GNOME Terminal

Terminal Emulators•

•C

Default terminal emulator for the GNOME desktop environment.

Official Website

Features

Multiple TabsProfilesTransparencyGNOME Integration

Installation

APT (Debian/Ubuntu)

apt install gnome-terminal

Pacman (Arch)

pacman -S gnome-terminal

DNF (Fedora)

dnf install gnome-terminal

Why Use GNOME Terminal?

GNOME Terminal is the standard terminal emulator for the GNOME desktop environment. It is bundled by default in many Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian, and is well-known for its stability and ease of use.

Stable Operation

Uses VTE library with maturity gained from years of development.

Profile Feature

Create multiple profiles and switch appearance and behavior based on use case.

Internationalization

Support for multiple languages including Japanese. Display without garbled text using UTF-8 encoding.

Easy GUI Configuration

Intuitively customize appearance and keybindings through GNOME's settings UI.

Main Features

Tabs and Windows

Open multiple tabs to streamline your work. New windows can also be opened and drag and drop between tabs is supported.

Text Selection and Copy

Option to automatically copy mouse-selected text to clipboard and automatic URL detection with clickable links.

Custom Commands

Configure commands to run on startup for each profile. Automatically execute specific shells or SSH connections on startup.

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

Pre-installed by default in most GNOME environments. If not installed, run the following command:

apt (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install GNOME Terminal
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnome-terminal

# Verify installation
gnome-terminal --version

Fedora

dnf (Fedora)

# Install GNOME Terminal
sudo dnf install gnome-terminal

Arch Linux

pacman (Arch Linux)

# Install GNOME Terminal
sudo pacman -S gnome-terminal

openSUSE

zypper (openSUSE)

# Install GNOME Terminal
sudo zypper install gnome-terminal

Configuration

GNOME Terminal settings can be opened from the menu's "Preferences" or hamburger menu. Settings can also be configured from the command line using dconf or gsettings.

Create Profiles

Profile Management

# Check current profiles
gsettings get org.gnome.Terminal.ProfilesList list

# Create new profile (recommended via GUI)
# Menu → Preferences → Profiles → + button

Font Configuration (CLI)

Font Settings

# Get profile ID
PROFILE_ID=$(gsettings get org.gnome.Terminal.ProfilesList default | tr -d "'")

# Enable custom font
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ use-system-font false

# Set font
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ font 'Hack 12'

Color Scheme Configuration

Color Scheme Settings

# Get profile ID
PROFILE_ID=$(gsettings get org.gnome.Terminal.ProfilesList default | tr -d "'")

# Disable theme colors
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ use-theme-colors false

# Set background color
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ background-color '#1E1E2E'

# Set foreground color
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ foreground-color '#CDD6F4'

# Set palette (16 colors)
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ palette "['#45475A', '#F38BA8', '#A6E3A1', '#F9E2AF', '#89B4FA', '#F5C2E7', '#94E2D5', '#BAC2DE', '#585B70', '#F38BA8', '#A6E3A1', '#F9E2AF', '#89B4FA', '#F5C2E7', '#94E2D5', '#A6ADC8']"

Transparency Configuration

Transparency Settings

# Get profile ID
PROFILE_ID=$(gsettings get org.gnome.Terminal.ProfilesList default | tr -d "'")

# Enable transparent background
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ use-transparent-background true

# Set transparency (0.0-1.0, 1.0 is opaque)
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ background-transparency-percent 10

Custom Command Configuration

Custom Command

# Get profile ID
PROFILE_ID=$(gsettings get org.gnome.Terminal.ProfilesList default | tr -d "'")

# Enable custom command
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ use-custom-command true

# Set startup command (example: zsh)
gsettings set org.gnome.Terminal.Legacy.Profile:/org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/:$PROFILE_ID/ custom-command '/usr/bin/zsh'

Backup and Restore Configuration

Backup and Restore

# Backup settings
dconf dump /org/gnome/terminal/ > gnome-terminal-backup.dconf

# Restore settings
dconf load /org/gnome/terminal/ < gnome-terminal-backup.dconf

# Reset settings (remove all customizations)
dconf reset -f /org/gnome/terminal/

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
`Ctrl + Shift + T`	Open new tab
`Ctrl + Shift + W`	Close current tab
`Ctrl + Shift + N`	Open new window
`Ctrl + Shift + Q`	Exit terminal
`Ctrl + Page Up`	Switch to previous tab
`Ctrl + Page Down`	Switch to next tab
`Alt + 1-9`	Switch to specified tab number
`Ctrl + Shift + C`	Copy selection
`Ctrl + Shift + V`	Paste
`Ctrl + Shift + F`	Open search bar
`Shift + Ctrl + G`	Search previous
`Ctrl + G`	Search next
`Ctrl + +`	Zoom in (increase font size)
`Ctrl + -`	Zoom out (decrease font size)
`Ctrl + 0`	Reset zoom
`F11`	Toggle fullscreen

Command Line Options

# Open in specific directory
gnome-terminal --working-directory=/home/user/projects

# Run specific command
gnome-terminal -- htop

# Open with specific profile
gnome-terminal --profile="Development"

# Open multiple tabs
gnome-terminal --tab --tab --tab

# Specify window size
gnome-terminal --geometry=120x40

# Set window title
gnome-terminal --title="Server Monitor"

# Open multiple tabs in different directories
gnome-terminal \
  --tab --working-directory=/home/user/project1 --title="Project 1" \
  --tab --working-directory=/home/user/project2 --title="Project 2"

Tips

•Gogh: Easily install 200+ color schemes with bash -c "$(wget -qO- https://git.io/vQgMr)"
•URL Recognition: Enable automatic URL linking in settings to open URLs with Ctrl+click
•Default Terminal: Set the system default terminal with sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator
•Tab Dragging: Drag tabs to move them to another window or detach as a new window
•Right-Click Menu: After selecting text, right-click to access options like web search or open in file manager
•Scrollback: Increase scrollback lines in settings to keep more history

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Features

Installation

Why Use GNOME Terminal?

Stable Operation

Profile Feature

Internationalization

Easy GUI Configuration

Main Features

Tabs and Windows

Text Selection and Copy

Custom Commands

Installation

Ubuntu / Debian

Fedora

Arch Linux

openSUSE

Configuration

Create Profiles

Font Configuration (CLI)

Color Scheme Configuration

Transparency Configuration

Custom Command Configuration

Backup and Restore Configuration

Keyboard Shortcuts

Command Line Options

Tips

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