USB stick can be of a smaller size and worse quality.