🏆 Top 10 (of 20) GNOME Themes for Fedora

Fedora GNOME — Install 20 Icon Sets

Install 10 theme families with light and dark versions, plus additional variants. This is a curated selection, not an official ranking.

Compatibility

These themes primarily style GTK applications such as Thunar. Modern GNOME apps using libadwaita may retain their standard appearance. GNOME Shell theme compatibility varies, especially on GNOME 50.

Theme collection

Theme family	Style
WhiteSur	macOS inspired
Orchis	Rounded, Material Design
Fluent	Microsoft Fluent inspired
Graphite	Neutral and minimal
Colloid	Soft, modern styling
Qogir	Flat and clean
Matcha	Flat with colored accents
Layan	Rounded with purple accents
Canta	Material Design
Vimix	Colorful Material Design

1. Install dependencies

sudo dnf install git sassc \
  gnome-themes-extra gtk-murrine-engine \
  gnome-tweaks gnome-shell-extension-user-theme

2. Install the themes

Paste the entire block into a terminal.

It downloads the upstream GitHub repositories and runs their installers as your user. Themes go into ~/.themes; downloaded sources remain in a temporary directory under ~/.cache.

Do not run this block with sudo.

(
  set -e
 
  mkdir -p "$HOME/.themes" "$HOME/.cache"
  theme_work="$(mktemp -d "$HOME/.cache/gnome-themes.XXXXXX")"
 
  repos=(
    WhiteSur-gtk-theme
    Orchis-theme
    Fluent-gtk-theme
    Graphite-gtk-theme
    Colloid-gtk-theme
    Qogir-theme
    Matcha-gtk-theme
    Layan-gtk-theme
    Canta-theme
    vimix-gtk-themes
  )
 
  for repo in "${repos[@]}"; do
    printf '\nInstalling %s...\n' "$repo"
 
    git clone --depth 1 \
      "https://github.com/vinceliuice/${repo}.git" \
      "$theme_work/$repo"
 
    (
      cd "$theme_work/$repo"
      bash ./install.sh -d "$HOME/.themes"
    )
  done
 
  printf '\nTheme installation finished.\n'
)

Installation errors

If an installer fails, save its error output and resolve the problem before continuing. Earlier themes may already have installed successfully.

3. List installed application themes

find "$HOME/.themes" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 \
  -type d -name gtk-3.0 -printf '%h\n' |
  sed 's|.*/||' | sort

4. Apply an application theme

Example: Orchis Dark.

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Orchis-Dark'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

To use another theme, replace Orchis-Dark with its exact name from the installed-theme list.

Close and reopen Thunar to see the change.

Select visually

gnome-tweaks

Go to Appearance → Legacy Applications.

5. Optional: theme GNOME’s top panel

After installing the User Themes extension, log out and back in.

Then run:

gnome-extensions enable 'user-theme@gnome-shell-extensions.gcampax.github.com'

Open GNOME Tweaks:

gnome-tweaks

Select Appearance → Shell.

Shell compatibility

Try one shell theme at a time. Successful installation does not guarantee compatibility with GNOME 50.

6. Restore the standard appearance

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Adwaita'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'default'
gnome-extensions disable 'user-theme@gnome-shell-extensions.gcampax.github.com'

This restores the standard appearance without uninstalling the downloaded themes.

tags:

linux
fedora
gnome
customization

Ten More Theme Families for Fedora Gnome

Ten additional themes to complement the previous collection. This is a curated selection, not a verified popularity ranking.

Theme selection

Theme	Appearance	Installation
Arc	Flat styling with transparent elements	Fedora package
adw-gtk3	Makes GTK3 apps resemble modern GNOME	Fedora package
Nordic	Cool blue-gray Nord palette	Upstream files
Dracula	Dark purple with bright accents	Upstream files
Sweet	Bold colors and neon accents	Upstream files
Flat Remix GTK	Colorful Material-inspired styling	Upstream files
Gruvbox GTK	Warm, earthy colors	Upstream installer
Tokyo Night GTK	Blue and purple palette	Upstream installer
Everforest GTK	Muted greens and earthy colors	Upstream installer
Catppuccin GTK	Soft pastel palette	Community GTK port installer

Fedora GNOME compatibility

These instructions primarily target GTK3 applications such as Thunar. Installing a GTK theme does not automatically restyle modern libadwaita apps, Flatpak apps, icons, or GNOME’s top panel.

GNOME Shell themes require version-specific compatibility. The commands below install application themes without enabling a shell theme or applying global GTK4 CSS overrides.

1. Install dependencies

Run in Bash on Fedora Workstation:

sudo dnf install git sassc \
  gtk-murrine-engine gnome-themes-extra gnome-tweaks

2. Install Arc and adw-gtk3

sudo dnf install arc-theme adw-gtk3-theme

These packages install system-wide and receive updates through DNF.

3. Install Nordic, Dracula, and Sweet

Run this entire block without sudo.

It downloads each project into a fresh working directory and copies it into ~/.themes. Existing destination folders are skipped.

