How To Install GNOME-Shell Themes in Ubuntu 11.10

By , Published October 24, 2011

Earlier today we posted five of our favourite themes for GNOME Shell.

Chances are you’ll want to try a few of those themes out on your desktop – but how to do it?

Providing you’re using Ubuntu 11.10 and GNOME-Shell, it’s actually quite simple once we’ve installed a few odds and ends first…

Preparation

The first thing we need to do (aside from ensuring we actually have GNOME-Shell installed) is to install the handy ‘user-theme-selector’ extension.

This isn’t provided in Ubuntu 11.10 out of the box but it is available to download in easily-installable .deb format.

First download and install:

Once completed install the next part: -

If you don’t already have it you’ll also need the GNOME Tweak Tool installed, too: -

You’ll now need to log out and back in for the extension to be ‘picked up’ by the system, then enable the extension from the ‘Shell Extensions’ tab in the ‘Advanced Settings/GNOME Tweak Tool’ app.

All that’s left to do is log out and back in one more time so that the extension is fully enabled.

Installing Themes

The hard part is over: now all you need to do is have downloaded a GNOME Shell theme you like (see our list of 5 pretty nice ones) and install it.

  • Open the Advanced Settings/GNOME tweak tool
  • Choose ‘Themes’ from the left-hand pane
  • Click the ‘(none)’ button and navigate to and select your downloaded theme
  • You will see a small pop-up telling you that the theme installed correctly
  • Select it from the drop-down menu next to ‘Shell Theme’.
  • The theme will be applied instantly 

Not all themes available online are packaged correctly. In these instances you will need to create a hidden ‘.themes’ directory in your Home folder and place extracted themes inside there.

Related posts:

  1. Five Pretty Awesome GNOME Shell Themes
  2. Looking For a Beautiful GNOME Shell Theme? Try ‘Nord’
  3. A Google-Inspired GNOME Shell Theme
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  • http://joelzehring.posterous.com Joel Zehring

    When enable a Gnome Shell theme with a transparent top panel, I can see menu entries for nautilus (File, Edit, View, etc).

    Is there any way to remove the underlying panel in Ubuntu so that I just see more of my desktop background image?

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ Joey-Elijah Sneddon

      That it is annyong, I agree – but quickly solved.

      Just open the Advanced Settings app > Desktop > Switch ‘Have File Manager Handle the desktop’ to ‘off’.

      • Anonymous

        You have to add that to the actual post. It’s very annoying.

        • http://twitter.com/robbiemacg Robbie MacGregor

          It also means you can’t leave a couple of working files in plane sight on the Desktop.
          Has there been a better workaround devised than Tom’s below?

    • Tom Cowell

      Altneratively to Joey’s post that’s a reply to you, you can remove appmenu:

      sudo apt-get remove appmenu-*

      Warning: this will remove the global menu support on Unity, however it will meant that Nautlius can handle the desktop (you can add icons etc to your desktop in Gnome-Shell), where as Joey’s suggestion will prevent that.

      • Anonymous

        I’d prefer global menu on Ubuntu over desktop icons on gnome shell.

        • Anonymous

          Correction: desktop icons (nautilus for the desktop) are not enabled by default in g-s

        • http://twitter.com/ux92 uvazquez

          Me too.

  • Anonymous

    Waow, where did you get that onscreen keyboard?

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ Joey-Elijah Sneddon

      sudo apt-get install caribou 

      • http://twitter.com/ThomasBerends Thomas Berends

        that onscreen keyboard deserves a blogpost.

        • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ Joey-Elijah Sneddon

          It’s getting one – and a nice video review too ^_^ 

    • http://profiles.google.com/p4d573r Pad Ster

      It’s one of the accessibility features of GNOME-Shell.

      • Anonymous

        Well, except for the obvious stolen Apple-design, I’d say it sure beats the crap out of Ubuntu’s “OnBoard”, which is a truly ugly piece of software.

        Oh, and caribou doesn’t play very nice with Unity.

        • http://profiles.google.com/p4d573r Pad Ster

           Now Apple invented onscreen keyboards? The keyboard is part of the GNOME-Shell theme, so if you’re saying it resembles Apple style, well, you can make it look like whatever you want.

          And if you’re using GNOME-Shell, then who cares about Unity?

          • Anonymous

            Not onscreen keyboards, but if you compare G-S’s OSK to the MacBook Pro keyboard, you’ll notice a striking resemblance.

            I’m fully aware that you can change themes, but if this is the default one I think it’s a bit odd. Brand recognition and all that. 10/10 people who’ve seen a macbook keyboard would say “oh, is this a mac?” when they see the default OSK theme.

            Who said I’m not using Unity?

