After you have installed or upgraded to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS you may find yourself wondering what to do next.
Ubuntu 22.04 is great out-of-the-box: you get a fast, fluid OS filled with the best free software, and equipped with all the essential features you need to compute safely.
But there are some options, some tweaks, and some additional things you can do to make the great Ubuntu desktop experience even better.
Ubuntu is already great, but a few simple tweaks can make the experience even better
I have written a ‘things to do‘ post for every version of Ubuntu since 9.04. This guide, like those, is for those who want to use Ubuntu as it comes, not those looking to turn it into something different.
Or to put it another way: if you think Ubuntu doesn’t suit your needs it’s simply easier to use an Ubuntu flavour, an Ubuntu-based spin, or even a different Linux distro entirely.
All of my tips below suggestions, not obligations. You don’t need to do every item. Pick out what make sense to you and ignore that which doesn’t — oh, and please share your own post-install tips down in the comments as it helps other users (and me) learn new things!
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS: Things To Do
1. See What’s New
Whenever you upgrade to a new version of anything you want to know what’s new, right?
I’ve written few guides covering Ubuntu 22.04 features, one aimed at interim upgrades and one for those coming from the previous LTS upgraders. I’ve also put together a video to showcase the most impactful changes — so check it out!
Want to see more videos like the one above? Subscribe to the OMG! Ubuntu YouTube channel 👍.
2. Pick an Accent Colour
Ubuntu 22.04 includes a new customisation feature: UI accent colours.
Windows 11 has them, macOS has them, Chrome OS has them, as do a variety of other Linux distros — so I’m stoked to see Ubuntu follow suit.
Ubuntu’s standard orange accent is pleasant but now that you can choose from 9 other colours, including several shades of green, brown (called “bark”), and bolder highlights likes blue, red, and magenta… You might as well!
Your chosen hue is applied throughout the whole desktop, including the GNOME Shell theme, and it will even (subtly) change a handful of icons — I wonder if you can spot which ;)
3. Enable Minimise on Click
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS has new dock options available in the Settings app. Just go to Appearance panel and scroll to the dock section to find toggles to move the Ubuntu dock to the bottom of the screen; turn off the dock ‘panel’ mode (to get a more macOS-style dock look); hide the trash can, etc.
But you know what’s still missing?
My most desired setting: minimize on click.
If you come from Windows, Chrome OS, or a desktop environment that uses this behaviour, you may prefer it (I certainly do). To me, it feels logical to click an app icon to restore the window, and click again to minimize it.
Thankfully, you can enable minimize on click in Ubuntu using the command line:
gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock click-action 'minimize'
The change takes effect instantly.
4. Show Battery Percentage on Top Bar
In Ubuntu 22.04 you can finally see your battery percentage in the top bar/panel — so you can actually tell how long it will be before you’re diving face-first at the closest power outlet — without needing to install the Tweaks tool.
It’s a bit bizarre it took Ubuntu this long to make this feature available out-of-the-box tbh, but better later than never, right?!
Scroll to the bottom of of the Settings > Power panel and check the ‘show battery percentage’ toggle to turn the feature on (and repeat the steps to turn it off).
5. Enable Night Light
Every mainstream OS has a blue light filter feature, and Ubuntu is no different.
The purpose? To reduce the amount of blue light your display emits, in sync with sunrise/set. This can, among other things, help improve your sleep patterns (as blue light stimulates the brain).
Enabling night light in Ubuntu is easy.
Go to Settings > Screen Display, and then select the Night Light tab. Move the slider to the ‘on’ position. You can customise the schedule, as well as alter the intensity of the temperature to suit your display/needs/eyes.
6. Change Desktop Icons Position
Ubuntu 22.04 shows desktop icons in the bottom right corner of your screen by default. For some people this placement is ideal, but for others (such as me) it feels wrong — and I can’t explain why!
Thankfully, you can adjust the position of desktop icons easily enough. Open Settings > Appearance, scroll to the desktop icons section, then pick a preferred location from the menu.
Much better!
7. Install ‘GNOME Extensions Manager’
GNOME Shell extensions are a fantastic way to add more features to Ubuntu.
There’s a GNOME extension for pretty much anything you can think of, be it showing the weather or system resource usage; snapping windows to screen corners; boosting your productivity with clipboard managers, sticky notes, and timers — heck, they can even make app windows literally explode!
You can install GNOME extensions from the GNOME extension website using Firefox plus a few additional packages, but there’s a dedicated app that makes the whole process a lot easier.
The GNOME Extension Manager app lets you:
- Search, browse, and install GNOME extensions
- Read extension reviews
- Enable/disable extensions
- Access installed extension settings
- Manage and update extensions
- Force-install incompatible extensions (not recommended)
— all from within the app itself, no browser or other add-ons needed.
Yao install GNOME Extension Manager open Ubuntu Software and search for it by name. Or, run sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager from the command line. Newer versions of this app are available via Flathub, which leads nicely on to…
8. Enable Flatpak Support
The Ubuntu Software apps provides access to scores of great software, tools, apps, and utilities carried within the Ubuntu repos, plus everything available on the Snap Store too.
As Ubuntu doesn’t support Flatpak by default all of the apps available on Flathub — which is where some of the very best Linux apps are exclusively distributed — are MIA — but you can fix it.
I’m going skip over the reasons why Ubuntu doesn’t support Flatpak by default to focus on how to fix the flaw: install the GNOME Software app, install Flatpak, install the GNOME Software Flatpak plugin.
Open the Terminal and run this command, entering your system password if/when prompted:
sudo apt install gnome-software gnome-software-plugin-flatpak flatpak
Once done, a second ‘Software’ app in will be visible in the app launcher. It has a white shopping bag icon. This is the app to use for installing (and updating) Flatpak apps.
The next step is to set up Flathub.
First, navigate to the Flathub website and find an app you want to install, then click the “install” button. This opens the GNOME Software utility and that takes care of the rest.
Once complete, you can use the Software app to search for, install, and update apps available on Flathub — and there are thousands available!
There you have it: my list of things to do after you install Ubuntu 22.04. Whether you followed one task or the whole lot, you created a bespoke Ubuntu experience better suited to your needs, tastes, and preferences.