[[!meta title="System requirements and recommended hardware"]]

Summary

- Tails works on:

Most PC computers that are less than 10 years old

Some older Mac computers with an Intel processor

- Tails does not work:

Newer Mac computers with an Apple processor (M1 or M2)

Smartphones or tablets

Raspberry Pi

Some older computers, for example, if they don't have 2 GB of RAM.

Some newer computers, for example, if their [[graphics card is incompatible with Linux|support/known_issues/graphics]]. Nvidia or AMD Radeon cards often do not work in Tails.

<p>See our [[list of known hardware compatibility
issues|support/known_issues]].</p>

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Detailed hardware requirements

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

Tails can work with less than 2 GB RAM but might behave strangely or crash.

Recommended hardware

Laptop models evolve too rapidly for us to be able to provide an up-to-date list of recommended hardware. Below are some guidelines if you, or your organization, are considering acquiring a laptop dedicated to running Tails.

For PC

Consider buying a refurbished laptop from a high-end (professional) series. These are cheaper and will last longer than new but lower-quality laptops.