Do you have an old PC lying around gathering dust? How about a small-capacity USB flash drive sitting, unloved in a drawer? You can reuse your old computer and a USB flash drive by installing a tiny Linux distribution.

​Mini Linux distros are great as they require fewer system resources than other options yet still deliver a whole operating system experience, and we have nine of the smallest Linux distros for you to choose from.

Before You Start: How to Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive

The first thing you need is a tool to create a bootable USB flash drive. You'll need to burn the tiny Linux distro to bootable media before doing anything else. There are many tools you can use to create a bootable USB flash drive. However, the best recommendation for Windows users is Rufus, while Linux and macOS users should try Etcher.

Rufus

Rufus is one of the fastest, smallest, and easiest USB-burning tools available for Windows. It has decent customization options and can automatically detect your USB flash drive. Furthermore, Rufus can detect the type of ISO you are attempting to burn and apply a common setup for any tiny Linux distro.

Download: Rufus for Windows

Etcher

Linux and macOS users should use Etcher, an open-source USB-burning tool. Like Rufus, Etcher is tiny, very fast, and has a great GUI that makes the tool incredibly simple. Etcher doesn't have many settings, but it works well the overwhelming majority of the time. Windows users who find Rufus confusing can also use Etcher, as the tool is also available for Windows.

Download: Etcher

Now, onto the tiny Linux distros!

1. ArchBang

ArchBang is based on Arch Linux and inspired by CrunchBang, another small Linux distro. ArchBang is essentially Arch Linux made easier and reduced in size. It includes the power and flexibility of Arch Linux without the complex setup and installation but in a tiny Linux distro bundle.

ArchBang works on i686 or x86_64 compatible machines, uses 700MB of disk space, and requires just 256MB of memory.

ArchBang is a fully-featured desktop operating system or a portable live OS. It is fast, stable, and always up to date, making it a handy minimal Linux distro for anyone with an old computer.

2. Tiny Core Linux

Tiny Core is a Linux distro developed by Robert Shingledecker, lead developer of the former distro, Damn Small Linux. Although the Damn Small Linux site is now dead, you can still find active ISOs online.

The Tiny Core Linux TinyCore installation is a minute 21MB, including the base distro and a decent GUI. The base installation requires at least 46MB RAM to run, but you will need a little more (128MB recommended) if you want to run additional applications and other software (while MicroCore requires just 28MB!). Note you'll need to use an Ethernet cable to get online with TinyCore, as there is no out-of-the-box wireless support.

The best option for most people is the CorePlus installation, which comes in at 106MB. CorePlus has wireless support, support for non-US keyboards, installation tools for alternative window managers, and other handy setup utilities.

3. Absolute Linux

Absolute Linux is a 64-bit Linux distro based on the Slackware project. It ships with LibreOffice and Firefox preinstalled but doesn't mess around with heavyweight desktop options such as KDE or GNOME. Instead, Absolute Linux uses the nimble IceWM window manager.

It isn't the smallest Linux distro in terms of actual download or installation size, rounding up to about 2-3GB, but it'll work on most hardware through its lightweight overall package and minimal hardware requirements.

4. Porteus

Porteus is a lightweight but complete Linux distro optimized to run from a USB flash drive. Don't have one? Don't worry! Porteus works on an SD card, CD, DVD, hard drive, or other bootable storage media. It's small and insanely fast, allowing you to boot and get online while other operating systems are still thinking about booting.

Porteus runs on any Intel, AMD, or VIA x86/64 processor (there are also i586 builds available), requiring only 512MB of disk space and 256MB of memory. You don’t need a hard disk since it can run from removable storage media. If you use Porteus on a removable storage media device, you can take advantage of its "Persistent" mode, saving data directly on the storage device.

It is available in both 32-bit (perfect for older PCs) and 64-bit. Porteus kiosk edition is also available, which is a minimal system locked down for public use on web terminals. You can choose to download the Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE Plasma, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, Xfce, or Openbox versions of Porteus—a substantial range of options for a tiny distro.

5. Puppy Linux

Puppy Linux is a very lightweight Linux distro that runs best from a USB flash drive, SD card, CD, DVD, or any other bootable storage media. You can install Puppy Linux on your hardware if you want, but there isn't really a need if you have your bootable USB flash drive with you.

