GNOME Tweaks | An Essential Tool For GNOME Users

The “Gnome tweaks” is the tool to customize the gnome-shell. This tool is considered when the user wants to customize the Gnome shell environment.

It enables the user to change the themes, fonts, the behavior of the mouse and keyboard, manage startup applications, and other desktop customizations.

This post will explain the complete usage of the Gnome tweaks application in Linux.

  • Installation of Gnome Tweaks
  • Customize Gnome Desktop Through Tweaks
    • Manage Animation
    • Manage Fonts
    • Manage Keyboard and Mouse Settings
    • Manage Startup Applications
    • Manage Top Bar
    • Manage Window Title Bar
    • Manage Windows

Installation of Gnome Tweaks

To install “Gnome tweaks” in Linux, choose the command based on the Linux distribution and run it:

$ sudo apt install gnome-tweaks                #For Debian/Ubuntu
$ sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks                #For Fedora/CentOS/RHEL
$ sudo pacman -S gnome-tweaks                  #For Arch

The “Gnome tweaks” are installed.

Customize Gnome Desktop Through Tweaks

Once you install gnome tweaks, launch it from the command by running the “gnome-tweaks”:

$ gnome-tweaks

The “Gnome” tweaks is launched.

Users will see the sidebar with various options to handle; let’s discuss each feature of the sidebar one by one:

General (Manage Animation)

The user can manage the animation in the “General” option, such as turning on/off the laptop lid option:

Manage Themes, Background, and Lock Screen Settings

The next option is the “Appearance”, the user can manage the following things:

  • “Themes”: In themes, the user can change the application color, cursor shape, icons, color, and sound.
  • “Background”: In the background option, the user can change the background image and adjust the size of the image.
  • “Lock Screen”: The same thing as the background can also be managed in lock screen settings.

Manage Fonts

In the “Fonts” option; the user can manage the following fonts settings:

  • “Interface Text”: Change the fonts and size for the interface text; for now, interface text is set to “Ubuntu Regular” with the size 11.
  • “Document Text”: The user can change the document text font and size as it is set to “Sans Regular” with the size 11.
  • “Monospace Text”: The user can change the monospace text font and size from “Ubuntu Mono Regular” to any available font and size based on needs.
  • “Legacy Windows Title”: The user can change the font and size of the windows title bar; for instance, it is set to the “Ubuntu Bold” with size 11.
  • “Hinting”: Set the resolution of the text font.
  • “Scaling Factor”: increase/decrease the space between each font character.

Manage Keyboard and Mouse Settings

The user can manage the following settings in this option:

  • “Keyboard”: Turning on this option will show the input source method for keyboard layout (US, UK, etc.)
  • “Mouse”: In this option, users can manage the acceleration profile, pointer location, and middle click of the mouse.
  • “TouchPad”: This option is used to manage the touch of the mouse if available.
  • “Mouse Click Emulation”: Manage the mouse click emulation, such as clicking two fingers for the right click or three fingers for the middle click.

Manage Startup Applications

If the user wants to run the application on startup, it can be added in the “Startup Application” option by clicking on the “+” button:

Manage Top Bar

The Gnome tweaks provide the following things to manage in the top bar:

  • “Clock”: In the clock section, the user can turn on/off the weekday, dates and seconds to be displayed on the top bar of the desktop. 
  • “Calendar”: Turn on/off the weak numbers for the calendar.

Manage Window Title Bar

The “Window Titlebars” has the following options to manage:

  • “Titlebars Actions”: Manage the activities of the “Double-click,” “Middle Click,” and “Secondary Click.”
  • “Titlebars Buttons”: Turn on/off the maximization and minimization, also the placement of the title bar to the left/right.

Manage Windows

In the “Windows” section, the user can manage the following settings of the window:

  • “Attach Modal Dialogs”: Turn on/off the feature of moving windows attached to their parent windows. 
  • “Center New Windows”: Turn on/off the opening of new windows in the center.
  • “Resize with Secondary-Click”: Turn on/off the resize of the windows through secondary clicks.
  • “Windows Action Key”: Change or disable the windows action key.
  • “Window Focus”: Choose the focus option on click, hover, or secondary clicks.

Conclusion

In Linux, “Gnome tweaks” is the tool that is utilized to customize the desktop environment, such as “Fonts,” “Titlebar,” and other desktop-related things. There are a variety of sections in each option, as in “Fonts”; the user can manage interface text, document text, monospace text, and much more settings.

This write-up has briefly illustrated the installation and working of the Gnome tweaks application.