Installed, hacked and tweaked Ubuntu a bit too much? Wish there was a glowing red ‘reset’ button you could press? Well there sort of it…

Reset GNOME defaults in Ubuntu

Restoring the default GNOME settings (themes, settings etc) is nothing more than a (admittedly scary) command away. Before you begin take a deep breath and write these instructions down so you have them handy.

  1. Log out of your session
  2. Press CTRL + ALT + F1 in unison
  3. Log in to your account at the prompt
  4. Run the following command very very very very very carefully: –
  • mkdir gnome_backup; mv .gnome .gnome2 .gconf .gconfd .metacity gnome_backup/
    • or if that doesn’t work
  • rm .gnome .gnome2 .gconf .gconfd .metacity -rf
  • Return to the login screen by pressing CTRL + ALT + F7

    • (source)

    Thanks to john_a

    Article originally appeared on omgubuntu.co.uk