This article is part of the Linux Desktop Themes series:
The default look of many Linux desktop environments is often less than satisfactory. Thankfully, the Linux world is blessed with a plethora of custom themes you can download and install within seconds to make your desktop really shine.
How to Install GTK Themes
Before we go further, here is a quick tutorial on how to install custom GTK themes. (You can skip this part if you know how to do it already.)
First install the “gnome-tweak-tool” by running this command:
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
Or if you run Ubuntu Unity, install the “unity-tweak-tool” instead.
sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool
Elementary OS users can install “elementary-tweaks.”
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mpstark/elementary-tweaks-daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install elementary-tweaks
Grab the zip file of your desired GTK theme (from gnome-look or deviant art) and extract. Then move the extracted folder to “/usr/share/themes.”
Note: for your convenience, we have included the link to each shell theme described below so you can get the zip file from there.
Once the theme has been downloaded and extracted to your “/usr/share/themes” directory, open gnome-tweak-tool, unity-tweak-tool or elementary-tweaks to select the theme.
Here are five of the best themes for GTK-based desktop environments.
1. Arc GTK Theme
Arc is a flat GTK theme with subtle transparency effects in some parts of the application window such as those with header bars and the sidebar in Nautilus. It comes in three variants – light, dark and darker (header bar only) – for you to choose from, and it supports GTK3- and GTK2-based environments. I tested this theme on Gnome 3.18 and Pantheon (Elementary OS Freya), and it looked great on both!
2. Paper
Paper is developed with GTK3 (Gnome-based) desktop environments in mind, meaning you can only get the best experience on Gnome 3 and other Gnome Shell-based DEs. Paper theme is inspired by Google’s material design philosophy and makes use of a flat design with minimal shadows for depth. If you want to mimic the look of Android L and M on your desktop, Paper would be a great choice for you.
3. Vertex
If you don’t like totally flat themes, you can give Vertex a try. Just like Arc, it has three variants: dark, light and dark headerbars. It supports GTK3 and GTK2 desktop environments such as Budgie, Gnome 3, MATE, Pantheon, Cinnamon and more.
4.Ultra Flat Theme
Ultra Flat theme is a modified version of Numix with no border, flat rounded window buttons and grey selection colour. It was tested in Ubuntu Unity but will work on GTK3 desktop environments.
5. OS X El Capitan
If you want to bring a Mac OS X look and feel to your Linux desktop, this theme is ideal for you! You get the familiar light theming and the trademark OS X window buttons. It’s made for Cinnamon but works on all GTK3 desktops.
Bottom Line
With these five themes, you can make your desktop really shine! Even if you don’t like any of the ones listed above, there are plenty more for you to discover at Gnome-look.org. Let us know your favourite GTK themes in the comments below.
Is it me or do all 5 theme screenshots look exactly the same?
They are similar, but not the same as different theme was applied in each screenshot.
DeLorean, Candra, Vertex? Never heard about?
Sorry, I meant Varnam. All by killhellokitty.
what’s the meaning of GTK. I’m new in Linux so, please explain in detail.
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but GTK is a set of libraries and tools for creating GUIs. Not sure on the acronym but if I were to guess, I’d say graphical tool kit or GIMP tool kit.
You must be new to the Internet. Google it
your kind of a jerk… it was a question… dexbot gave a pretty good answer… really not a good representation of people in the linux community. usually friendly and helpful people i talk to when dealing with linux. grow a heart tom…
GTK stands for GnomeToolKit.
according to the GDK developers:
GTK+, or the GIMP Toolkit, is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK+ is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off tools to complete application suites.
Still they all look similar to me. I am surprised on how conventional Linux themes looks. These are the best ? They should ask a graphic designer. Look at the beauty of some websites. Why can’t a designer bring that expertise to Linux. Enough of “white” everywhere. The real world is not white and grey but an exquisite explosion of colours. A source of inspiration are the birds (really) ! Looks at how incredible their colouring are. Find the “guy” who did their designs and have him make a theme.
Here are two new themes that have gotten a lot of love in recent weeks. They’re based on material design
FlatPat – https://github.com/nana-4/Flat-Plat
Adapta – https://github.com/tista500/Adapta
I was wondering what’s the icon theme you’re using in those screenshots. It looks nice but I can’t find it around. Thanks!
where can i find a Motif-like theme?
I have a very simple question… which might be due to something I did wrong because I am very new to Linux.
I downloaded the GTK Theme zip, and tried to extract it to the usrsharethemes folder. But I could not add or do anything with this folder, and it wouldn’t let me change the permission of the folder.
Anyone can help with this?
Thanks
You can’t change permissions because you are not the owner of that folder, so you have to become the owner by using the “chown” (change owner) command in the terminal.You must become root, the superuser, by prefacing your commands with “sudo”.
sudo chown /usr/share/themes
You will be prompted for your password. Enter it and hit ‘enter’ and the folder’s owner will change. The folders it contains will still be owned by root, however.
You can restore the owner to root by doing:
sudo chown root /usr/share/themes
Google chown for more info.
First command should be:
sudo chown your-user-name /usr/share/themes
how to make dock/launcher look like those?? btw i’m newbie in linux