Top 36 Best Ubuntu Themes That Will Blow Your Mind

We covered different icon themes for Ubuntu; most of them being icon themes inspired by material design and flat design. It has been a while since our last theme article and I figure today will be a day to present you with a somewhat mega list.

My compilation includes a few themes already featured on GeeksMint together with others you probably haven’t heard about yet. If you are keen on personalization and UI beauty then I’m sure that my compilation will blow your mind.

Theme Installation

The following installation instructions are similar for every other theme available in a compressed format with the only difference being the specific theme you select.

• Download your preferred variant theme.
• Extract the zip file to ~/.themes/ a directory in your home folder.
• Use the GNOME Tweaks tool to select the theme.

1. ArcMPD Theme

ArcMPD is, as the name implies, an Arc-based translucent GTK theme with a modern and professional design that brings a fresh aesthetic to various applications.

With its sleek design, balanced color palette, and attention to detail, the ArcMPD Theme offers users a visually pleasing and user-friendly interface.

2. Flat Remix Gnome Theme

Flat Remix Gnome theme is currently my favorite shell theme on this list. It is a modern, beautiful, and simple theme inspired by material design with modern “flat” colors with high contrasts and sharp borders.

It comes with its icon pack! and also available in Light and Dark versions.

Install the Flat Remix Gnome theme using the following PPA in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:daniruiz/flat-remix
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install flat-remix-gnome

On Fedora-based distributions.

$ sudo dnf copr enable daniruiz/flat-remix
$ sudo dnf install flat-remix-gnome

3. Ant Theme

Ant theme is a modern flat GTK theme with an eye candy UI and 3 color variants, Ant, Ant Dracula, and Ant Bloody.

4. Canta Theme

Canta theme is an eye candy flat Material design theme with glossy eye-candy tabs and windows with rounded border-radius.

5. Paper Theme

The Paper theme, being of the Paper project, is one of the best themes available today and you can set it up together with its icon set and custom cursors.

Install the Paper theme using the following PPA in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

$ sudo add-apt-repository -u ppa:snwh/ppa
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt install paper-icon-theme

# if you want to install the icons and colors
$ sudo apt-get install paper-icon-theme
$ sudo apt-get install paper-cursor-theme

6. Arc Theme

Arc theme, is arguably the most popular and modern flat GTK Theme with transparent elements and 3 variants, Arc, Arc-Darker, and Arc-Dark.

Install the Arc theme, clone the repository, and install manually as shown.

$ git clone https://github.com/horst3180/arc-theme --depth 1 && cd arc-theme
$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
$ sudo make install

After the installation is complete the theme can be activated with the gnome-tweak tool.

7. Matcha Theme

Matcha theme is a beautiful flat Arc-based theme with transparent elements. It is the perfect dark mode GTK theme with even multiple ARC variants for window control buttons.

8. Pop Theme

Pop is an eye candy Adapta-inspired theme reminiscent of Unity’s color scheme with its brown and orange color settings.

Install Pop theme using the following PPA in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:system76/pop
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install pop-theme

9. Vimix Theme

Vimix is a flat material design theme based on nana-4. Its beautifully crafted icons will give your desktop a glossy look which comes in 3 variants, Grey, Doder, and Ruby.

10. Qogir Theme

Qogir is a flat design Arc-based theme with a blue and white overall color scheme and a dark shell theme variant. As far as I’m concerned, Qogir is the cooler sibling of Blue Face and is bound to improve your overall desktop experience.

11. Materia-Theme

Materia (formerly Flat-Plat) is a beautiful Material Design theme that has built-in compatibility with Oomox theme designer.

What makes it even more awesome is its support for Ripple effect animations and it comes with 3 color variants and 2 size variants.

Install the Materia Remix Gnome theme using the following PPA in Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

$ sudo apt install materia-gtk-theme

On Fedora-based distributions.

$ sudo dnf copr enable tcg/themes
$ sudo dnf install materia-theme

You can also install three variants (Materia, Materia-dark, Materia-light) via Flathub using the following commands.

$ flatpak remote-add flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
$ flatpak install flathub org.gtk.Gtk3theme.Materia
$ flatpak install flathub org.gtk.Gtk3theme.Materia-dark
$ flatpak install flathub org.gtk.Gtk3theme.Materia-light

12. Sierra Gtk Theme

Sierra is a perfect shell theme GTK 3, GTK 2, and Gnome-Shell which supports GTK 3 and GTK 2-based desktop environments like Gnome, Pantheon, XFCE, Mate, etc.

To install the Sierra theme, use the following PPA on Ubuntu and its derivatives.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dyatlov-igor/sierra-theme
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install sierra-gtk-theme       # point releases
$ sudo apt install sierra-gtk-theme-git   # git master branch

13. Minimal Conception Theme

Minimal Conception’s aim is to provide you with a simple interface that will keep clutter away from your workspace and maintain minimalist beauty at the same time.