(
  set -e
 
  mkdir -p "$HOME/.themes" "$HOME/.cache"
  theme_work="$(mktemp -d "$HOME/.cache/extra-gtk-themes.XXXXXX")"
 
  install_theme_files() {
    local repo="$1"
    local name="$2"
    local dest="$HOME/.themes/$name"
 
    if [ -e "$dest" ]; then
      printf 'Already exists; skipping: %s\n' "$dest"
      return
    fi
 
    git clone --depth 1 \
      "https://github.com/${repo}.git" \
      "$theme_work/$name"
 
    test -f "$theme_work/$name/gtk-3.0/gtk.css"
    cp -a "$theme_work/$name" "$dest"
 
    printf 'Installed: %s\n' "$name"
  }
 
  install_theme_files EliverLara/Nordic Nordic
  install_theme_files dracula/gtk Dracula
  install_theme_files EliverLara/Sweet Sweet
)

4. Install Flat Remix GTK

This copies the project’s prebuilt theme folders, including its available variants.

(
  set -e
 
  mkdir -p "$HOME/.themes" "$HOME/.cache"
  theme_work="$(mktemp -d "$HOME/.cache/flat-remix.XXXXXX")"
 
  git clone --depth 1 \
    https://github.com/daniruiz/flat-remix-gtk.git \
    "$theme_work/repo"
 
  theme_count=0
 
  for theme_dir in "$theme_work/repo/themes/"*; do
    [ -f "$theme_dir/gtk-3.0/gtk.css" ] || continue
 
    theme_name="$(basename "$theme_dir")"
    theme_dest="$HOME/.themes/$theme_name"
 
    if [ -e "$theme_dest" ]; then
      printf 'Already exists; skipping: %s\n' "$theme_name"
    else
      cp -a "$theme_dir" "$theme_dest"
      printf 'Installed: %s\n' "$theme_name"
    fi
 
    theme_count=$((theme_count + 1))
  done
 
  if [ "$theme_count" -eq 0 ]; then
    printf 'No prebuilt GTK3 themes found; check the upstream project.\n' >&2
    exit 1
  fi
)

5. Install Gruvbox, Tokyo Night, Everforest, and Catppuccin

These projects provide installers inside their themes/ directories.

Run the entire block without sudo. It installs the default variants for each family. Re-running it may replace previously installed variants of these four themes.

(
  set -e
 
  mkdir -p "$HOME/.themes" "$HOME/.cache"
  theme_work="$(mktemp -d "$HOME/.cache/palette-themes.XXXXXX")"
 
  repos=(
    Gruvbox-GTK-Theme
    Tokyonight-GTK-Theme
    Everforest-GTK-Theme
    Catppuccin-GTK-Theme
  )
 
  for repo in "${repos[@]}"; do
    printf '\nInstalling %s...\n' "$repo"
 
    git clone --depth 1 \
      "https://github.com/Fausto-Korpsvart/${repo}.git" \
      "$theme_work/$repo"
 
    (
      cd "$theme_work/$repo/themes"
      test -f install.sh
      bash ./install.sh -d "$HOME/.themes"
    )
  done
 
  printf '\nPalette theme installation finished.\n'
)

If installation fails

Stop at the failing block and save the error output. Earlier themes may already be installed. Upstream project layouts and dependencies can change.

6. List installed GTK3 themes

This checks both user-installed themes and Fedora packages:

(
  for theme_root in \
    "$HOME/.themes" \
    "$HOME/.local/share/themes" \
    /usr/share/themes
  do
    [ -d "$theme_root" ] || continue
 
    find "$theme_root" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 \
      -type d -name gtk-3.0 -printf '%h\n'
  done
) | sed 's|.*/||' | sort -u

Use the exact names shown when applying themes. Some installers add color and size suffixes.

7. Apply a theme

Choose one example below.

Nordic

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Nordic'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

Dracula

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Dracula'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

Sweet

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Sweet'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

Arc Dark

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Arc-Dark'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

adw-gtk3 Dark

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'adw-gtk3-dark'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'prefer-dark'

Close and reopen Thunar after changing the theme.

Choose visually

gnome-tweaks

Open Appearance → Legacy Applications and choose an installed theme.

8. Check the active theme

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme
gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme

9. Restore the standard application appearance

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Adwaita'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface color-scheme 'default'

The downloaded themes remain installed for future use.

Benjamin L. Stewart

Explorer

🏆 Top 10 (of 20) GNOME Themes for Fedora

Theme collection

1. Install dependencies

2. Install the themes

3. List installed application themes

4. Apply an application theme

Select visually

5. Optional: theme GNOME’s top panel

6. Restore the standard appearance

Ten More Theme Families for Fedora Gnome

Theme selection

1. Install dependencies

2. Install Arc and adw-gtk3

3. Install Nordic, Dracula, and Sweet

4. Install Flat Remix GTK

5. Install Gruvbox, Tokyo Night, Everforest, and Catppuccin

6. List installed GTK3 themes

7. Apply a theme

Nordic

Dracula

Sweet

Arc Dark

adw-gtk3 Dark

Choose visually

8. Check the active theme

9. Restore the standard application appearance

Graph View

Table of Contents

tags	linux, fedora
notes