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Linux Mint 27 “Adrien”: Mint 23's new name, and Google Drive

If you are looking for Linux Mint 23, you won't find it. The release that was called “23” while it was being built is now Linux Mint 27 “Adrien”. Here is what Mint has said about it so far, why the number jumped, and what it means for Google Drive in Nemo.

By Ambifold · Published · Last checked

Disclosure: we make Ambifold, a two-way sync app for Linux that keeps folders in sync with Google Drive. It is in a private beta by invitation until the public beta, planned for 1 December 2026. We are not part of the Linux Mint project. Everything we say about Mint 27 comes from Mint's own announcements, listed in the sources. If something here is wrong or out of date, please tell us at support@ambifold.com.

In short

  • There is no Linux Mint 23. Mint used “23” as a temporary number for its next release. On 13 October 2026, it announced the real name: Linux Mint 27 “Adrien”.
  • What Mint has said: it is planned for Christmas 2026, based on Ubuntu 26.04, with at least three editions (Cinnamon, Xfce and MATE). The number stands for the coming year, and there will be no more point releases. No beta date has been announced yet.
  • Google Drive: on Mint 22.x, Online Accounts shows your Drive in Nemo. Mint's project lead has written that Online Accounts “no longer supports Google Drive”, and Ubuntu 26.04 has no Google Drive part in GVfs. So expect Nemo's Drive entry to stop working on Mint 27. Other ways to get your Drive keep working.

1. What we know about Linux Mint 27

Mint announced Linux Mint 27 “Adrien” in its monthly news of 13 October 2026. This is everything Mint has said about the release itself, as of 18 October 2026:

  • Name: Linux Mint 27, code name “Adrien”.
  • Base: Ubuntu 26.04.
  • Editions: “at least three”: Cinnamon, Xfce and MATE.
  • Release: planned for Christmas 2026. Mint has not given an exact day.
  • Numbering: the number stands for the coming year. There will be no point releases, so the next one after 27 is 28.
  • Development: it is the first time Mint has spent a full year on one release, instead of six months. Mint's project lead wrote: “I don't think I've ever seen so many changes and new features implemented for a single release.” The new features shown on Mint's blog are a preview, still being worked on.

Back in April, Mint said that the development version used Ubuntu 26.04 LTS as its base and would use the same installer as LMDE, Mint's Debian edition.

Is there a beta yet?

No. When we checked on 18 October 2026, Mint had not released a beta of Mint 27 or announced a date for one. Readers asked for a beta date in the comments on the announcement, and Mint had not answered. Its project lead did write that the team is “going to be very busy during the beta phase”, so a beta is planned.

Before past releases, Mint published a beta a few weeks before the stable version, each announced on its blog:

  • Linux Mint 22 “Wilma”: beta on 1 July 2024, stable release on 25 July 2024.
  • Linux Mint 22.3 “Zena”: beta on 20 December 2025, stable release on 13 January 2026.

Mint has not said whether Mint 27 will follow the same pattern. We will update this guide when it announces the beta.

2. Why the number jumped from 22 to 27

The current release is Linux Mint 22.3, from January 2026. Mint did not skip four releases. It changed how it numbers them.

In April 2026, Mint decided on a longer development cycle, but not yet on its new release plan or numbering. In its own words: “As a temporary measure we decided to call the next release ‘Alfa’ and to give it version 23.” That is why older articles, forum posts and videos talk about “Mint 23”.

On 13 October 2026, Mint gave the real number and explained it: “the release number represents the upcoming year. We'll no longer use point releases, so the release after that will be 28. You'll upgrade from 27 to 28 to 29, and so on.” Mint 27 comes out at the end of 2026, so it carries the number of 2027.

The name changes too. Mint has used girls' names since 2006, from “Ada” to “Zena”, and has now reached the end of the alphabet. The new series uses boys' names, starting again at A with “Adrien”.

3. What changes for Google Drive

On Mint 22.x today

Mint 22.x comes with Online Accounts. Once you sign in to Google there, your Drive appears under Network in Nemo. That works through GVfs, the part of the system that lets file managers open network and online storage. It is a network folder: your files stay online, and users report it slow at times. Our guide to Google Drive on Linux Mint 22 and 27 has the steps and the known problems.

What to expect on Mint 27

  • The Google part of GVfs is gone in the base. GNOME switched off GVfs's Google Drive backend, because it depended on a library that had gone unmaintained. GNOME 50 is the first release without it. Ubuntu 26.04, which ships GNOME 50, has no Google Drive backend in its GVfs package. Mint 27 is built on Ubuntu 26.04. Our explainer, Google Drive on Ubuntu 26.04 and Linux Mint, tells the whole story.
  • Mint has said so. In September 2026, Mint's project lead wrote that Online Accounts “no longer supports Google Drive”. In October, the project lead also explained that Nemo never connected to Drive by itself: “It's actually gvfs which uses GOA to connect to drive, so it's automatically handled by all gvfs browsers (nemo, nautilus, caja etc.).” So the change affects Nemo, Caja (MATE) and other file managers alike.
  • Online Accounts leaves the default install. Mint wrote that the two main reasons to ship it were Google Calendar and Google Drive in Nemo. Mint's new calendar app replaces the first, and Online Accounts no longer offers the second. It stays available in the repositories, for other kinds of accounts, but installing it will not bring Drive back to Nemo.

