0:00 We all know, that GNOME has been one of the best desktop environments providing
0:03 a graphical user interface for the Linux operating system. It delivers a next-level
0:08 user experience that is similar to Windows and macOS. However, there are a few things you can
0:14 do to enhance your gnome desktop functionality. This is where Gnome Extensions comes into play.
0:21 An extension is a software that allows you to take your GNOME customization to the next
0:26 level. By using the extensions, you can customize GNOME Shell,
0:31 add app transitions, as well as additional features like window tiling.
0:36 In this video, I will show you the top 15 must-install GNOME extensions for Linux
0:42 systems in 2024. For demonstration purposes, I choose to use arch linux but these extensions can
0:49 be used on any GNOME-based distribution such as Fedora, Manjaro, Zorin, Pop OS, and more.
0:57 Before we begin, If you enjoy this video, please
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1:03 Requirements The only requirement of this
1:05 video is to ensure you have installed the flatpak package on your Linux system. Then, open the
1:11 terminal on your gnome desktop and download the extensions manager using flatpak. Once installed,
1:19 open the extensions manager. This is a simple tool that allows you to install any gnome extension.
1:26 The user interface is clean and intuitive, with two sections on the top bar, Browse and Installed.
1:32 The Installed section displays all the extensions installed by the user. The “Browser” section,
1:38 allows you to search for any GNOME extension. Let’s start installing gnome extensions.
Astra Monitor
1:45 Search for Astra Monitor and install it. Astra is a monitoring extension for the
1:51 GNOME top bar that helps users track various system performance metrics such as CPU, GPU,
1:57 RAM, disk usage, network statistics, and sensor readings. It offers comprehensive
2:00 monitoring capabilities with detailed information accessible through hovering
2:05 over resources. The interface is highly customizable, allowing users to choose
2:22 what resources to monitor. The extension is designed for optimized performance,
2:27 ensuring lightweight operation without unnecessary resource consumption.
Pano Clipboard Manager
2:37 Pano Clipboard Manager provides a graphical overview of your clipboard history making it
2:43 much faster to find previously copied content, such as text, images, website URLs & more
2:50 You can view the clipboard history at any time, from any app, by pressing shift + super + v on
2:57 your keyboard. So when you copy anything on your system it will be shown here.
3:06 By clicking on any item in this row allows you to copy and paste it elsewhere.
PaperWM
3:16 PaperWM is a Gnome Shell extension that provides scrollable tiling of windows and per-monitor
3:23 workspaces. It’s inspired by paper notebooks and tiling window managers, it makes working
3:29 with different applications very easy. Hovering on the left or right gives the preview of an app,
3:36 and clicking on it puts the app into focus mode. By toggling the workspace button,
3:50 you can change the Windows focus mode to the center or default.
MiniView
4:06 MiniView displays an app window like Picture in Picture Mode. Pressing Shift + F12 opens & closes
4:13 mini app View. By holding the left mouse button you can drag the mini window and
4:23 by holding Ctrl and dragging the window with a right mouse button, you can resize the preview.
4:30 By hovering on the Window preview and scrolling
4:33 with the mouse wheel switches to different applications.
4:37 This is my favorite extension that allows
4:39 to monitoring of a specific app while working with other apps.
Quick Settings Tweaker
4:52 Quick Settings tweaker lets you add media controls, notifications,
4:56 and volume mixers to quick settings and remove useless buttons giving
5:00 a brand new look to the default quick settings and making it more functional
5:04 and practical. You can notice the date menu goes vertical and looks minimal.
Privacy Settings
5:12 Along with that installing the privacy settings extension adds a privacy toggle
5:17 that allows you to enable or disable the camera, microphone, and location services.
Apps Menu
5:31 Apps Menu is a must-have extension that categorizes the installed applications
5:37 making it easy to find the app you need based on category.
Places Status Indicator
5:50 Along with that places status indicator, Add a menu for quickly navigating places in the system.
Logo Menu
6:05 The Logo Menu is similar to Apple’s macOS menu for the GNOME Desktop.
6:14 This extension provides a simple menu along with the ability to get the icon
6:19 of your distribution on the top left part of the panel for a great look.
Just perfection
6:36 Just Perfection is an excellent gnome extension for customizing the gnome-shell.
6:41 Using this extension, you can tweak things like the dock, notification panel, icons, and more.
6:57 For example, you can enable or disable system animations, panels, clock, app menu & more.
7:12 You can also change the behavior of the workspace preview,
7:15 whether to show a workspace switcher or not, how you want to open the app grid, and more.
Top Bar Organizer
7:26 The top bar organizer allows you to organize the Menu items of the top bar. You can simply
7:32 rearrange all these menu items according to your liking by dragging them with the left
7:37 mouse button. You can even delete the specific menu items by clicking on the three-dot menu.
SpeedUp Gnome Shell
8:03 Gnome 4x UI improvements tune Overview UI to make it more usable. You can increase the size
8:08 of Workspace thumbnails, hide the search bar & show it only when the user begins to search.
8:24 In combination with that, Impatience is another
8:26 extension that helps increase the animation speed of the GNOME Shell
Wiggle
8:44 Wiggle is an extension that magnifies the cursor when the mouse is moved rapidly
8:49 which is extremely useful especially when working with large screen monitors. So
8:56 when you forget the location of the mouse pointer just wiggle the mouse to find it.
Blur my shell
9:08 Installing blurMyShell extends a blur to the dock, panels, activities overview, and more.
Burn My Windows
9:32 BurnMyWindows triggers an app transition when it’s
9:35 opened or closed providing stunning app transitions that may surprise everyone.
Caffeine
10:00 When running an important task that needs to be monitored, use caffeine which prevents
10:05 your system from sleeping. Upon installing this extension, you will see a new toggle
10:10 added to the quick settings Menu allowing you can enable or disable caffeine mode.
DDTerm
10:30 DDTerm is my favorite drop-down terminal extension for GNOME Shell With tabs and
10:35 is compatible with Wayland. This allows quick access to the terminal by clicking on this icon
10:41 on the top bar. It’s very responsive and also provides an option to customize it.
11:03 That’s pretty much it, these are the top 15 best gnome extensions that
11:07 you must try on GNOME Desktop in 2024. Let me know if I have missed anything,
11:12 and feel free to share your list of extensions that you use in the comments section below.
It was a blend of a bit of quirky humor followed by a more profound message that Kamala Harris attributes to her mother: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”