Tails 4.0 will be the first version of Tails based on Debian 10 (Buster). It brings new versions of most of the software included in Tails and some important usability and performance improvements.

You can help Tails by testing the release candidate for the upcoming version 4.0!

We are very excited about it and cannot wait to hear your feedback :)

  1. Changes and upgrades
  2. Fixed problems
  3. Known issues
  4. How to test Tails 4.0~rc1?
  5. Get Tails 4.0~rc1
  6. What's coming up?

Changes and upgrades

Major changes to included software

  • Update Tor Browser to 9.0a7, based on Firefox 68.1.0esr.

  • Update Electrum to 3.3.8, which works with the current Bitcoin network.

  • Update Linux to 5.3.2.

  • Update tor to 0.4.1.6.

Usability improvements to Tails Greeter

We improved various aspects of the usability of Tails Greeter, especially for non-English users.

  • To make it easier to select a language, we curated the list of proposed languages by removing the ones that had too little translations to be useful.

  • We also simplified the list of keyboard layouts.

  • We fixed the Formats setting, which was not being applied.

  • We prevented additional settings to be applied when clicking on Cancel or Back.

Fixed problems

  • Fix the delivery of WhisperBack reports. (#17110)

  • Dozens of other problems — literally. For more details, read our changelog.

Known issues

  • Spellchecking only works for English. (#17150)

    To fix it, set spellchecker.dictionary_path to /usr/share/hunspell in about:config.

  • Unsafe Browser tabs have the "Private Browsing" name and the Tor Browser's icon. (#17142)

  • The On-screen keyboard does not allow to input any accentuated char. (#17021)

  • Other open tickets for Tails 4.0

See the list of long-standing issues.

How to test Tails 4.0~rc1?

We will provide security upgrades for Tails 4.0~rc1 like we do for regular versions of Tails.

Keep in mind that this is a test image. We tested that it is not broken in obvious ways, but it might still contain undiscovered issues.

Please, report any new problem to tails-testers@boum.org (public mailing list).

Get Tails 4.0~rc1

To upgrade your Tails USB stick and keep your Persistent Storage

  • Automatic upgrades are available from 4.0~beta1 and 4.0~beta2.

  • You can do a manual upgrade.

To download 4.0~rc1

Direct download

  • For USB sticks (USB image) (OpenPGP signature)

  • For DVDs and virtual machines (ISO image) (OpenPGP signature)

BitTorrent download

  • For USB sticks (USB image)

  • For DVDs and virtual machines (ISO image)

To install Tails on a new USB stick

Follow our installation instructions:

  • Install from Windows
  • Install from macOS
  • Install from Linux

All the data on this USB stick will be lost.

What's coming up?

Tails 4.0 is scheduled for October 22.

We need your help and there are many ways to contribute to Tails (donating is only one of them). Come talk to us!