Mint 27 is not out yet, so we have not tested it. Our expectation is that Nemo's Drive entry will not work on Mint 27, whether you upgrade or install it fresh. A community rewrite of the Drive backend has test packages for Ubuntu 26.04 (see the community backend). We don't know whether it will work on Mint 27, and it replaces parts of your system.

What still works

Anything that doesn't depend on Online Accounts should work the same on Mint 22.x and Mint 27: Drive in your web browser, an rclone mount (Drive as a folder, online only), rclone bisync (two-way sync, in the terminal), or a background sync app such as Insync, overGrive or Ambifold. Our Mint guide explains all three ways, step by step. If you need your files offline, choose sync.

About Ambifold, our app: it keeps the folders you choose in two-way sync with Google Drive, as real files on your disk. Keep in mind:

  • It is in a private beta, by invitation until the public beta, planned for 1 December 2026.
  • It syncs My Drive only: Shared drives and “Shared with me” are not supported yet.
  • Google Docs, Sheets and Slides stay in Drive by default.
  • A change made in Drive arrives in about 1 to 5 minutes, because it checks Drive on a schedule.
  • The free edition connects through your own Google client, which the app walks you through creating.
  • Our automated tests install and run it on Ubuntu 26.04, the base of Mint 27. We will test Mint 27 itself when it is released.

4. Should you upgrade, and how to prepare

Should you upgrade?

There is no hurry. Mint 22 is supported until 2029, and Online Accounts still shows Drive in Nemo there. Mint 27 isn't out yet, and Mint hasn't said yet how to upgrade to it. When Mint 22 came out, Mint said the upgrade instructions from Mint 21.3 would follow a few days after the stable release.

About the beta, Mint's own advice for past betas was that a beta “might contain critical bugs”, and that you should “only use it for testing purposes”. For Mint 22, Mint said you could later upgrade from the beta to the stable release. Try a beta on a spare computer or a separate disk, not on the computer you work on every day.

If you depend on Google Drive in Nemo, set up another way to get your Drive before you upgrade, and check it works. Then the upgrade won't leave you without your files.

How to prepare

  • Back up your personal files to another disk. Mint includes a Backup Tool that saves the files in your home folder.
  • Timeshift is not a backup of your files. It is made for system files and settings, and Timeshift's own documentation says it is “NOT a backup tool and is not meant to protect user data”: your home folder is left out by default. Take a Timeshift snapshot before a big upgrade too, so you can roll the system back. Mint's upgrade tool for Mint 22 checked for one.
  • A network folder is not a backup either. If your only copy of a file is in Drive, seen through Nemo, it is still only in Google's cloud. If it matters, keep a copy on your own disk as well.
  • Expect software from outside Mint to be switched off. In the upgrade from Mint 21.3 to 22, Mint's upgrade tool listed repositories that did not support the new release and asked you to disable them. It also stopped at software sources written in the newer “.sources” format and asked you to back them up and delete them. Mint has not published its tool for Mint 27 yet, so it may work differently. After any upgrade, check your extra software sources in Software Sources and switch back on the ones you still need. If you use Ambifold, here is how to turn its updates back on.
  • Note what you installed from outside Mint, such as apps from other repositories or downloaded .deb files, so you can check them after the upgrade.

5. FAQ

Is there a Linux Mint 23?

No. “23” was a temporary number Mint used while it built its next release. That release is Linux Mint 27 “Adrien”. Under the new numbering, the release after it will be 28, so there will be no Mint 23 to 26.

When is Linux Mint 27 released?

Mint plans to release it at Christmas 2026. It has not given an exact date, and has not announced a beta date yet. Mint's news is on its blog.

Will Google Drive work in Nemo on Mint 27?

Probably not through Online Accounts. Mint's project lead has written that Online Accounts “no longer supports Google Drive”, and the Google Drive part of GVfs is gone from Ubuntu 26.04, Mint 27's base. An rclone mount or a sync app's folder shows in Nemo like any other folder, so those ways should keep working. See what changes for Google Drive.

Where do I download the Mint 27 beta?

There is no Mint 27 beta yet, as of 18 October 2026. Mint announces each beta on its blog, with its download links, and its releases are on linuxmint.com. Download Mint only from there, and check the ISO file as Mint's announcement explains. Be careful with sites that offer a “Mint 23” download: Mint has never released one.

6. Sources

All checked on 18 October 2026.

7. Changes to this guide

  • : first published.

Private beta

Want your Drive folders as real files on Linux Mint?

Ambifold keeps the folders you choose in two-way sync with Google Drive, in the background, on Mint 22 today. We are inviting small groups of Linux Mint and Ubuntu users in October and November 2026, before the public beta, planned for 1 December.

Ask for an invite See its limits first