10 Of The Best Linux Themes Compared

Robert Washbourne - 4 years ago - themes, gnome

GTK has some great looks by default. However, it can look better. In the list below are ten of my favorite themes, which can be used with Ubuntu GNOME and other distributions that use the GNOME desktop ("How can I install this?" - here's how). Themes are packages with CSS code to style the dash, launcher, and panel. They are widely used with GNOME and other desktop environments.

The following themes are ranked in order of how many times they were mentioned to me on Google+, with the most mentioned theme at the top. This is an updated version of my original post, with eight new themes suggested by the Google+ Ubuntu and GNOME communities.

Adapta





Pictured: My current desktop with Adapta-Nokto GTK and Shell theme

Adapta was recommended in the google and disqus comments from several users, and after installing it I am never going back. If Arc is good, Adapta must be godlike in its beautiful material design. Adapta was initially forked forked from Flat-Plat, which is another good theme you can see on this page.

Variants

Adapta + global dark theme = off make all light.

+ make all light. Adapta + global dark theme = on make dark GTK+3 and light GTK+2.

+ make dark GTK+3 and light GTK+2. Adapta-Nokto + global dark theme = off make light GTK+3 and dark GTK+2.

+ make light GTK+3 and dark GTK+2. Adapta-Nokto + global dark theme = on make all dark.

Adapta

To use the light theme, select Adapta in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Adapta-Nokto

To use the dark theme, select Adapta-Nokto in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Adapta or Adapta-Nokto as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Adapta

Main desktops that work with Adapta are

GNOME >= 3.20 (or 3.18)

GNOME-Flashback >= 3.18.0

Budgie-Desktop >= 10.2.5

Unity7 >= 7.4.0

Cinnamon >= 3.0.1 (or 2.8.6)

XFce4 >= 4.12.

Install from PPA or from Git.

Installation from PPA (Ubuntu 16.04) sudo apt-add-repository ppa:tista/adapta -y sudo apt update sudo apt install adapta-gtk-theme Installation from Source Download and unzip to your theme folder. This is usually /usr/share/themes . Download

Numix





Pictured: My desktop with Numix GTK theme

Numix is the theme for the Numix project, and it goes well with their popular circle icons. It is decorated with the numix colors, and its a fun theme to have on your computer.

How to Install Numix

Works on GNOME, Unity, Xfce and Openbox.

Install from PPA or from Git.

Installation from PPA (Ubuntu) sudo add-apt-repository ppa:numix/ppa sudo apt update sudo apt install numix-gtk-theme Arch Linux Install from community repo. pacman -S numix-themes

Vertex





Pictured: My desktop with Vertex GTK and Shell theme

Vertex is by the same guy who made Arc, and yet again, he did an amazing job. Vertex is like a realism version of the flat arc, with textures and shadows on the ui.

Vertex Light

To use the dark theme, select Vertex-Light in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Vertex Dark Headers

To use the light theme, select Vertex in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Vertex Dark

To use the dark theme, select Vertex-Dark in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Adapta or Adapta-Nokto as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Vertex

Works on GTK 3, GTK 2, Gnome-Shell and Cinnamon. The theme comes with three variants to choose from. The default variant with dark header-bars, a light variant, and a dark variant (see above descriptions)

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Horst3180/xUbuntu_16.04/ /' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vertex-theme.list" sudo apt update sudo apt install vertex-theme openSUSE ### Ubuntu and flavours Support for Tumbleweed, Leap 42.1, and openSUSE 13.2. Run all commands as root to install. Tumbleweed zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:Horst3180.repo zypper refresh zypper install vertex-theme Leap 42.1 zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/openSUSE_Leap_42.1/home:Horst3180.repo zypper refresh zypper install vertex-theme openSUSE 13.2 zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/openSUSE_13.2/home:Horst3180.repo zypper refresh zypper install vertex-theme Fedora Works on 24, 23, 22, and 21. Run the commands as root or it won't work. Fedora 24 dnf config-manager --add-repo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_24/home:Horst3180.repo dnf install vertex-theme Fedora 23 dnf config-manager --add-repo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_23/home:Horst3180.repo dnf install vertex-theme Fedora 22 cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_22/home:Horst3180.repo yum install vertex-theme Fedora 21 cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_21/home:Horst3180.repo yum install vertex-theme Debian 8.0 echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Horst3180/Debian_8.0/ /' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vertex-theme.list apt update apt install vertex-theme Arch Linux Arch users can install from AUR.

