The 8 Best GNOME Extensions to Enhance Productivity on Linux
Is GNOME customizable? Out of the box, not really. But like a web browser, you can change substantial parts of the interface through the use of extensions. With these add-ons, you can make GNOME work for you. And in the process, GNOME can help you get more work done, faster than you did before.
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you could find extensions over atextensions.gnome.org. There you can browse the full selection, and if you have therequisite Mozilla Firefox extension, you can install GNOME extensions directly from the site.
But this isn’t actually the best way to go about doing things. Instead, make sure tocheck out the third-party Extension Manager tool. This handy app lets you browse, install, manage, and remove GNOME extensions all in one place.
Now, with that out of the way, here are the best GNOME extensions that can help you be more productive.
1.Just Perfection
If there is one extension to rule them all, Just Perfection might just be it. This one piece of software makes the GNOME interfacenearly as fun to configure as KDE Plasma.
Want theActivitiesbutton gone? Don’t want to see the workspace preview underneath the search bar in the Activities Overview? Wish apps didn’t have labels underneath each window? Done, done, and done.
But it’s not just about making GNOME look the way you want. Just Perfection can also tweak how GNOME works. You can wrap around from the last workspace back to the first one. You can tap theSuperkey twice to get to the app grid.
You can remove the short delay between pressingAlt + Taband seeing the pop-up appear. If this is your preferred way to switch between windows, this change literally reduces the amount of time it takes to focus on the next task.
2.Auto Activities
Auto Activities has one job, and that’s to automatically open the Activities Overview whenever there is no open window.
Yes, this only saves you a click on theActivitiesbutton or a tap of theSuperkey, but it goes a long way toward improving the flow of the GNOME desktop. After all, GNOME already defaults to the Activities Overview at first launch precisely because there’s nothing you can do with an empty desktop.
3. Dash to Dock
Some people don’t like that GNOME doesn’t come with an ever-present dock. Windows, macOS, and ChromeOS all have app icons visible at the bottom of the screen. At this point, it’s a familiar way to work with a computer. This has led to Dash to Dock being one of the most popular extensions for GNOME.
Why? Dash to Dock’s purpose is simple. Take the dock that’s visible when you enter the Activities Overview and make it always visible. And if you want to tweak various aspects of the dock, you can do that too.
A dock isn’t the only part of a desktop interface that people find familiar. Many are accustomed to launching apps from a menu. After all, the Windows Start menu is arguably the most iconic aspect of the Windows desktop. On Linux, most desktop environments come with a menu-based way to launch apps.
ArcMenu is this type of app launcher. You can browse the apps on your computer by category and save your favorites.
You also have quick access to your home folders, as well as the GNOME Software app store and system settings. ArcMenu also, by default, opens when you press theSuperkey, replacing the Activities Overview.
5. AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support
GNOME doesn’t have a system tray. Sure, there are status indicators in the top right that show your volume and internet connection, but you can’t see whether Nextcloud is syncing.
People who depend on software that utilize system tray icons either have to do without them or install an extension such as AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support.
No, the name isn’t catchy. It refers to two of the most common ways of implementing system tray icons on Linux. KStatusNotifierItem, you may not be surprised to hear, is the implementation used in KDE Plasma. But you don’t need to know this. Just know that after installing the extension, you can see the Discord icon in your system tray.
Forge turns GNOME into a tiling window manager. If you’re unfamiliar with tiling window managers, they free you from having to manually resize and organize your open app windows. Instead, they automatically change size and position as you open additional apps.
When you launch your first app, it takes up the entire screen. When you launch a second app, the layout becomes a split screen, with one app on each side. And so on.
If you want one app to occupy more of the screen, you may still resize it as you normally would and watch as the adjacent window shrinks on its own.
Normally, you need to swap out your entire desktop environment touse a tiling window manager instead. Forge gives you the experience without you needing to forgo GNOME.
7.Places Status Indicator
Long-time GNOME users might recall an era before the Activities Overview. This was a time when GNOME had a traditional application menu in the top left. Next to that was a menu known as “Places.” Here you could easily open your favorite folders without having to open a file manager and navigate manually.
Well, this functionality still exists. The Places Status Indicator is actually built into GNOME but disabled by default (you can see it in action if youswitch to the GNOME Classic desktopat login). So if you prefer to click around between folders rather than rely on search, be sure to give this time saver a go.
8. Custom Hot Corners - Extended
When you fling your cursor into the top-left corner of a GNOME desktop, you activate the Activities Overview. As for the other three corners? Well, those don’t do anything.
To give each corner its own function, or to change what happens in the top-left corner, check out Custom Hot Corners - Extended. Why extended? There’s a non-extended version too, but that one has fewer features.
As for what it’s possible to do when your cursor hits the corner, the options are staggering. You can toggle whether the current window stays on top. You can activate a screensaver. You can turn on a night light feature to reduce eye strain at night.
You can adjust screen brightness in general. You can hide all open windows by showing the desktop. There’s a good chance that if you want to do something, you can.
Extensions Help You Get the Most Out of GNOME
GNOME offers a minimalist and focused way to get work done. But if you wish GNOME functioned a bit differently, you need to turn to extensions. Some can help you get more work done in less time.
But some of the best GNOME extensions are simply handy, convenient, or just plain fun.
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