How to install the Toffee GTK theme on Linux
Like the material design trend on Linux but looking for a new theme to use? Check out Toffee! It’s a beautiful GTK theme for Linux that uses beautiful dark greys, whites, and blues to deliver a unique Google-inspired experience.
Note: to use Toffee, you must be running Gnome Shell, Budgie, XFCE, Mate or another GTK+ based Linux desktop environment.
Install dependencies
The Toffee GTK theme will work on your Linux PC, but only if you load up the correct dependencies that allow Linux desktop environments to render the theme and its assets, correctly. In this section of the guide, we’ll walk you through how to set up the required programs and libraries that you’ll need to use Toffee.
To install the dependencies, launch a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T. Then, follow the command-line instructions below that correspond with the Linux distribution you plan to use Toffee on.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install gtk2-engines-murrine gtk2-engines-pixbuf git
Debian
sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-murrine gtk2-engines-pixbuf git
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S gtk-engine-murrine gtk-engines git
Fedora
sudo dnf install gtk-murrine-engine gtk2-engines git
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install install gtk-murrine-engine gtk2-engines git
Generic Linux
Planning to use the Toffee GTK theme on a Linux distribution that isn’t listed above? You’ll still need to install the dependencies to render everything out correctly.
Unfortunately, the package names for these dependency files differ wildly from OS to OS. Refer to the bulleted list below for guidance.
- gtk2-engines-murrine or gtk-murrine-engine
- gtk-engines or gtk2-engines
- Git
Can’t find the dependencies based on the list of the package names above? Check the project page. On it, they outline the dependencies you’ll need to install in detail.
Download source code
The source code for Toffee is on Github. To get the files, you must use the git clone command in the terminal. To launch a terminal press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Once the terminal window is open, use the git clone command and grab the latest Toffee theme code to your Linux PC.
git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/Toffee-gtk-theme.git
The code should take a few seconds to download. When it’s done, use the CD command to move the terminal session into the “Toffee-gtk-theme” folder.
cd Toffee-gtk-theme
When the terminal session is moved into the Toffee code folder, feel free to run the ls command so that you can verify everything is there.
ls
Install Toffee GTK
All the files are done downloading. Next, you’ll need to configure the code. Otherwise, it will be unusable on your system. Thankfully, the Toffee GTK theme files are much simpler to work with than most, and the code doesn’t need to be built from scratch. Instead, just run a configuration script, followed by an installation script.
To start the installation, open up a terminal window by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + T keyboard combination. If that doesn’t work, try Ctrl + Shift + T. Then, run the “parse-sassc.sh” script with the command below.
./parse-sassc.sh
Let the script run. As it does, it’ll generate new CSS files for Toffee. It shouldn’t take too long. When it finishes, it’s safe to install the theme by running the “install.sh” script.
./install.sh
Alternatively, run the install script with Root or Sudo privileges to install the theme system-wide.
sudo ./install.sh
When the installation script finishes up, the Toffee GTK theme will be fully installed and ready to activate.
Updating Toffee GTK
In the guide, we went over how to install Toffee from source, via Github. As a result, it isn’t possible to update it automatically.
If you want to update the theme, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: Erase the existing theme files and source code from your Linux PC using the rm command.
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/themes/Toffee*
Or, if you didn’t use Root, do:
rm -rf ~/.themes/Toffee*
Step 2: Scroll up to the installation instructions above and follow them to install the latest, up to date version of the Toffee GTK theme.
Activate Toffee GTK
Toffee is done installing on your Linux PC. Now, you must activate it and set it as the default skin for your desktop environment if you want to use it.
Setting the Toffee GTK theme as default starts by launching “Settings” and going to “Appearance” or “Themes” and selecting the “Toffee” option.
Having an issue setting the Toffee GTK theme as the default skin on your Linux desktop environment? We can help! Check out the links below. Each one of them outlines in detail how you can customize and changes things like the icons, GTK themes and more!