          • http://profiles.google.com/p4d573r Pad Ster

            That’s not the default theme.  That theme is called “Elegance”, I think. And I just figured you weren’t using Unity since we’re talking about the built-in GNOME-Shell onscreen keyboard.

  • Anonymous

    ‘Before going any further make sure to enable the extension from the ‘Shell Extensions’ tab in the ‘Advanced Settings/GNOME Tweak Tool’ app.’

    I could not find anything under Shell Extensions tab!

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ Joey-Elijah Sneddon

      My mistake; I missed out a “log out” step.

      After installing the .debs you need to log out and back in > enable the extension > log out and back in > you’re good to go. 

      I believe you can also do Alt+F2 > r > enter

      • Anonymous

        Thanks Joey!

        The tricky part is restarting shell every time. I will try that let you know.

      • Anonymous

        I logged out. Still, I am unable to see anything under Shell Extensions tab.

      • Anonymous

        logged out then logged back in but shell extension is still blank……
        tried removing all packages then reinstalling packages in order again but no difference….still the same

  • Anonymous

    Crap, Gnome Shell wants me to have the window controls on the right. I want them on the left!

    • Tom Cowell

      alt+f2: gconf-editor

      /desktop/gnome/shell/windows

      Change buton_layout to “close:”

      alt+f2: r

      Restarts gnome-shell, should do the trick.

      I can’t remember the commands to do it though rather than the GUI way!

      • Anonymous

        Dude, gconf-editor is dead. It’s not even included in Ubuntu anymore. Everything moved to the more confusing dconf-editor.

        • Anonymous

          More correctly, dconf-editor is for gsettings/dconf, gconf-editor is for gconf. 

          Metacity (and thus mutter) are the few remaining gconf holdouts.

  • Anonymous

    Of these themes I only like eOS. But I think Gnome Shell has to support blur. The indicator wannabes are hard to read because of this.

    I think Unity looks way better than any of these themes. Most of them are unpolished and feel gimmicky.

    • http://blitz-bomb.deviantart.com/ BlitzBomb

      “Most of them are unpolished and feel gimmicky. ”
      Feel free to post a theme you made that is perfect in every way

  • Blaženka Filipović

    I can not open: download Extensions-common.

  • Blaženka Filipović

    I can not opet: download extensions-common.

  • http://twitter.com/stoutrouge Abdul

    Now if I can only get this on my tablet……. 

    • Anonymous

      So we designed an interface for tablets, by getting our ides from a tablet phone device (gnome shell was inspired by nokia n900, which uses Gnome’s Hildon UI) and we make it so you can’t put it on a tablet!
      Genius!

      KDE on the other hand has a desktop interface for your desktop (stock KDE) and a tablet interface for the tablet (Plasma Active One).

      • Anonymous

        Now, now, it should be as easy to get GNOME Shell on a tablet as it is to get Unity on a tablet, and Unity is also designed to be tablet-friendly.   Genius!

    • Anonymous

      What kind of tablet?  There’s a chance your tablet is supported by Ubuntu or one of the other popular Linux distributions.  I’ve never done it, but several months ago I saw a demo on Youtube of a tablet running Fedora and GNOME Shell.  

  • http://twitter.com/TheMaxx20 Ryan

    So… are the themes you posted suppose to include icons and windows themes or am I doing something wrong?

    • https://launchpad.net/~cwd-simpson Carl

      No, they are not.  They are themes for GNOME-Shell.

  • http://twitter.com/litedot Lite

    gnome-shell-extension-icontopbar 

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27292026/topbar.tar.gz 

    modified for ubuntu :)

    source: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=53014

  • http://www.dylanmccall.com/ dylan-m

    Instead of logging out and logging in (though that is nice and quick with GShell!), you can just press Alt+F2 and enter “r”.

    • http://2buntu.com Roland Taylor

       Thanks for the tip! Always puzzles me why people suggest logging out/in when you can just reload the shell.

  • http://twitter.com/lemmnelson Lemm Nelson

    Is Gnome-Shell getting global menus at any point?

    • http://kyoushuu.users.sourceforge.net Arnel A. Borja
    • http://2buntu.com Roland Taylor

       It’s supposed to be, but not the same kind that is available in Unity (To my memory). It will be more of a quick list for some applications.

    • Thomas Slingsby

      You can install a global menu in gnome shell (although it’s not too stable): http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/gnome-shell-global-menu-instructions.html

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WKXGRZGSBPZLOJHRZGZSOO4FGA Adrian Narciso

    after i installed nord on Gnome, all went well but when i tried to log on to default ubuntu, unity and other objects wont load, i could only see my wallpaper.. I tried ubuntu 2d and it seems nothing is wrong.. Is installing a gnome shell themes always have this effect?

