The Installation Guide (pages 20 and 45) say that 15GB is the minimum disk space required by Linux Mint (excluding user data and additional software installation). My experience with a fresh install is that the minimum is at least 25GB.
It would seem reasonable to presume that if one does a fresh install of a supported version, and follows the default actions suggested in the Installation Guide, then the minimum disk space specified in the Installation Guide should be sufficient. But this is not the case.
The steps I followed are detailed on the online forum ( https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=459240 ). In short, I installed LM22.1 Xfce in November 2025 alongside Windows 7 (making it a dual-boot) on a ThinkPad X220 (non-UEFI), following the steps provided in the Installation Guide and accepting the on-screen default installation options. This includes accepting the "alongside" default option (dual-boot), not creating any non-default partitions, and then following the instructions to start doing timeshift (accepting the default 5 backups) followed by doing a software update, in that order.
Some have suggested putting timeshift snapshots on a separate partition (e.g., in the above-mentioned forum thread), or doing the software update before starting timeshift (e.g., in the "10 Things to Do First in Linux Mint" article on a separate website). But, being new to Linux, I naturally just went along with the Installation Guide instructions and the on-screen defaults.
Therefore, my suggestion is to update the "15GB" figure (wherever it appears) to "25GB". The FAQ also needs to be updated (I'll file a separate issue for that). Note that the FAQ currently says "20GB". The Installation Guide and the FAQ should be kept in sync.
The Installation Guide (pages 20 and 45) say that 15GB is the minimum disk space required by Linux Mint (excluding user data and additional software installation). My experience with a fresh install is that the minimum is at least 25GB.
It would seem reasonable to presume that if one does a fresh install of a supported version, and follows the default actions suggested in the Installation Guide, then the minimum disk space specified in the Installation Guide should be sufficient. But this is not the case.
The steps I followed are detailed on the online forum ( https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=459240 ). In short, I installed LM22.1 Xfce in November 2025 alongside Windows 7 (making it a dual-boot) on a ThinkPad X220 (non-UEFI), following the steps provided in the Installation Guide and accepting the on-screen default installation options. This includes accepting the "alongside" default option (dual-boot), not creating any non-default partitions, and then following the instructions to start doing timeshift (accepting the default 5 backups) followed by doing a software update, in that order.
Some have suggested putting timeshift snapshots on a separate partition (e.g., in the above-mentioned forum thread), or doing the software update before starting timeshift (e.g., in the "10 Things to Do First in Linux Mint" article on a separate website). But, being new to Linux, I naturally just went along with the Installation Guide instructions and the on-screen defaults.
Therefore, my suggestion is to update the "15GB" figure (wherever it appears) to "25GB". The FAQ also needs to be updated (I'll file a separate issue for that). Note that the FAQ currently says "20GB". The Installation Guide and the FAQ should be kept in sync.