How to install Docker on Linux, Mac, and Windows
Docker Desktop, Docker Engine on Linux, apt install, brew install, WSL2 backend, post-install steps, docker group
Installing Docker
Installation differs by OS. Choose the path that matches your machine.
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
After install, add your user to the docker group so you don't need sudo every time:
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
macOS
Download Docker Desktop from docker.com/products/docker-desktop or install via Homebrew:
brew install --cask docker
Open Docker Desktop and wait for the whale icon in the menu bar to stop animating — the daemon is ready.
Windows
Download Docker Desktop for Windows. Enable WSL2 integration in Settings → Resources → WSL Integration. Docker Desktop handles everything else automatically.
Verify the install
docker --version
docker run hello-world
Both commands should succeed. If docker run fails with a socket permission error on Linux, log out and back in so the group change takes effect.