It is also worth noting that Puppy Linux isn't a single distribution nor a Linux distribution with numerous "flavors" (for instance, Ubuntu variants include Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, and so on). Rather, Puppy Linux is a collection of Linux distributions built using the same shared principle, the same tools, and a specific set of "puppy" applications.

At the time of writing, there are ten official Puppy Linux distributions. All require no more than 300MB of hard drive space. However, they have varying CPU and RAM requirements, starting from as little as a 300Mhz CPU and 256MB RAM. As always, the more power you have, the better the distro will run, even if it is a tiny Linux distro.

To find out more and choose the right version, head to the official Puppy Linux distribution download page.

6. SliTaz

SliTaz, or Simple Light Incredible Temporary Autonomous Zone, is a lightweight, fully-featured graphical Linux distro. Simply put, SliTaz is small, fast, stable, and easy to use, the perfect combo for a tiny Linux distro.

SliTaz's minimum requirements include an i486 or x86 Intel-compatible processor, at least 80MB disk space, and 192MB RAM (however, this can drop as low as 16MB RAM depending on the version of SliTaz you use). However, it's worth noting that Distro Watch suggests SliTaz can run on an i386, while a commenter on this article explains:

Through testing and reading forum posts, I've determined that the current 32-bit release targets i586, but CPUs without the CMOV instruction fail to boot the kernel. Thus, Intel Pentium Pro and AMD Athlon CPUs are the minimum.

Unfortunately, I no longer own hardware old enough to specifically clarify any of these claims, but rest assured, SliTaz is built to support a range of much older hardware.

One cool feature of SliTaz is that it runs largely in your system memory. Once you boot SliTaz up, you can remove your bootable USB flash drive for other tasks. SliTaz also has a "persistent" feature, allowing you to store your data and personal settings in the removable media, ready to use on your next boot. Keep in mind you'll need to keep your media in the machine for this feature to work.

7. antiX Linux

The tiny Debian-based antiX Linux distro is not only small but also receives frequent updates, delivering tweaks, new features, updates, and more. AntiX Linux is well known for being one of the friendliest Linux distros for old hardware, with many people turning to this mini Linux distribution to get an ancient laptop up and running once more.

The recommended minimum RAM for AntiX is 256MB, though it can run with less. You'll also need a 7GB hard drive for installation.

Even though antiX Linux is tiny, it still looks good. The base installation package includes the IceWM window manager, which offers a lot in terms of customization. Then there's the integrated antiX control panel, which allows you to customize a huge range of antiX features.

8. Bodhi Linux

Your penultimate tiny Linux distro to check out is Bodhi Linux. Bodhi Linux is an Ubuntu LTS-based, fully-featured Linux distro using the Moksha Desktop. Furthermore, Bodhi Linux comes in three flavors: the Standard edition, the AppPack edition, and the Legacy edition.

The Standard edition has limited options and applications, whereas the AppPack edition offers more features, applications, and options out of the box. Of the three, the Legacy edition is the smallest, designed to work with older, less powerful hardware.

Bodhi Linux's minimum specifications require a 500MHz processor, at least 512MB RAM (up from 128MB in 2022), and 5GB disk space.

9. Linux Lite

Onto the final minimal Linux distro, Linux Lite. Now, Linux Lite isn't the smallest Linux distro, but it runs well on sufficiently scaled-back hardware. Based upon Ubuntu, the minimum recommended specs are a 1GHz processor with 768MB RAM, along with 8GB storage, which most modern hardware vastly outstrips. So, you can imagine how well Linux Lite will run on an older machine.

Furthermore, Linux Lite is a tiny Linux distro designed for user-friendliness. Specifically, Linux Lite was developed to help Microsoft Windows users jump to Linux, with a similar UI, familiar programs such as Firefox, Thunderbird, and VLC bundled in the standard distro (and the option to download other packages available).

You can bring your old PC or other hardware back to life with any of these super small Linux distros. These lightweight Linux distros are a great way to provide a single computer for a relative who doesn't need the bloat of a more complex operating system.