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Fanta
Asked: 2018-02-03 16:29:34 +0800 CST

How to restore Ubuntu desktop/GUI to previous appearance?

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After installing the Evolution and Geary e-mail clients, Ubuntu desktop and application GUIs are messed up. See screenshot below for an example; as you can see, tabs are not separated anymore, and buttons (Revert, Close) are not drawn.

How can I restore the previous desktop/GUI appearance, without re-installing Ubuntu?

Things I have tried:

  • purge Evolution and Geary
  • purge and reinstall ubuntu-desktop (from console, CTRL+ALT+F1)
  • purge and reinstall unity (from console, CTRL+ALT+F1)
  • rm -rf ~/.compiz-1 ~/.config/compiz-1

Running Ubuntu 16.04 with its default desktop.

Screenshot

unity evolution 16.04 geary

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    On Ubuntu 18.04 +

    Gnome Tweaks

    This method will reset all the themes, icons, etc.

    1. First, install Gnome Tweaks:

      sudo apt install gnome-tweaks

    2. Then launch gnome tweaks:

      gnome-tweaks

    3. Then navigate to Appearance → Then application theme → Yaru → Icon theme → Yaru and everything to YARU or Adwaita.

    You can also check the title bar group and other groups to find other settings

    Dconf editor.

    This method will remove all configurations. Use with caution!

    1. Install dconf editor:

      sudo apt install dconf-editor

      The above command will fetch almost 3MB of archives.

    2. To reset everything, run:

      sudo dconf reset -f /

    Manually resetting.

    You can use the dconf editor to manually reset selected things.

    1. Run the dconf-editor:

      sudo dconf-editor

    2. Navigate to /org/gnome (or any other path).

    3. Right-click on the desired setting.

    4. Select reset.

    5. Click the bottom check-mark button.

    Note: I would recommend doing all the above commands in a Virtual terminal instead of GUI.

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