Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu 24.04 desktop (GNOME)
Ubuntu 16.04 and 17.10 are end of life. On Ubuntu 24.04 (GNOME desktop) you change the look in Settings.
Light or dark style and accent colour
- Open Settings › Appearance.
- Choose Light or Dark and an accent colour. The change applies at once.
Other themes
- Install GNOME Tweaks:
sudo apt install gnome-tweaks. - Put downloaded GTK themes in
~/.local/share/themes(or~/.themes) and icon themes in~/.local/share/icons. - Open Tweaks › Appearance and select the theme for Legacy Applications and Icons.
- For shell (top bar) themes, install the User Themes extension with Extension Manager (
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager).
From the terminal: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'.
Note: Modern GNOME apps (GTK4/libadwaita) follow only the light/dark setting and accent colour, not third-party GTK themes.
Go back to the default look
gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme
Log out and in again if some windows keep the old theme.
