While Ubuntu comes with a number of icon packs you can select from, online a small number is installed by default. The first place to look for more icons is on the default repositories.

Icon packs in repository

  1. Open Synaptic - Press "Alt+F2" and enter "gksu synaptic", you will be asked for your password.
  2. Type "icons theme" in the search box. There will be several themes listed.
  3. Right-click and mark the ones you like for installation.
  4. Click "Apply" and wait for them to install.

  5. Go to System->Preferences->Appearance->Customize->Icons and select the one you like.

Icon packs from theme websites

Some websites provide a list of themes including icons, which can be downloaded. A good place is GnomeLook.

  1. Go to the website and download the icon file.
  2. Extract the archive in ~/.icons directory.
  3. The new icons will appear in the appearance preferences.

Use another icon set while keeping the Ubuntu Mono panel icons

  1. Press ALT+F2 and type "gksu nautilus /usr/share/icons".
  2. Make a copy of the "ubuntu-mono-dark" or "ubuntu-mono-light" folder.
  3. Rename the folder to a new name.
  4. Open the index.theme file
  5. Change the "Name" field to a new name ("Name=Ubuntu-Mono-Dark" to "Name=My-New-Icons")
  6. Change "Inherits" field to the name of the icon theme you want to use ‘Inherits=Humanity-Dark,gnome,hicolor’ to the name of the folder of the icons you want to use.(This folder may be in ~/.icons or in /usr/share/icons)
  7. Save the file and go to appearance preferences to set the new icon theme.

Creating your own Icon Theme

Using Tango Generator

This is an application that lets you create a simple theme by selecting your own icons. TangoGenerator

Creating a Theme Manually

To create themes from scratch follow the tutorial on the Gnome Wiki: IconThemesTutorial(copy from archive.org)

Icons (last edited 2014-03-21 12:12:22 by abkq73)