Install Go on Linux, macOS and Windows

Which option to pick

Go ships as a single self-contained toolchain, and the official archives from go.dev/dl are the recommended install on every OS. Package managers are convenient on macOS (Homebrew keeps up to date) and Windows (winget), but Linux distribution packages often lag several releases, and Go projects commonly require the latest two. Since Go 1.21 the go command can also download a newer toolchain by itself when a module’s go.mod asks for one, so a slightly older install is less of a problem than it used to be.

Step: Linux

Pick the current linux-amd64 (or linux-arm64) archive on the download page, then replace the file name below. The commands remove any previous Go in /usr/local/go and unpack the new one in its place.

curl -LO https://go.dev/dl/go1.27.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.27.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile

Careful: rm -rf /usr/local/go deletes the previous Go installation. That is the intended upgrade path; do not unpack a new version on top of an old one. Do not use /usr/local/go for anything else.

Step: macOS

brew install go

Or download the .pkg installer from go.dev/dl, which installs to /usr/local/go and adds it to PATH. Open a new terminal afterwards.

Step: Windows

winget install GoLang.Go

Or run the .msi installer from go.dev/dl. Both install to C:\Program Files\Go and update PATH. Open a new terminal window so the change takes effect.

Check it works

go version
go env GOPATH

Tools you install with go install example.com/tool@latest land in $(go env GOPATH)/bin, which is ~/go/bin by default. Add that directory to your PATH as well:

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"' >> ~/.profile

A first program to confirm compiling works:

mkdir hello && cd hello
go mod init example.com/hello
cat > main.go <<'EOF'
package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
	fmt.Println("hello from go")
}
EOF
go run .

Common problems

• go: command not found after installing on Linux: PATH is only read when a shell starts. Open a new terminal, or check that the export line went into the file your shell actually reads (.profile, .bashrc or .zshrc).
• An old version from apt install golang shadows the new one: run which -a go to see both and remove the distribution package, or make sure /usr/local/go/bin comes first in PATH.
• go: go.mod requires go >= 1.xx: the project needs a newer toolchain. Upgrade using the same steps, or let Go fetch it automatically if GOTOOLCHAIN is left at its default auto.
• Installed tools not found: ~/go/bin is not on PATH; see the step above.

Official documentation

• Download and install Go
• Managing Go installations