How To Install GNOME Shell Extensions in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

GNOME Shell Extensions are a great way to enhance your desktop experience by adding extra functionalities and features. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing GNOME Shell Extensions in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have administrative access to your Ubuntu system. This is necessary to install new packages on the system.

Updating Your System

Firstly, it’s always a good practice to update your system’s package lists before installing any new software. This ensures that you’re getting the latest versions of the packages. Open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get update

The sudo command allows you to run commands with administrative privileges, while apt-get update fetches the package lists from the repositories and “updates” them to get information on the newest versions of packages and their dependencies.

Upgrading Your System

Next, upgrade your system packages to the latest versions with the command:

sudo apt-get upgrade

The apt-get upgrade command installs the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system.

Installing the GNOME Shell Extension Manager

Now, it’s time to install the GNOME Shell Extension Manager. Run the following command:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager

The apt install command is used to install a new package. In this case, we’re installing the gnome-shell-extension-manager package.

Once installed, you can use the GUI provided by the GNOME Shell Extension Manager to search for and install extensions compatible with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Troubleshooting

Starting from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, GNOME extensions can no longer be installed via Firefox by default, as Firefox now comes as a snap package. Therefore, using the GNOME Shell Extension Manager is the recommended method.

If you encounter the error message “Although GNOME Shell integration extension is running, native host connector is not detected,” it means that the native host connector required for GNOME Shell integration is missing. To resolve this issue, you can try the following steps:

Installing the chrome-gnome-shell package

Install the chrome-gnome-shell package by running the command:

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

The chrome-gnome-shell package provides the native host connector needed for GNOME Shell integration.

After installing the package, restart your browser and try installing the GNOME Shell extension again.

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, it is possible that there may be compatibility issues between the GNOME Shell extension and the version of GNOME in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (v42.0). In this case, you may need to wait for the extension to be updated or look for alternative extensions that are compatible with your version of GNOME.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve covered how to install GNOME Shell Extensions in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. We’ve also discussed some common issues you might encounter and how to resolve them. We hope this guide has been helpful in enhancing your Ubuntu desktop experience. For more information on GNOME Shell Extensions, you can visit the official GNOME Shell Extensions website.