Let’s admit it. When you boot up your Linux computer, the Grub menu looks ugly. Luckily, if you don’t like how your Grub boot menu looks, you can configure it according to your tastes. The most striking change is using a custom background. We’ll show you here how to easily change the Grub background.

Related: Grub vs. Systemd-boot: Which One Should You Use as the Bootloader

Install Grub Customizer

To install grub customizer on Arch, Manjaro, and compatible distributions, use:

On Fedora, you can try:

On Debian, Ubuntu, and compatible distributions, you can bring it on board with:

Afterward, find it among the rest of your installed applications and run it.

Change the Background

Grub Customizer offers many options that allow you to modify your Grub boot menu, from tweaking its entries to configuring its looks.

Go to “Appearance settings.” You will find the option you need there.

On the left of Grub Customizer’s window, you will find a handful of options that define its appearance. Click on the last one, the “(None)” button under “background image.”

Note that if your Grub already has a background defined, you’ll see that instead of “(None)” in this button.

Choose the image file you want to use as a background for your Grub boot menu from the requester that appears.

You can choose files directly in JPG or PNG format.

Grub Customizer will load the image you selected and present a preview of how your boot menu will look. If your wallpaper’s colors render any text unreadable, you can use the rest of the options on the left to change the color of your font and its background, both when unselected and highlighted.

When you’re happy with how your new wallpaper and menu text combination looks, click the “Save” button on the top left to save your tweaks.

Reboot your computer to see the changes. If the grub menu doesn’t appear, it may be configured to load the default operating system directly. To force Grub to show up, after rebooting and straight after the BIOS/UEFI screen, keep Shift pressed on your keyboard.

If you want, you can dive deeper into Grub and Grub Customizer to make your computer’s boot menu your own. Changing its background and primary colors, though, will probably be more than enough for most users.

If you are wondering what the Linux boot process is and how Grub plays a part, we have a tutorial here for you. Have you customized your Grub boot menu to your liking? What changes and tweaks have your applied? Tell us in the comments section below.

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