aur.archlinux.org/packages/vertex-themes

Arc





Pictured: My current desktop with Arc Dark GTK and Shell theme. I have modified Arc with a transparent header. The icons are numix circle.

Arc is one of the more popular GTK themes, and rightly so. It comes with a window theme and a shell theme, and it has three color variants. This was my favorite theme until I found Adapta, which is built on top of Arc Dark.

Light

To use the light theme, select Arc in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Dark Headers

To use the dark headers theme, select Arc Darker in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Dark

To use the dark theme, select Arc Darker in the Theme > GTK+ section of Tweak Tool. (Or however you do it in your platform.)

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Arc or Arc Dark as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Arc

Main distributions that work with Arc are

Arch Linux and Arch Linux based distros

Ubuntu 15.04, 15.10 and 16.04

elementary OS Freya

Debian 8

Gentoo

Fedora 21 - 24

openSUSE 13.2, Leap 42.1 and Tumbleweed

Derivatives of these distributions should also work. To download the solid theme without transparency, change every command url from /arc-theme.list to /arc-theme-solid.list .

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Horst3180/xUbuntu_16.04/ /' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/arc-theme.list" sudo apt update sudo apt install arc-theme openSUSE ### Ubuntu and flavours Support for Tumbleweed, Leap 42.1, and openSUSE 13.2. Run all commands as root to install. Tumbleweed zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:Horst3180.repo zypper refresh zypper install arc-theme Leap 42.1 zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/openSUSE_Leap_42.1/home:Horst3180.repo zypper refresh zypper install arc-theme openSUSE 13.2 zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/openSUSE_13.2/home:Horst3180.repo zypper refresh zypper install arc-theme Fedora Works on 23, 22, and 21. Run the commands as root or it won't work. Fedora 24 dnf config-manager --add-repo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_24/home:Horst3180.repo dnf install arc-theme Fedora 23 dnf config-manager --add-repo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_23/home:Horst3180.repo dnf install arc-theme Fedora 22 cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_22/home:Horst3180.repo yum install arc-theme Fedora 21 cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:Horst3180/Fedora_21/home:Horst3180.repo yum install arc-theme Debian 8.0 echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Horst3180/Debian_8.0/ /' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/arc-theme.list apt update apt install arc-theme Arch Linux Arch users can install from AUR.

aur.archlinux.org/packages/gtk-theme-arc/

Paper





Pictured: My desktop with the Paper GTK and Shell theme. Shown with Paper icon pack.

Paper is a theme suit of flat design for Ubuntu. They have a theme, icons and even cursors to make your linux flatter then ever.

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Paper as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Paper

Paper supports most OS-es and desktop environments.

Fedora ### Ubuntu & Debian Install with a deb package. Download Supports 23 & 22. Fedora 23 cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:snwh:paper/Fedora_23/home:snwh:paper.repo yum install paper-gtk-theme Fedora 22 cd /etc/yum.repos.d/ wget http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:snwh:paper/Fedora_22/home:snwh:paper.repo yum install paper-gtk-theme OpenSuse Supports openSUSE Tumbleweed, openSUSE 13.2, openSUSE 13.1 Tumbleweed zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:snwh:paper/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:snwh:paper.repo zypper refresh zypper install paper-gtk-theme openSUSE 13.2 zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:snwh:paper/openSUSE_13.2/home:snwh:paper.repo zypper refresh zypper install paper-gtk-theme openSUSE 13.1 zypper addrepo http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:snwh:paper/openSUSE_13.1/home:snwh:paper.repo zypper refresh zypper install paper-gtk-theme Arch Linux Arch users can install from AUR.

aur.archlinux.org/packages/gtk-theme-arc/

Super Flat





Pictured: My desktop with the Super Flat Shell theme. Shown with Super Flat Remix icon pack.

