How To Install Adwaita Tweaks For Gnome Shell On Linux
Love the default Gnome GTK theme but wish it looked a bit nicer? Check out Adwaita Tweaks! It’s a simple theme that takes the default look of Gnome’s GTK skin and vastly improves it in many ways.
Install Git
The Adwaita Tweaks theme code is on GitHub. If you’d like to use it, you’ll first need to install the Git utility to your Linux PC. To install Git, launch a terminal window and use the commands that correspond to your operating system to get it working.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install git
Debian
sudo apt-get install git
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S git
Fedora
sudo dnf install git
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install git
Generic Linux
Git is one of the main ways that Linux users can work with project code. As a result, this program is on pretty much every Linux distribution out there. If you’re using a Linux distribution that isn’t on the list above, install Git by opening up your terminal window and using your package manager to search for “git.”
Can’t find it? Don’t worry! It’s possible to get the Git program working on nearly any Linux distro by downloading and compiling the source code. Grab it here!
Install Adwaita Tweaks
To install Adwaita Tweaks GTK theme on your Linux distribution, launch a terminal window and use the git clone command to download the latest version of the theme directly to your home folder.
git clone https://github.com/Jazqa/adwaita-tweaks.git
The latest code for the Adwaita Tweaks GTK theme is on your Linux PC, in the home directory. Next, you’ll need to install it to the theme’s folder.
Single User Setup
If you’d like to set up the Adwaita Tweaks GTK theme for just a single user on your Linux PC, you should install it in the ~/.themes directory. To set it up in this directory, go to a terminal window and use the mkdir command to make a new ~/.themes folder. Then move the theme files inside it.
Note: feel free to repeat this process for each user that you’d like to have access to the Adwaita Tweaks GTK theme.
mkdir -p ~/.themes
mv adwaita-tweaks ~/.themes
When the Adwaita Tweaks folder is inside ~/.themes, you’ll be able to activate it for use.
System-wide Setup
A good way to ensure that the Adwaita theme is available for use on every user that is set up on your Linux PC is to do the system-wide setup. This places the files inside of /usr/share/themes/, rather than ~/.themes. To install Adwaita Tweaks this way, go to the terminal and use the mv command to move the code.
sudo mv adwaita-tweaks /usr/share/themes/
Once the mv command finishes running, Adwaita Tweaks will be available for use system-wide.
Note: If you’d like to update the theme, repeat the installation process.
Install Adwaita Tweaks Dark
Adwaita Tweaks has a Dark variant. If you prefer this type of color scheme to the default look of Adwaita Tweaks GTK setup, start out by cloning the Dark branch from the theme’s Github page.
git clone https://github.com/Jazqa/adwaita-tweaks.git -b dark
The command above takes the Dark version of Adwaita Tweaks and places it into the main “Adwaita Tweaks” folder, rather than creating a separate “dark” folder.
Single User Setup
To use the Adwaita Tweaks Dark theme for a single user, create the ~/.themes folder in your home directory with the mkdir command.
mkdir -p ~/.themes
With the new theme folder set up, install Adwait Tweaks Dark by moving the adwaita-tweaks folder into it.
mv adwaita-tweaks ~/.themes
After placing the Adwaita Tweaks Dark theme files in ~/.themes, the theme will be ready to use.
System-wide Setup
Much like the light version of Adwaita Tweaks, it is possible to set up the Dark version to work system-wide, for multiple users. Set it up by using the sudo and mv commands in a terminal.
sudo mv adwaita-tweaks /usr/share/themes/
Adwaita Tweaks Dark should be ready to use for every user on your Linux PC once the files are in place.
Enable Adwaita Tweaks
Now that the theme installation process is over, your theme is ready to use. To enable the Adwaita Tweaks GTK theme in Gnome Shell, press the Windows key, search for “Tweaks” and open it.
Note: if you do not have Tweaks on your Linux PC, search for “gnome-tweak-tool” and install it through Gnome Software or the terminal.
In the Tweak app, look to the left side and select “Appearance.” Find the “GTK+” menu and click the drop-down box to reveal all of the themes available. Then, browse for Adwaita Tweaks and enable it to use it on Gnome Shell.
Adwaita Tweaks For Other Desktops
The Adwaita Tweaks GTK theme is a collection of fixes for the default Gnome theme. For this reason, it’s best under Gnome Shell. However, if you like the Adwaita Tweaks look and want to use it on your desktop, it’ll still work.
To learn how to enable this theme on alternative GTK desktops like Cinnamon and Budgie, check the links below!