14. Windows 10 Light Theme

How would you like to experience Windows? with this Windows 10 Light Theme’s latest UI on your GNOME or Unity desktop? Download this one and see if it doesn’t win your heart.

15. Copernico Theme

As you might have guessed, Copernico Theme is inspired by flat design and you can edit and compile its SCSS files for further customization.

16. T4G-Shell-theme III

T4G-Shell-theme III is a transparent dark shell theme variant of the T4G Shell theme, however, you can use it as a stand-alone shell theme. This is a good choice if you’re a fan of Windows’ translucent UI feature.

17. Human Shell Theme Collection

The Human Shell Theme Collection features a grey semi-transparent color scheme and layout that remains true and yet modern to the typical Gnome look.

It is available in 3 variants, default, mobile, black, and next; and works best with macOS-like icons and macOS-like docks.

18. WhiteSur Gtk Theme

The WhiteSur Gtk Theme is one of the most polished and elegant Ubuntu themes. As the name infers, it is inspired by the popular macOS Big Sur release.

It gives your Ubuntu system a macOS-like appearance and is recommended for macOS lovers transitioning into Linux. WhiteSur Gtk theme is highly customizable and comes in two themes – Light and dark themes.

To install the theme, clone the Git repository and install it as shown:

$ git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/WhiteSur-gtk-theme.git --depth=1
$ cd WhiteSur-gtk-theme/
$ ./install.sh
$ ./install.sh --help 

19. Mojave Gtk Theme

Mojave Gtk theme is yet another MacOSX-like theme that supports both GTK2 and GTK3-based desktop environments such as GNOME, KDE, Mate, XFCE, etc.

To install the MCMojave theme, follow the below instructions.

$ wget https://github.com/vinceliuice/Mojave-gtk-theme/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
$ unzip master.zip
$ cd Mojave-gtk-theme-master/
$ sudo ./install.sh

Also, you can install it from Snap:

$ sudo snap install mojave-themes

The MCMojave theme also provides a McMojave KDE Theme and McMojave Circle icon theme.

20. Candy Icons

Candy Icons theme is a flat and gradient-style theme that provides an elegant and colorful look for your PC. If you need a modern and immersive theme for your system, give the Candy Icons theme pack a try.

To install Candy icons, download the zip file, and extract the zip file to the icons directory residing in your home directory i.e. ~/.icons/ (create if missing) or /usr/share/icons/.

Thereafter, enable the theme using the following command:

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme candy-icons

21. Orchis GTK Theme

Based on the Nana4 Material design theme, Orchis GTK Theme is a theme for GNOME/GTK-based desktop environments, which is a flat-styled GTK theme for GTK3 and later versions.

It’s neat and colorful and provides beautiful icon styles and layouts.

As with other themes, simply download the zip file, extract the compressed file, and navigate into the theme folder and install it.

$ sudo ./install.sh

The theme is highly customizable and supports different accent colors. It provides a wide range of theme variants such as red, yellow, orange, green, teal, and pink. Color variants include dark, light, and standard.

22. Kora Theme

Kora Theme is a colorful SVG-based theme that is a mix of macOS Themes and Papirus with polished and beautiful icons. It comes in three variants: Kora Light, Kora Grey, Kora, and Light Panel.

To install Kora, clone the Git repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/bikass/kora.git

Next copy the Kora folders into either /usr/share/icons/ or $HOME/.local/share/icons/ directories.

23. Reversal Icon Theme

Reversal Icon Theme is a beautiful and inspiring rectangle design icon theme for popular desktop environments such as GNOME and KDE. You can also select your favorite folder colors.

To install the reversal theme, download the zip directory from the GitHub repository, extract the compressed file, and run the installation script.

$ sudo ./install.sh

24. Fluent GTK Theme

Fluent GTK Theme is a highly customizable and aesthetically appealing theme tailored for GNOME/GTK-based desktop environments. It’s designed for GTK 3.20 and greater desktops.

The theme supports a myriad of theme color variants including pink, red, yellow, orange, green, teal, and purple. In addition, you can also install a dashing array of wallpapers to add a splash of color to your system.

It also includes several tweaks to customize your Ubuntu desktop to your preference.

To install it, clone the Git repository, navigate into the directory, and run the installation script.

$ git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/Fluent-gtk-theme.git
$ cd Fluent-gtk-theme/ 
$ sudo ./install.sh

25. Colloid GTK Theme

Colloid GTK Theme is a modern, beautiful, and neat-looking theme for Linux desktops. Like other themes, it is highly customizable and easy to tweak to match your preference.

To install Colloid, follow similar instructions as the Fluent GTK theme.

26. Yaru Colors Theme

Inspired by the Yaru theme, Yaru-colors is a project that adds a splash of color to Ubuntu’s default Yaru theme.

The theme supports GTK 2 and 3, the GNOME shell theme, and provides recolored icons, cursors, wallpapers, and revamped Ubuntu Dock.