Super Flat is an update of the theme Super Flat Remix, fixing lots of issues with text coloring and such. Super Flat adds lots of great effects to your desktop, such as the shadows on my left dash panel (first screenshot). It comes with only a shell theme, and no GTK theme, so try this shell theme out with Arc, it looks very good.

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Super Flat as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Super Flat

Super Flat will work with any machine with GTK and a theme folder. Just download the zip and unzip it to your theme folder. (This is usually /usr/share/themes/ ). To make this theme work, you have to use the directory from the inside the download, it will not work with the main folder.

Download

Flat-Plat





Pictured: Flat-Plat GTK and Shell theme. Second image courtesy of Stephan Ric

Flat-Plat is another good flat theme for Gnome. Adapta was build on top of Flat-Plat and they both use the same material design. Make sure to install Flat-Plat for the correct version of gnome, if you don't it gets messed up.

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Flat-Plat as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Flat-Plat

Flat-Plat is also a zip file. Just unzip and move to your theme folder (usually this is /usr/share/themes ).

Download for GNOME 3.20

Download for GNOME 3.18

Download for GNOME 3.16

Xenlism Minimalism

Pictured: Desktop with Xenlism Minimalism GTK and Shell theme. Image courtesy of Ertan Kayalar.

Minimalism has a transparent panel, and it looks very good. However, my main issue with it is that it is very bright and it styles some applications to a unreadable font. This is easily fixed with some css, however.

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Xenlism Minimalism as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Xenlism Minimalism

Main distributions that work with Xenlism Minimalism are

Arch Linux and Arch Linux based distros

Ubuntu 15.04, 15.10 and 16.04

Debian 8

Any *Nix machine

Details for each platform are below.

Ubuntu and flavours sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 90127F5B echo "deb http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/xenlism-wildfire/repo deb/" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list sudo apt update sudo apt install xenlism-minimalism-theme Arch Linux Install with pacman. sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf add config section to /etc/pacman.conf [xenlism-arch] SigLevel = Never Server = http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/xenlism-wildfire/repo/arch Update System and Install Xenlism Minimalism. sudo pacman -Syyu sudo pacman -S xenlism-minimalism-theme Anything else Works on most *nix systems with wget, curl, or git. Install with wget bash <(wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xenlism/minimalism/master/INSTALL/online.install) Install with curl bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xenlism/minimalism/master/INSTALL/online.install) Install with git cd /tmp;git clone https://github.com/xenlism/minimalism.git;bash /tmp/minimalism/INSTALL/offine.install;

Apple Arc OSX





Apple Arc is a nice theme for people used to Apple design: blurred top panel, transparent elements, and a different dock. I don't use Apple Arc mainly because I want my Linux to look like Linux, not like mac, but its up to you how your computer should look and Apple Arc is a good choice.

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Apple Arc as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Apple Arc

This will work for GTK. Just download and unzip to /usr/share/themes .

Download

Lexis





Pictured: My desktop with Lexis Shell theme.

Lexis is a theme that makes a statement; however weird that sounds. Lexis is the only theme I know of the panel empty and the toolbars colored. I like it that way. Lexis comes with just a shell theme.

Shell theme

If you have the user themes extension, you can select Lexis as your Shell theme in Tweak Tool > Themes.

How to Install Lexis

This will work only for GNOME Shell. Just download and unzip to /usr/share/themes .

Download

If you haven't read the original article, check it out. It has 3 themes not in here.

To see other topics in Gnome, follow this link.

Do you like these desktop themes? Do you hate them? Drop a line in the comments below with your favorite desktop theme, and I'll be sure to take a look.

If you want the wallpapers that I used, Here is the imgur gallery I made.