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You can personalize Ubuntu Desktop with its built-in Appearance settings and app favorites—no terminal commands or extra themes required. Start by choosing a light or dark style, then set a wallpaper and pin the applications you use most. Exact labels can vary by Ubuntu release, so treat the paths below as a starting point and check your installed version if a control looks different.
What you can customize in Ubuntu Desktop
Ubuntu Desktop uses “a slightly modified version of the GNOME Desktop Environment,” according to Ubuntu Documentation’s About GNOME on Ubuntu. That means some Ubuntu settings and components differ from generic GNOME instructions. Ubuntu’s guide identifies Ubuntu Dock as the left sidebar for running applications and Desktop Icons NG as the component that enables desktop icons. It also identifies Yaru as the default theme and Ubuntu as the default font.
For a first round of changes, use the built-in Appearance panel and pin favorite apps to the dash. Ubuntu’s desktop overview also points to separate guidance for workspaces and keyboard shortcuts if you want to adjust how you navigate, rather than how the desktop looks.
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How to switch between light and dark style
- Open Activities and search for Appearance.
- Open the Appearance panel and choose Default or Dark.
Ubuntu’s guide says the style change applies immediately. The available options and labels may differ by release; the documentation cited here does not establish that every release includes the same accent-color choices.
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How to change your Ubuntu wallpaper
Choose a supplied background or add a picture
- Open Activities, search for Appearance, and open the panel.
- Select a supplied background, or choose Add Picture… to select a personal image.
The Ubuntu guide says most supplied wallpapers have light and dark variants and that the selection applies immediately. To see the whole desktop clearly while choosing, switch to an empty workspace.
Set an image directly from Files or Image Viewer
You can also right-click an image in Files and choose Set as Background…. The image viewer has the same action in its menu. These alternatives are useful when you have already found the picture you want and do not need to browse wallpaper choices in Appearance.
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Pin favorite applications to the dash
Ubuntu’s desktop overview lists pinning favorite applications to the dash as a built-in customization. Use this to keep frequently opened apps accessible from the desktop instead of searching for them each time. The cited overview identifies the customization but does not provide a single, release-independent click path for pinning apps.
Understand the dock and desktop icons
Ubuntu Dock is the sidebar for running applications; Desktop Icons NG provides desktop icons. Their presence explains why advice for unmodified GNOME may not match Ubuntu exactly. Dock options such as its position, auto-hide behavior, or icon size are not established by the cited documentation as having one universal path across Ubuntu releases. Check the labels available on your installation before following release-specific dock instructions.
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Keep your first changes simple and reversible
- Begin with the Appearance panel and app favorites, which are covered by Ubuntu’s built-in desktop guidance.
- Confirm your Ubuntu release before following detailed instructions about dock controls, because settings and labels can differ.
- Do not assume that a theme or extension command written for an older Ubuntu release applies to yours. The Ubuntu pages cited here do not document installation, compatibility, or security practices for third-party themes and extensions.
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