Foreword
Gnome 3 is a popular desktop environment which, sadly, took the path of oversimplification. This made it be very uncomfortable for serious use. However, it has a single redeeming feature, lacking in other desktop environments I know of — a usable keyboard layout switcher.
So given a shortage of options, let’s see what can be done to make Gnome 3 a reasonably pleasant system. In this specific case, I am tweaking Gnome 3 in a system based on Ubuntu 22.04.
Tweaks
Disable Animations
Low latency matters. Unless your computer is lightning-fast, the absence of visual richness is well compensated by the fact that the system is responsive and does what you want right now.
Run this in the command line:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface enable-animations false
Kudos to hg8.
Enable Virtual Desktops, Disable Hot Corner
In “Settings” application click on “Multitasking”.
- Disable “Hot Corner”.
- Leave “Active Screen Edges” on.
- Switch “Workspaces” to “Fixed number of workspaces” and set their number to four. Four should be enough.
- Set “Multi-Monitor” to “Workspace on all displays” unless you really do not want that.
- Set “Application Switching” to “Include applications from the current workspace only”.
Restrict Searching in “Activities”
In “Settings” application click on “Search”.
I suggest disabling everything apart from “Software”, “Terminal”, and “Files”.
Configure the Keyboard
In “Settings” application click on “Keyboard”.
Compose Key
In “Special Character Entry” change “Compose Key” to “Caps Lock”. This will sacrifice “Caps Lock” functionality for a way more useful “Compose Key” feature.
Shortcuts
In “Keyboard Shortcuts” click on “View and Customise Shortcuts”.
- Go through all categories and disable all shortcuts. This is done by clicking on each of them, hitting “Backspace” key and then clicking “Set”.
- In “Launchers” set “Launch Terminal” to “Super+T”. (“Super” key is the same as “Windows” key), and “Home folder” to “Super+Home”.
- In “Navigation” set “Switch to workspace 1/2/3/4” to Super+1/2/3/4 correspondingly. Optionally set “Switch to workspace on the left/right” to Ctrl+Super+left/right.
- Finally, in “Navigation” set “Switch Windows” (not “Switch Applications”!) to “Alt+Tab”.
- In “System”, set “Lock screen” to “Super+L”, “Show all applications” to “Super+A”, “Show the notification list” to “Super+V”, and “Show the overview” to “Super+S”.
- In “Typing”, set “Switch to next input source” to “Alt+Space”.
- In “Windows”, set “Close window” to “Alt-F4” or “Super+W”, set “Toggle maximisation state” to “Super+Up”, and set “View split on left” / “View split on right” to “Super+Left/Right”.
- Also in “Windows” set “Toggle window on all workspaces or one” to “Ctrl+Super+s”. This allows you to move the windows between workspaces by temporarily making them be present everywhere.
Once you have configured these shortcuts, try them out. The number is deliberately small so that they are easy to remember and would not conflict with the shortcuts of other applications. Also, a shortcut which is not mentioned is a single hit at “Super”/”Windows” key. You do not need to configure it explicitly.
Keyboard Layouts
In “Input Sources” add the keyboard layouts that you need.
Now if you press and hold “Alt” and then hit “Space” (and keep holding “Alt”) you will see a menu of layouts. While keeping “Alt” pressed and hitting “Space” you can conveniently switch between them.
Note: This assumes you have configured “Typing” “Shortcuts” as per the instructions above.
More Tweaks
Install a Gnome extension:
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
Hit “Super” key, type “extensions” and launch the “Extensions Manager for Gnome”.
In it, enable “Workspace Indicator”, “Removable Drive Menu”, “Places Status Indicator”, “Window List”, and “appindicator”. Note: if you do not see “appindicator” after installing it, you may need to log out and log back in for it to appear in the list of available extensions.
Also enable “Launch new instance”.
Even More Tweaks
Hit “Super” key, type “tweaks” and start the “Gnome Tweaks” application.
There, you can configure things like themes, fonts, antialiasing, and many more.
Importantly, go to “Windows” and disable “Attach Modal Dialogues”. This will disable one of the most annoying features of Gnome 3.
Arcane Tweaks
If you are running KVM virtual machines with Linux and use VirGL to get 3D working in them, playing with different combinations of Wayland/X11 in VM/host may make a significant difference. For me, Wayland on the host, X11 in the guest offers the best performance.
Replacing Nautilus with Nemo
Nautilus (also known as “Gnome Files”) is the default file manager in Gnome 3. It is not my cup of tea by any measure.
Nemo from Cinnamon Desktop Environment is far more usable.
Install Nemo:
sudo apt install nemo
Then make it be the default on your system:
xdg-mime default nemo.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
Now you can enjoy a feature-rich file manager with a good degree of customisation.
Final Words
With these tweaks, I’ve got something I can work in without pulling my hair out in frustration. It does leave me wondering why some of Gnome’s defaults are so, erm… hostile. Also, it does not help that tweaking all of this takes time and a fair bit of searching online. Nevertheless, the improvement in the quality of life was worth the trouble.
2025-02-09 Update
I wrote a few scripts which tweak most of these settings and shortcuts to avoid clicking through endless lists in UI.
2025-02-11 Update
I have updated the recommended shortcuts a bit:
- Switching to workspaces by Super+number rather than Alt+number as the latter sometimes conflicts with switching between tabs in a browser.
- Instead of special shortcuts for moving windows around a single shortcut to make a window sticky/unsticky (present on either all or only one workspace).
- Added Ctrl+Super+left/right for switching to the left/right workspace like in Windows 11. This is handy if one has to work in Windows 11 much and allows to keep things more uniform.