    • Anonymous

      I think nord is not compatible with unity (too bad, it actually looked ok) i sudjest change it back to your defult unity theme 

    • http://kyoushuu.users.sourceforge.net Arnel A. Borja

      I have Nord theme installed although I’m using Unity and it doesn’t cause any problems.

  • http://twitter.com/Behzad_Sh Behzad Shabani

    notice that, your favorite theme should be gnome 3.2 compatible,
    otherwise it may cause freeze in searching or moving cursor to
    activities corner

  • Anonymous

    What is that on screen keyboard in the pictures? How do you get that? (next step: find a tablet that i can custom install on) 

    • Anonymous

      Click the Accessibility button (next to the Sound button) and turn On-screen keyboard on.

  • Knut Erik Rosmo

    I still don’t get anything in the “Shell Extensions” tab, even after logout>login…

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VT2JEAZY5UFOOCJKP7JZOE6MKY Rae

      You have to log off, and make sure you choose a gnome session. The little tool bar by the box will let you do this.

  • http://twitter.com/Emacs232 Denis Cheremisov

    OMG
    Gnome devs are trained monkeys :(
    It’s just super-crazy to think someone will install this onto the tablet.

    • http://twitter.com/almehdin Daniel Sandman

      Why not? A lot of people really like Gnome-shell. A very much similar design idea was used on the N900 which is a smartphone. If you ask me Gnome-shell is the perfect mix of tablet/desktop OS.

  • Dmitriy Kholodilin

    This is what I am looking for! =)

  • Mark Rabideau

    For some reason no matter how many times I install/ reinstall, I am unable to get the Shell Extensions to appear with the options noted… image attached.

    • Davide Bonaldo

      logoff and chose a gnome session..

      • Larry McCauley

        Did that, went into twaek and enabled extensions, logged back into unity and still no joy – just getting a blank as per image above :-(

  • Pierre-Marie Ruas

    Hi, after some work(around) I managed to successfully install every theme I could dream off on my setup! :)

    However, the theme resembles a mix between unity and gnome (see picture)

    Has anyone had the same issue? If so, how did you solve it?

    Note: the issue is the same with every theme

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_N5EQ6VMMGFPUOJULASRFPKUNZE xlatghar

      You need to change window theme and GTK+ theme to adwaita (default for gnome-shell) or whatever you want.

    • Gilberto Tolram

      This is the same problem I have.

    • Marco Bluethgen

      You have to deactivate nautilus managing your desktop in gnome-tweak-tool.

      • Eaton Emmerich

         Sorry, but how?

  • Benjamin Perez Carrillo

    Does anyone help about how connecting a USB stick 3g modem  (ZTE M110)  and activate mobile broadband  networks using Gnome shell 3.2 updated? I have tried many ways but  have not been able to activate mobile broadband with network manager 0.9.2

  • http://twitter.com/queange Ange

    Canonical doesn’t like Gnome Shell. Jan Hoffmann created a fully functional Ubuntu Gnome Shell Remix. Really great work!

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/ubuntu-gs-remix/

    Distrowatch deleted all comments about Ubuntu Gnome Shell Remix. There is too much silence about it…

  • Gilberto Tolram

    I have a problem with Gnome-Shell, it works fine, but I can see the Unity global menu in the background for some reason and I dont know how to get rid of it. I can’t use the global menu but it’s visible behind the top panel. How can I get rid of it??

    • Gilberto Tolram

      Here’s a picture of what it looks like.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_N5EQ6VMMGFPUOJULASRFPKUNZE xlatghar

        In gnome-tweak->desktop disable the “have file manager handle the desktop” option.

  • Spencer Warren

    This isn’t working for me? The shell extensions section of advanced settings is blank, and under theme there is a orange triangle with an exclamation in the center of it located next to the “shell theme” box. I am unable to select a theme to install? If I could get some help that would be appreciated, I am new to linux.

  • http://www.tiepbuoc.net Phạm Đình Hà

    I would like the launcher to visible always. Anyway to make it to be?

  • DpenD Creative Emp.

    Can I translate this article into Spanich and post it on my blog (http://dpendcreative.blogspot.com)?
    I’m working on  some informatic posts.
    Answer me by this mail: mail2dpend@gmail.com

  • http://twitter.com/BenOneill Ben Oneill

    Can someone help me, i am very new to Ubuntu, and trying to make a theme. I have the Advanced settings But in the shell theme tab, there is a little caution arrow. And i do not know what to do. Can someone please give me some help here

  • Anonymous

    nice tutorial. btw there’s also a channel on youtube explaining how to install different sort of linux themes. might find it helpful. check it out:

    http://www.youtube.com/wethepenguins01

  • 强 国

    I <3 Omg 

  • http://www.facebook.com/ian.juma Ian Juma

    The shell theme in the themes panel shows an error sign….what should i do??

  • Anonymous

    this was so helpful to me. thanks

 
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