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Asked: 2024-09-26T20:29:23+05:30 In:

How can I make the modifications I make using the GTK Inspector persistent across sessions in my Ubuntu system?

I’ve been diving into some GTK applications on my Ubuntu system lately, and I ran into a bit of a snag. So, I was playing around with the GTK Inspector, trying to make some tweaks to the UI elements just to see how I could customize them to my liking. You know, changing colors, adjusting margins, hiding some pesky buttons, the usual stuff you do when you’re trying to make the interface a bit more user-friendly for yourself.

But here’s the kicker: whenever I restart my system or close and reopen the application, all my modifications disappear like they were never there! It’s super frustrating. I spent a good chunk of time getting everything just right, and then poof! All that effort goes down the drain each time I log back in. If I wanted to start from scratch every single session, I’d just have stuck to the default settings.

I’ve been digging around online trying to find a way to save these changes. I mean, I get that GTK Inspector is mainly a debugging tool, but there’s got to be a way to make these changes persistent, right? Some way to save the state so that after a reboot, or after quitting the application, I don’t have to redo all my customizations from scratch?

I found something about editing CSS files in the GTK theme folder, but I’m not entirely sure how to go about that. Do I have to manually edit those files, or is there a simpler way of doing this? And if I change something in the CSS, how do I ensure that it doesn’t override my changes the next time the app launches?

If anyone’s been down this rabbit hole, I’d love some guidance! Any tips or step-by-step advice on how to make these GTK Inspector modifications stick would be immensely appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

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    2 Answers


    1. Saving GTK Inspector Changes on Ubuntu

      Hey! I totally get your frustration with the GTK Inspector. It’s a neat tool, but yeah, your changes just vanishing is annoying!

      The thing is, GTK Inspector is like a sandbox where you play around with UI tweaks, but it doesn’t save any changes. So if you want your customizations to stick around, you’ll need to go the CSS route!

      Here’s a simple way to save your changes:

      1. Find your theme folder:
        You’ll need to check where your GTK theme is stored. Usually, it’s in /usr/share/themes/ or ~/.themes/. If you’re using a specific theme, look for it in one of those places.
      2. Edit the CSS file:
        Inside your theme’s folder, navigate to gtk-3.0 (or gtk-4.0 if that’s your version). Look for a file called gtk.css or something similar. You can open it with any text editor.
      3. Add your custom styling:
        Here’s where the magic happens! You can copy the modifications you made in GTK Inspector and paste them into the CSS file. For example, if you changed a button color, you’d add something like: 

        button { background-color: #ff0000; }

        Just make sure to stick to the right syntax!

      4. Save and refresh:
        After saving your changes, close and reopen your GTK application to see if your customizations stuck!

      Things to keep in mind:

      • If your app has a built-in theme, it might override your changes. So to be safe, stick to modifying your own theme’s CSS file.
      • Backup the original CSS file before making changes! Just in case something goes wrong.

      Hope this helps! Just take it slow, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles. Happy customizing!



    2. To make the changes you apply via the GTK Inspector persistent, you need to modify the application’s CSS files or create a custom stylesheet for your GTK theme. The GTK Inspector allows you to tweak the UI elements in real-time, but it does not provide a built-in feature to save these tweaks across sessions. To implement your changes permanently, locate the CSS files associated with your GTK theme. You can often find these files in the /usr/share/themes/ directory or in your user-specific directory at ~/.themes/. Open the relevant CSS file for your application and apply your desired modifications directly in that file. Remember to back up any existing CSS files before making changes to avoid accidents and potential loss of customization.

      After editing the CSS file, you can ensure that your customizations do not get overridden by future updates to the theme by using custom CSS rules that either extend or override the existing ones explicitly. Creating a new stylesheet specifically for your modifications can also help. If you name it appropriately and load it alongside your theme, it can apply your styles last, thereby ensuring they take precedence. To apply your new stylesheet, you may need to adjust the application’s settings or add environmental variables, depending on the application itself. Be aware that themes can be updated, and you may need to reapply your changes if the updates alter how CSS is processed. Consistent backups and a thorough testing approach will make this process smoother.


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