If you want to change the shell theme, icons and fonts in the Gnome Shell, you need to perform a few simple steps to customize the Gnome Shell. It is very easy to customize the Gnome environment, you can change from icons, extensions, mouse cursors, fonts, and numerous other visual details.
Tweak Tool
All the customizations can be done by the Tweak Tool, it is already installed on the Linux, in case it is not installed already, you can open the terminal or the software browser and search the Gnome Tweak Tool to install.
Appearance
The appearance section in the Gnome Shell, unlike other desktop environments, it is very simple. It is not separated in individual tabs, you can go through all the settings and you can change different aspects of the Gnome appearance.
To start, you need to open the tweak tool and look to the list on the left-hand side. Select “Appearance”.
Gnome Theme
The Gnome comes in large parts with GTK3 toolkit, all the decorations, controls, and other details rely on GTK theme. If you want to customize the theme, you need to go to the Tweak Tool and find GTK+.
In the GTK+ label, select the drop-down menu, it will provide a list of all the available GTK themes available on the system. Now choose a theme from the list and the Gnome will change the theme.
Gnome Shell Theme
The Shell also has a huge part in the Gnome Desktop. All the Gnome users use the shell, by default, it uses the Adwaita theme, but it is not the only option your Gnome can use.
By default, it is not possible to change the default theme, you need to enable an additional extension that can to change the theme. To enable the extension, find the Extension tab on the left side and from the extensions, search for user themes and turn it on by clicking the off button to move to on.
Now go back to the Appearance and find the Shell theme, click on the drop-down menu and choose a theme in the menu.
With the button clicked, go back to “Appearance”, and find “Shell theme”. Click the drop-down menu next to it, and select a theme in the menu. Gnome will instantly change to the new theme.
Customizing the Icons
To customize icons, you need to go to the Appearance tab in the Gnome Tweak tool and locate the Icons. The drop down menu will reveal the installed icon themes on the system. Click on the icon theme you need from the list.
Customizing the Cursor
To change the mouse cursor in Gnome 3, go to the Appearance in the Gnome Tweak Tool and look for the Cursor. Choose the drop-down menu in the Cursor label. It will provide all the mouse cursor themes installed on the system. To change the cursor, choose the one you need from the list.
Customizing the Extensions
The Gnome 3 also allows the users to install extensions for enhancing the desktop. To customize extensions, choose Extensions in the Tweak Tool and the installed extensions can be turned on or off as well as you can also completely remove an extension.
Customizing the Fonts
To change the font settings in the Gnome Shell, find the Fonts section of the Gnome Tweak Tool. The Font section will provide a wide range of options. You can change the Window Titles fonts, Monospace fonts, and the Document fonts. You can change the appearance of the fonts on the system and enable HiDPI scaling.
Customizing the Top Bar
The Gnome Tweak Tool can also customize the Top Bar, there are few settings the users can enable and choose the boxes to enable extra settings such as data, calendar, disable the application menu and a lot more.
It is also possible to customize the windows and minimize buttons. All it requires is to enable the minimize and maximize the buttons. You may also like to know HOW TO USE ONESTEPBACK TO GET OLD SCHOOL LINUX