Pending the release of 26.04 Resolute I would like to do a clean install on a spare system with separate uefi, system and home partitions. Is there a howto/guide someone can point me to?
You can absolutely do a clean install with separate EFI, root, and home partitions using the Ubuntu installer. Here are the general steps:
Steps:
-
Boot the Ubuntu installer in UEFI mode (this is important).
-
When you reach the Installation type screen, choose “Something else” (manual partitioning).
-
Create or select an existing EFI System Partition (ESP):
- Size: 200–500 MB
- Filesystem: FAT32
- Mount point:
/boot/efi - Flags:
boot,esp
-
Create the root partition (
/):- Filesystem: ext4
- Size: typically 30–60 GB (or more if you prefer)
- Mount point:
/
-
Create the home partition (
/home):- Filesystem: ext4
- Use the remaining space (or your preferred size)
- Mount point:
/home
-
(Optional) Create a swap partition or rely on the default swapfile.
-
Proceed with the installation and make sure the bootloader is installed on the same disk that contains the EFI partition.
Advice:
Before doing this on real hardware, it’s highly recommended to practice the entire process inside a virtual machine first (for example using VirtualBox or VMware).
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Love this, excellent advice!
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Thank you!
I actually wanted to record a short video demonstrating the exact partitioning setup the user is asking about, but unfortunately I’m currently away from home and couldn’t do that.
In general, testing any disk-partitioning workflow in a virtual machine first is essential. It helps catch mistakes early and avoids the risk of data loss on real hardware. This is especially important for anyone who cares about protecting their data — it’s simply the safest approach.
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Also, here’s a video that clearly explains how to split the disk into a UEFI partition and a root (/) partition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvl3fYusplg
Small heads-up: the audio plays only through the left speaker, so it might double as a quick test of your audio balance settings 
Jokes aside, the visual explanation itself is solid and useful.
And then there is this:
Official Ubuntu Desktop installation Guide
I see this under the heading: Manual Partitioning:
Manual partitioning is designed for advanced users who want to create a specific configuration for their use case. If that’s you, we assume that you know what you’re doing and that you’re comfortable with the installer interface.
Now we ask the question, How do I create partitions?
GParted screenshots showing partitions
GParted is on the Ubuntu Installer ISO image. We use GParted from the Ubuntu TRY Ubuntu session because we cannot create, delete or move partitions on a drive that is in use or mounted as it is called.
Regards
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My experience with installing Ubuntu goes way back before UEFI was adopted.
This was the only part I was unsure about.
Will do a test install in a VM.
Thank you to everyone for your replies.
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