Windows Look & Feel in Ubuntu DIY

You may have a relative who does not want to leave Windows under any circumstances and who also finds Linux ‘too complicated’ or ‘fully ugly’. Then the following blog post is probably worth a few minutes of your time. ⁇

Here is a ‘Turn Ubuntu to Windows 11 Design’ step-by-step guide!

prerequisites

You need as much as possible an up-to-date Ubuntu version, which you get the fastest on the official website as download, otherwise you need a USB stick with 8 or 16 GB storage space, a tool like the Balena Etcher, A little bit of internet bandwidth and no general fear of the command line. Then we'll get this together.

Ubuntu Linux with GNOME Desktop (installation with USB stick)
Internet connection
Terminal access

Since the Ubuntu installation is now as simple as hardly any other Linux distribution, I assume that you can create it without me. If you still want to make a guided installation for safety, I can recommend this video. Conveniently, a parallel installation next to Windows is also explained in the video, so you do not have to make the complete switch, but can also use both side by side:

After the installation, we look at how we can now change the look & feel so that all Windows switchers hardly have to get used to it.

Step 1: Basic setup commands

Open terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T)
Install Git: sudo apt update and then sudo apt install git
Install GNOME Extensions (if not available): sudo apt install gnome shell extensions and then sudo apt install gnome tweaks

Step 2: Activate user themes

Open Extensions Manager
Enable "User Themes" extension
- Search for "User Themes"
- Turn on this extension

Step 3: Install Windows 11 Icons & select

Windows 11 Icons Repository clone: git clone https://github.com/yeyushengfan258/Win11-icon-theme.git
then switch to the directory cd Win11-icon-theme
Run installation: ./install.sh
Activate icons:
- Open GNOME Tweaks
- Under "Appearance" → "Icons"
- Select "Windows 11"

Step 4: Install Windows 11 Theme &

Clone Fluent GTK Theme: git clone https://github.com/vinceliuice/Fluent-gtk-theme.git
then switch to the directory cd Fluent-gtk-theme
Install theme: ./install.sh
Configure theme and cursor:
- Open GNOME Tweaks
- Under ‘Appearance’:
  - Applications: Select ‘Fluent Blue Light’
  - Cursor: Select "DMZ-White" (Windows-like cursor)
  - Shell: Select the appropriate Fluent theme

Step 5: Download Windows 11 Wallpaper

Download Windows 11 wallpaper (e.g. in 4K)
Set as background image:
- Right-click Desktop → "Change Background Image" or
- alternatively right mouse button on the loaded image -> as desktop
- Select downloaded image

Step 6: Load and enable Windows fonts

Segoe UI font installation: sudo apt install fonts-firacode wget -O segoe-ui-linux.zip "https://github.com/mrbvrz/segoe-ui-linux/archive/master.zip" unzip segoe-ui-linux.zip sudo cp segoe-ui-linux-master/font/* /usr/share/fonts/ sudo fc-cache -f -v
Enable font:
- Open GNOME Tweaks
- Under ‘Fonts’ → ‘Interface Text’: Select "Segoe UI"

Step 7: Install Taskbar (Dash to Panel) & configure

Install Dash to Panel Extension:
- Open Extensions Manager
- Find and install Dash to Panel
Configure taskbar:
- Open Extension Settings
- position: Monitor Center for Taskbar
- Left box: Monitor Center
- style: Set panel size to about 6 pixels
- indicators: Dashes style for both settings
- Behavior: Disable Show Overview on Startup
- Fine tune: Set values to 16, adjust padding accordingly

Step 8: Install Windows Start Menu (Arc Menu) & configure

Install Arc Menu Extension:
- Open Extensions Manager
- Search and install "Arc Menu" by Andrew Zaech
Configure Windows 11 layout:
- Arc Menu Open Settings
- Menu layout → Select "Modern Menu Layouts" → "Windows 11"
- Menu Visual Appearance:
  - Height: 750 pixels
  - Width: 175 pixels
  - Position: "Bottom Centered"
Windows-like Start icon:
- Download Windows logo
- Set settings as an icon in Arc Menu

Step 9: Blur effects (Blur My Shell)

Install Blur My Shell Extension:
- Open Extensions Manager
- Find and install Blur My Shell
Blur settings:
- Sigma: 10
- Brightness: 1
- Disable Override Background

Step 10: Adjust date/time format as close as possible to Win

Date Formatter Extension
Configure Windows-like date format as desired
- Insert the corresponding pattern in the settings

Step 11: Additional Windows and Similar apps (optional)

Image viewer: Install Windows-like image viewing
VLC: One of the most popular video players
LibreOffice or OpenOffice – as a Microsoft Office alternative
Thunderbird for your e-mails

Sidenote on this: On the one hand, there are many apps as a web app, especially if you do not want to do without Outlook or your usual Office365. On the other hand, you will probably soon find that you can find various practical options with a quick ‘Linux alternative to ApplicationXYZ’.

completion

After these steps, your Ubuntu desktop should look very similar to the Windows 11 design. The most important visual elements such as icons, taskbar, start menu and general appearance are now Windows 11-like and should also allow new users to ‘fear’ Linux.

Of course, the substructure remains Linux, even if the desktop optics are now similar to Win11. Experienced users will also immediately recognize what is going on from the small inequalities, but they are of course not the ‘target group’ for such an optics mod. Aunt Erna or Uncle Fred may be better ‘pick up’.

hints

It is best to restart the computer after installing the extensions
All extensions can be managed via the Extensions Manager
In case of problems, individual extensions can be temporarily deactivated
The customizations are reversible – you can always go back to the original Ubuntu design

TL:DR

If you don't feel like doing it yourself, check out Wubuntu, uhh, LinuxFX, uh, I mean of course https://winuxos.org/ to.