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Alexander Omorokunwa
Alexander Omorokunwa

Posted on • Originally published at fossnaija.com on

How to Install Themes and Make your ubuntu desktop come alive

ubuntu_theme_banner_fossnaija

Sometimes added visual flavours to the Linux desktop can make the user experience all worthwhile. One way of achieving this is the use of themes; which can change desktop appearance and interactions. I will show you how to give your Linux desktop a personalized look and feel by installing themes.

NB: Ubuntu 16 Linux used in this post.

Who does not like a fanciful desktop like the – pretty much a lot, right? Linux has always been targeted as not having an appealing user interface (UI), but with the rise of many user friendly distributions (distros) such ideas have become the thing of the past.

How do you go about installing themes in ubuntu? Let me show you.

#1: Download some themes from the internet.

A very good source of themes are websites like OpenDesktop, noobslab and Gnome Look. The package should be in ZIP(.zip) format.

Some beautiful themes you could try out include the following:

Ultra-Flat Theme

ultra flat theme ubuntu

Numix Theme

numix-theme-for-ubuntu-linux-fossnaija

Flatabulous Theme

flatabulous-theme-fossnaija

Zutikwo

zukwito linux theme

#2: Extract to the system theme folder:

You can extract the downloaded theme file to the system’s theme folder (which is /usr/share/themes ). You can do this using the terminal (command line interface, CLI) like this:

unzip /path/to/downloaded/theme/zip -d /usr/share/themes
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#3: Set the desire theme using tweak tool.

There are two major tweak tools that are available for ubuntu; the Unity Tweak Tool and the Gnome Tweak Tool. they both perform the same function of managing and adjusting some deep system settings which are not available in the default ubuntu settings manager. Which ever you choose we serve just fine (here I used the unity tweak tool).

Open it

unity_tweak_tool_ubuntu_dash_fossnaija

Go to “Themes” under Appearance Section:

unity tweak tool

IMAGE: FOSSNAIJA.COM

Under available themes, you see all the themes in your “ /usr/share/them** e**” folder. Select the one you want and then the system will apply that theme to your desktop.

gnome tweak tool available themes

IMAGE: FOSSNAIJA.COM

Voila! You can install as many themes as you like.

Enjoy!!!

Happy Linux’NG!

The post How to Install Themes and Make your ubuntu desktop come alive appeared first on Foss Naija.

Top comments (2)

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jshamg profile image
jshamg

+1 for the numix theme :D
I was a long time ubuntu user and that time I didnt know that numix existed.
I switched to arch for the rolling release and recently i switched to Antergos, because I got to many computers and installing and taking care of arch every single time is a pain in the a** :D .
Antergos is shipped with numix and gnome so it should look pretty similar to ubuntu with numix. luv it.

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xeroxism profile image
Alexander Omorokunwa

I'm glad you do.