Home Linux Setup Guide Powerwash and Recovery All Guides Dark Theme Guide

Description:

This guide will help you to make most Linux apps display in a dark theme, you can also download other themes to make the apps look even more unique. Because of the way that the Linux VM works on Chrome OS, many apps will still have the default system theme. Also, many apps will still have a white titlebar at the top.

Warning: This guide must be followed carefully and precisely because the risk for data loss and damage is large.

Warning 2: Do not follow this guide on a school, organization, or somebody else's computer unless you have permission.

Requirements

Recommended Requirement:

Mandatory Requirements:

Note: Because of the way the Linux VM is run on Chrome OS there will still be many apps, and Linux window title bars that will remain in the default light theme.

Directions:

GNOME Tweaks

Note: to paste commands into the terminal, just right-click the command line.

Step 1: Open up the linux terminal on your Chromebook and type in, "sudo apt-get update -y" and press enter.

Copy "sudo apt-get update -y"

Step 2: Type into the terminal, "sudo apt install gnome-tweaks -y" and press enter.

Copy "sudo apt install gnome-tweaks -y"

Step 3: Type into the terminal, "sudo apt install gnome-themes-extra -y" and press enter.

Copy "sudo apt install gnome-themes-extra -y"

Step 4: Launch GNOME Tweaks by tpying into the terminal, "gnome-tweaks".

Copy "gnome-tweaks"

Note: Remember this command so that you can change the theme as well as other appearence settings in the future.

Step 5: In the window that launches,

Step 6:

Note: For all settings to apply you have to reboot the Linux VM ❪right-click on terminal icon and select, "Shut Down Linux", then reopen the terminal❫

More Theme Packs:

Set Linux to Request a Dark Theme:

Open the terminal and type in this command, "gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme prefer-dark" and press enter. ❪This applies immediately, so you don't need to do anything after this❫

Copy "gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme prefer-dark"

This command sets Linux to automatically turn on a dark theme in an app, if it supports it. Most modern apps like Firefox or Chrome support this, but other apps like Boxy SVG don’t.

How to Get Apps that Support the Dark Theme:

GNOME has an appstore called "GNOME Software". This appstore has a user friendly interface, so it is easy to download and install apps from it. All of GNOME’s apps are there too.

To install GNOME’s appstore follow this guide.

How to Make the Titlebars Dark:

Note: This only works for apps that have a dark theme and can use their own titlebars, if these parameters aren’t met then the titlebar will default to wight.

Step 1: Right-click near the titlebar, if the top of the app has the File, Edit, etc., right-click the empty space just after these options in the same row. If its a web-browser like Chrome right-click empty space for tabs ❪may need to make another window❫. If a options list pops up look for a selection the says something about system titlebars or borders. Deselect it if it's there, if not go to step 2.

Step 2: Go to the in-app settings. Look for appearence or theme settings, if it has a search option search, "titlebar". If a setting for titlebars pops up, set it to custom or deselect it from using system theme. If either of these steps can't be completed, you have to live with the wight titlebar because there is no way to change it quickly, safely, or easily.