There is no end to how much you can customize your Linux desktop which makes it the most attractive platform for people who want total control over every aspect of their computing experience.
Installing icon packs is one of the more interesting ways to do this, and while they do not change the whole interface of your desktop, new icon sets will definitely freshen things up for you.
In an earlier article we showed you five of the best icon themes for Linux, and now we will list five more custom icon packs on Linux that will add a fair bit of eye candy to your desktop.
How to install icon packs in Linux
Before we go further, here is a quick tutorial on how to install custom icon packs for Linux. (You can skip this part if you know how to do it already.)
First, install the “gnome-tweak-tool” by running this command:
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
Or if you run Ubuntu Unity, install the “unity-tweak-tool” instead.
sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool
Elementary OS users can install elementary-tweaks
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mpstark/elementary-tweaks-daily sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install elementary-tweaks
Grab the zip file of your desired GTK theme (from gnome-look or deviant art) and extract. Then move the extracted folder to “/usr/share/icons.”
Once the theme has been downloaded and extracted to your “/usr/share/icons” directory, open gnome-tweak-tool, unity-tweak-tool or elementary-tweaks to select the icon pack.
1. Vivacious
Vivacious is a modern icon pack built from the fusion of other open source projects including Plasma-next, Flattr and Emerald. However, the design has been tweaked to achieve consistency so there is little resemblance with the base icons. Vivacious provides up to fourteen different colors for your folders via an extension and supports color switching on the most popular file manager apps (such as Nemo, Nautilus, Caja, etc.). You can use Vivacious on most GTK desktops including Unity, Cinnamon, Gnome Shell, Mate, Xfce, LXDE, and more.
2. Super Flat Remix
Super Flat Remix is a simple flat theme derived from Ultra-flat-icons, Paper icon theme and Evopop icons. It makes use of subtle shadows and gradients for depth, and the result is an elegant flat desktop that goes quite beautifully with any of the best GTK themes we listed recently. Super Flat Remix supports all the major Linux desktop environments (Gnome Shell, KDE, XFCE, MATE, Unity and more).
3. Shadow
Shadow icon theme is a colourful, flat icon theme with long shadows. The icon set comes with circular and square versions of its icons so you can choose which one you prefer. Shadow is made specifically for Gnome Shell so you will get the best experience there, but you can also test it out on other GTK desktop environments.
4. Paper
Much like its GTK theme, the Paper icon pack is heavily inspired by the material design trend. If you want your Linux desktop to resemble Android lollipop, this icon theme is one you should try along with it’s Shell and GTK counterparts. Note that Paper is still under heavy development, so it still lacks custom icon sets for a range of applications.
5. Flattr
Flattr is yet another flat icon set that will make your desktop look really great! It was made for Gnome but will work on other environments such as Unity, Pantheon, KDE, Cinnamon, etc. This icon pack is also under development and largely incomplete, but it supports most of the popular apps nonetheless.
Conclusion
With the multitude of beautiful custom icon packs available for free, there’s no reason why you should be stuck with the ugly icons that ships with some Linux distros by default.
All the icons listed here were tested on Gnome 3.18, and they worked perfectly, so feel free to download all of them and try them out one by one to see which one you like best.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox
Sign up for all newsletters.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy. We will not share your data and you can unsubscribe at any time. Subscribe
Ayo Isaiah
Ayo Isaiah is a freelance writer from Lagos who loves everything technology with a particular interest in open-source software. Follow him on Twitter.
Comments (4)