Install Ubuntu Linux themes

Instructions for beginners in Linux have always been scarce/hard to find. When I started out in Linux, I actually gave up twice and went back to Windows, before returning a third time and using it full-time for months. So many actions were unexplained, and it is not practical to ask several dozen doubts in the Ubuntu forum. Installing themes was one such action.

While writing a post rounding up Linux themes, I realized that many readers may have never installed an Ubuntu theme before, and may find instructions for the same helpful.

If you have any doubts, post them in comments below.

Ubuntu themes installation instructions

I assume that you would already have downloaded the theme, you can look at our roundup of beautiful Ubuntu Linux themes.

Themes are usually a tar.gz, or a zip file with a tar.gz inside it.

If it is a tar.gz file, do NOT extract it. Skip the next step.

If it is a zip file, extract it to get the tar.gz file – it contains the theme files and maybe, a readme file.

We need to install the theme now – right-click anywhere on the desktop (other than on icons, of course) and click Change Desktop Background. Click the Theme tab in the window that comes up.

Click Instal button (in lower right). Point to the tar.gz theme file you downloaded in step 1 and click Open.

Note that some themes might require you to install components manually. In that case, there would be install instructions either inside the downloaded files (as readme.txt or something), or on the webpage you downloaded the theme from.