To install the Yaru colors theme, just follow the same drill as the Fluent GTK theme.

27. Material-Black COLORS

Inspired by the Numix Team, The material-black COLORS is a dark theme based on Material Design standards, which supports GTK, Openbox-3, xfwm4, and Cinnamon-dark modes complete with matching folders and icons.

It aims to provide a colorful and impressive desktop experience with a black-on-black theme with any color of your choice.

To install the material-black COLORS theme, follow the manual installation as shown.

$ wget https://github.com/rtlewis1/GTK/archive/refs/heads/Material-Black-Colors-Desktop.zip
$ unzip Material-Black-Colors-Desktop.zip

Then move the directory to the “/usr/share/themes/” folder – for the theme to be applied globally.

28. OS Catalina GTK

Based on the McMojave theme, the OS Catalina Theme primarily targets users of Xfce4. The icon pack mimics that found in Apple’s OS Catalina.

In addition, the OS Catalina GTK theme includes the following themes: Gnome-shell theme, GTK2/3 themes, Metacity theme, Plank theme, Cinnamon theme, and Xfwm4 theme.

Installation instructions are the same as those for the ‘Material-black Colors’ theme.

29. Marwaita Theme

If you are running a Cinnamon desktop, consider installing the Marwaita Theme, which supports Mate Desktop, Budgie, the good-old Unity, and GNOME shell. However, its main focus is the Cinnamon desktop.

30. Nordic Theme

If you fancy Nordic hues, then the Nordic theme will be a perfect fit for you. Nordic is a beautiful Gtk3.20+ theme created using the awe-inspiring Nord color palette.

To install it, download the zip file, extract the zip file to the themes directory i.e. /usr/share/themes/ or ~/.themes/ (create it if missing) and then set the theme using the following commands.

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Nordic"
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "Nordic"

If you are a Firefox lover, be sure to try out the Firefox Nordic theme.

31. Sweet – New Flavor

Sweet Theme is an eye-candy and fantastic theme that provides a “glow in the dark” appearance which, honestly, is one of its biggest selling points.

To install it, download the zip file, extract the zip file to the themes directory i.e. /usr/share/themes/ or ~/.themes/ (create it if missing) and then set the theme using the following commands.

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Sweet"
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "Sweet"

32. Juno Theme

Juno is a colorful and elegant theme inspired by epic vscode themes. It provides elegant wallpapers, icon designs, and generally an eye-candy look and feel.

To install it, download the zip file, extract the zip file to the themes directory i.e. /usr/share/themes/ or ~/.themes/ (create it if missing), and then set the theme using the following commands.

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Juno"
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "Juno"

33. Valyrian Theme

Valyrian is a dark-mode theme that supports GNOME-shell, Cinnamon, GTK, Xfwm4, and Openbox-3 desktop environments. It contains transparent elements with a dash of elegant blue hues.

Valyrian is inspired by Arc theme which has been ranked as one of the most widely used and popular Linux desktop themes.

To install the Valyrian theme, download the zip file, and extract the zip file to the themes directory i.e. /usr/share/themes/ or ~/.themes/ (create it if missing).

34. Skeuos Theme

Developed by Dani Ruiz, Skeuos is a modern and stylish GTK theme for GTK 2,3, and 4. It supports a wide variety of desktop environments including Budgie, Cinnamon, Metacity, GNOME Shell (3.36, 40, 41, and 42), and XFWM4.

Skeuos comes in light and dark variants and comes in various color variants including red, blue, green, orange, yellow, magenta, black, violet, and white to mention a few.

To install the theme, be sure to download and extract the tarball file from the GitHub page. Then move the folder to the ~/.themes folder. Finally, run the following command on the terminal.

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Skeuos-Blue-Light"

Replace “Skeuos-Blue-Light” with your preferred theme variant.

35. Layan GTK Theme

Layan GTK is yet another theme that comes in multiple color variants, and beautifully designed icons and windows. It’s a modern theme that is visually appealing with rounded corners on icons that make it appear contemporary.

It supports GTK2 and GTK3-based desktop environments including Budgie, Cinnamon, Budgie, etc.

You can install the theme by running the command:

$ sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-murrine gtk2-engines-pixbuf

Alternatively, you can clone the Git repository and run the installation script as shown.

$ sudo ./install.sh

36. Graphite Theme

If you are in search of a beautiful theme that focuses on gray or dark gray hues, then try out the Graphite Theme. This is a theme that clearly borrows a lot from the Nordic Theme.

It is highly customizable especially when installing using the installation script as shown.

$./install.sh

You can specify the theme as well as the color variants you want to apply on your Linux desktop. Also, the theme provides elegant and polished wallpapers as a part of the installation to provide you with an immersive GNOME appearance.

Conclusion

That concludes my list! Did I mention your favorite picks? Did I blow your mind? Perhaps I left out awesome shell themes that you’ve enjoyed using.

Let me know your suggestions in the discussion box below.