Published Feb 7, 2024, 8:00 AM EST
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Before joining the MakeUseOf team, Bertel wrote for the likes of MakeTechEasier and Android Police—at the latter he wrote over 3,500 articles. You can also find Bertel's work at How-To Geek. Wherever you read his articles, though, he delights in helping others decide which tech to bring into their lives... and which tech to do without.
Bertel graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2012 with degrees in History and Government. He has spent his entire career since as a tech journalist covering Android, Linux, Wearables, Web Apps, and more.
Jump Links
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Where to Find GNOME Themes
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How to Install Icon, App, and Desktop Themes
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How to Apply Themes Using GNOME Tweaks
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How to Theme Snap Applications
Summary
- Find GNOME themes, for icons, apps, and the desktop, on GNOME-look.org or DeviantArt.
- Install themes by extracting the TAR archive into the appropriate folder.
- Use the GNOME Tweaks app to apply themes and change the look of apps, but be aware that snap applications may require extra steps.
Ubuntu has its own distinct look, but not everyone’s a fan. If you want to change the desktop’s theme, back to GNOME’s default or any other style you prefer, here’s what you need to know.
Where to Find GNOME Themes
There isn’t one centralized place to discover GNOME themes, though GNOME-look.org is as close as it gets. Here you can find all three types of themes, for icons, apps, and the desktop.
You can also search for themes on DeviantArt.
How to Install Icon, App, and Desktop Themes
As free and open-source software, GNOME is an interface that distributors and users can customize. However, GNOME doesn’t make this an easy experience for typical end users.
Most themes will come in a compressed TAR archive. You will need to extract the archive into an appropriate folder depending on the theme type.
Icon Themes
Icon themes change the look of icons in your app drawer and in the Ubuntu dock.
Save icon themes in the .icons folder in your Home folder. Folders that begin with a period are hidden by default. To see hidden folders, you can press Ctrl + H. If the folder doesn’t already exist, create it yourself.
GNOME Shell Themes
A GNOME Shell theme changes the look of the panel across the top, the menus that appear when you click on any part of the panel, and the Activities Overview.
GNOME Shell themes go in the .themes folder within your Home folder. Again, if this folder does not exist, create it.
GTK Themes
GTK themes change the look of applications. This includes altering the color of header bars and sidebar menus.
Like GNOME Shell themes, you can save GTK themes in the .themes folder.
How to Apply Themes Using GNOME Tweaks
Downloading a theme is only part of the process. Now you need to turn them on. You can’t change themes under System Settings, and Ubuntu doesn’t come with an app that handles the job out of the box.
The easiest way to change theme is to use the GNOME Tweaks app. You can find GNOME Tweaks by searching within the Ubuntu App Center or by opening a terminal and entering this command:
sudo apt install gnome-tweaksLaunch the app from the app drawer and click on Appearance in the side navigation menu. Here you will find various types of themes. When you go to select a theme, you will see all themes that came with Ubuntu as well as those that you’ve manually extracted into the .icons and .themes folders. To change the look of your apps, select the theme next to Legacy Applications.
How to Theme Snap Applications
You might notice by now that GTK themes don’t apply to apps installed—or pre-installed—in Canonical’s snap package format. Changing the GTK theme only changes themes installed as DEB files. This makes changing themes a particular challenge if you're trying out a snap-only version of Ubuntu, but even regular Ubuntu ships a large amount of software in the snap format.
When you change a theme, you may see a pop-up that reads: “Some required theme snaps are missing. Would you like to install them now?” Clicking on this pop-up will begin the process of searching for, and installing, the companion theme for snap apps. Your experience with this will be hit or miss.
If Ubuntu fails to find the necessary snap theme, you can search in the Ubuntu App Center. Unfortunately, installing the package is only part of the process. You will need to enter terminal commands to change the theme for existing apps and a separate command for individual apps.
For example, let’s say you’re using the Orchis theme. You can install the theme using:
sudo snap install orchis-themesTo change the theme for existing snap apps, run:
for i in $(snap connections | grep gtk-common-themes:gtk-3-themes | awk '{print $2}'); do sudo snap connect $i orchis-themes:gtk-3-themes; doneYou can run the same command again after installing new apps, or change the theme for a specific app. For the latter, run:
sudo snap connect [snap app name]:gtk-3-themes orchis-themes:gtk-3-themesIt’s not an ideal situation. Unfortunately, as Ubuntu continues to embrace snaps, and GNOME developers prefer people not to theme their apps, changing themes will likely be awkward for quite some time.