System requirements and recommended USB sticks

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)
• Smartphones ou tablets
• 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.

Veja nossa lista de problemas conhecidos de compatibilidade de hardware.

Requisitos detalhados de hardware

• 3 GB of RAM to work smoothly.

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

• The ability to start from a USB stick or a DVD reader.

• Um processador x86-64 IBM PC compatível de 64-bits.

  • Tails não funciona em Arquitetura ARM nem em processadores PowerPC.

  • Tails não funciona com computadores 32-bits desde o Tails 3.0 (junho de 2017).

Recommended laptops

Os modelos de laptop evoluem rápido demais para que possamos manter uma lista atualizada de hardware recomendado. Abaixo estão algumas orientações caso você ou sua organização estejam condierando adquirir um laptop dedicado a rodar o Tails.

Para PC

• Evite modelos "gamer" com placas de vídeo Nvidia ou AMD Radeon.

• Considere a possibilidade de comprar um laptop recondicionado de alguma série (profissional) topo de linha. Eles são baratos e vão durar mais do que se você comprar laptopos novos mas de baixa qualidade.

  • Por exemplo, a série Lenovo ThinkPad funciona bem com Tails, incluindo os modelos X250, X1 Carbon, T440, T480 e T490.

  • Se você vive em uma pate do mundo onde comprar laptops recondicionados não é comum, dê uma olhada no eBay e Amazon. A Amazon oferece a Garantia Renovada Amazon de 90 dias.

• Considere a possibilidade de comprar um laptop novo de fornecedores que garantam a compatibilidade com Linux e Tails, tais como ThinkPenguin.

Para Mac

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

Infelizmente, nós não sabemos de nenhum modelo de Mac que funciona bem com Tails e consegue rodar a versão mais recente do 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.