So, you just installed Garuda GNOME for the first time. Whether you're entirely new to the GNOME desktop or a returning user, this page is your one-stop-shop for frequently asked questions, tips and tricks, troubleshooting, and guidelines for getting more help.
For now, logging into GNOME under Wayland is disabled out of the box in Garuda GNOME. Initially, this was to offer a functional experience from first boot for graphics cards that do not work with Wayland, but this may change in the future.
The Garuda Assistant has the option, titled "GDM Wayland," at the very bottom of the "Settings" tab. Alternatively, you can edit /etc/gdm/custom.conf and simply change the line WaylandEnable=false to #WaylandEnable=false. A reboot may be required for this to take effect.
Depending on the version of Garuda Assistant you're using, it may have added some lines to /etc/environment that cause problems for Qt-based applications under Wayland. More detailed information on this can be found in the "Troubleshooting" section.
x thing is broken and all my titlebars look weird, why?GNOME has the tendency to break things that worked under the previous version in major upgrades. GNOME 42 is very new at the time of writing, and this is a normal part of the GNOME experience. For broken features, check the "Troubleshooting" section, and for visual inconsistencies see "Theming on GNOME."
x feature from some other DE, how can I make it better?Look through the Settings first, then check if there's a GNOME Shell Extension that will do what you're looking for. These can be installed from your browser as long as chrome-gnome-shell is installed and the "GNOME Shell integration" extension is installed on your browser. Most extensions can be further configured via the Extensions application.
Remember that GNOME Extensions can break things, so if you have issues make sure to disable all your extensions before assuming it is some other problem with GNOME or Garuda.
If there's something you want to configure that isn't available in the Settings or Tweaks applications, something like dconf-editor may be able to do so. However, this is a powerful tool and may expose settings that it is not advisable to change, so exercise caution.
The GNOME Settings application has everything you're looking for under the "Keyboard" section. Occasionally, some of these get overwritten by major upgrades to GNOME, but are easy to change back.
Check the "External Resources" section. If you read these resources, then search for your own information (see this guide), and still can't find what you need, follow this guide to creating a Garuda Forum post, making sure to include the output of garuda-inxi with appropriate formatting and a detailed description of your problem and the steps you've taken so far.
The state of theming on GNOME is fragmented and oftentimes confusing. However, it is possible to achieve a lovely, consistent look with a little work. This guide assumes you are running GNOME 42, but most steps are applicable to GNOME 40+.
Remember that themes can break things, so if you have issues make sure to disable your themes before assuming it is some other problem with the GNOME or Garuda.
~/.themes/ and for global installation, place them in /usr/share/themes/. Some themes also include an installer script, which may be the preferred method for that theme.~/.themes and not from the AUR, as the AUR package also installs a GDM theme, which is generally not recommended.gnome-shell folder for your chosen theme. It seems that themes are more likely to work if the theme uses an assets folder for visual elements than if there is a .gresource file instead.With GNOME 42, a number of changes were introduced to GTK4 theming as GNOME moves towards using its new "Human Interface Guidelines" and migrates to "LibAdwaita" for GTK-native applications. Unfortunately, this means that even within the GNOME default apps, some will use the "old" Adwaita titlebars/theme, while a select handful will use the new GNOME 42 // LibAdwaita titlebars/theme. Over time, all the native GNOME applications will be migrated to these new styles, but as it stands there are visual inconsistencies in GNOME's default appearance.
adw-gtk3 in the AUR which can be applied via the Tweak tool. Remember to set the associated light/dark option in Settings.gtk.css and assets/ - must be moved into ~/.config/gtk4.0/ in addition to applying the "Legacy" theme from the Tweak tool.~/.config/gtk4.0 is empty or only contains settings.ini./etc/environment and add the line GTK_THEME= followed by the name of your theme. This cannot include any spaces, and capitalization must be correct. It is usually the same as the name that appears in the "Legacy Applications" option, for example GTK_THEME=Adwaita-dark This must be done as root, such as by sudo micro /etc/environment.~/.profile and add the above line, but this will only apply to Xorg sessions. This can be edited without root access.printenv. If any QT_QPA_ variables like PLATFORM or PLATFORMTHEME are set, this may be the source of the problem. Check ~/.profile and /etc/environment append a # to the beginning of any relevant lines to troubleshoot this.code-oss) will use the native titlebars and include themes for the app itself. Others will stubbornly refuse to cooperate with your theme, but this section of the Wayland ArchWiki page may be of help.
bash, various terminals like kitty, etc, must be done on a per-application basis. A color-picker app like gcolor3 can be very useful if you want to port an existing theme.It is not recommended to theme/modify the GNOME Display Manager unless you know what you're doing and are capable of reverting/reinstalling GDM from a command line if the display manager breaks.
gdm-settings-git exists in the AUR that is up to date for the most current GNOME and GDM version. However, it is in early development and not associated with the GNOME project. Again, proceed with caution.As with troubleshooting anything on Arch-based distributions, it is important to try to figure out the issue on your own first. To make this easier for yourself and everyone else:
/etc/environment and if using Xorg ~/.profile. If any of: QT_QPA_PLATFORM, GT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME, and XDG_SESSION_TYPE are present, try adding a # before the variable name (i.e. #XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland) one at a time, re-booting after each change./etc/gdm/custom.conf with the line WaylandEnable=false. This will prevent GDM from trying to start with the Wayland backend, but also disable logging into the GNOME Shell under Wayland.MOZ_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 is not present in /etc/environment or ~/.profile.MOZ_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 in /etc/environment, and put MOZ_ENABLE_WAYLAND=0 in ~/.profile.~/.config/autostart/) do not launch at login.
.desktop files from Garuda that are meant to be run only the first time you log in (like bashrc-setup.desktop), just open the file with a text editor and manually run the command following exec=. (in this case, mv ~/.bashrc_garuda ~/.bashrc) and then remove the .desktop from ~/.config/autostart/.
initial-user-setup.desktop do not appear to be relevant to things packaged with the GNOME edition..desktop file, usually found in /usr/share/applications/ to your ~/.config/autostart/, then check that it appears and is enabled under the "Startup Applications" category in the Tweak tool..desktop out of /etc/skel/.config/autostart/.This page is not comprehensive, and the external documentation below is the best place to learn more about anything covered here. This page is currently up-to-date for the initial release of GNOME 42 and the 03/29 .iso of the Garuda GNOME edition.