How To Install and Use Custom Themes, Icons, and Pointers on Ubuntu

In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing and using custom themes, icons, and pointers on Ubuntu. This will allow you to customize your Ubuntu desktop environment to better suit your aesthetic preferences.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have a working Ubuntu installation. This guide is applicable to Ubuntu 11.04 and later versions.

Installing the Necessary Tools

The first step is to install the necessary tools. For Ubuntu 11.04/11.10, we will use a Unity customization tool called MyUnity. For Ubuntu 12.04 and later, we will use Unity Tweak Tool. If you are using GNOME 3, you will need to install the GNOME Tweak Tool.

For Ubuntu 11.04/11.10

To install MyUnity, open your terminal and run the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:myunity/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install myunity

Here, sudo gives you administrative privileges, add-apt-repository adds the MyUnity Personal Package Archive (PPA) to your system’s Software Sources, apt-get update updates your system’s package list, and apt-get install myunity installs MyUnity.

For Ubuntu 12.04 and Later

To install Unity Tweak Tool, open your terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool

In this command, sudo gives you administrative privileges, apt-get install installs the package, and unity-tweak-tool is the package name.

For GNOME 3

To install GNOME Tweak Tool, open your terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

In this command, sudo gives you administrative privileges, apt-get install installs the package, and gnome-tweak-tool is the package name.

Downloading Themes, Icons, and Pointers

You can download custom themes, icons, and pointers from websites like gnome-look.org. Save them to a location on your computer.

Installing and Applying Themes, Icons, and Pointers

Once you have the necessary tools and files, you can start installing and applying your custom themes, icons, and pointers.

Using MyUnity or Unity Tweak Tool

1. Open the Unity customization tool (MyUnity or Unity Tweak Tool) from the Dash.
2. Look for the option to change themes or appearance settings in the tool.
3. Click on the option to install or add a theme.
4. Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded theme, icon package, or pointers. Select the appropriate file or folder and click on “Open” or “Install”.
5. Once the theme is added, select it from the list of installed themes in the customization tool to apply it.

Using GNOME Tweak Tool

1. Open GNOME Tweak Tool.
2. Click on the “Appearance” section.
3. Click on the “Shell Theme” dropdown menu and select “Install”.
4. Navigate to the location where you saved the downloaded theme, icon package, or pointers. Select the appropriate file or folder and click on “Open”.
5. Once the theme is added, select it from the “Shell Theme” dropdown menu to apply it.

Conclusion

With this guide, you should be able to install and use custom themes, icons, and pointers on Ubuntu. This will allow you to customize your Ubuntu desktop environment to better suit your aesthetic preferences. Remember to always be careful when downloading and installing files from the internet, and only use trusted sources. Happy customizing!

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:myunity/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install myunity

sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool