12 Must Have Gnome-Shell Extensions!
Introduction:
So, after you’ve took 11 steps after installing Fedora, this time I am going to give recommendations for which Gnome extensions you should install (for every Gnome-based distro actually) in order to improve Gnome usability and productivity.
These are based on my taste an I use those on my daily driver. Your mileage my vary, you are welcome to comment additional extensions in the comments!
This has been tested On Ubuntu 20.04 (Gnome 3.36) and Fedora 33 (Gnome 3.38)
Name: AutoHide Battery
Description: Hide battery icon in top panel, if battery is fully charged and AC is connected
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/595/autohide-battery/
My 2 cents:
Real estate is important :-) if you’re on laptop, and probably most of the time connected to AC, why would you need to see the battery icon displayed all the time ?
Name: Bluetooth Quick Connect
Description: Allows to connect to paired devices from gnome control panel.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1401/bluetooth-quick-connect/
My 2 cents:
This becomes handy when you want to connect your Bluetooth headphones quickly, without the need to go into the Bluetooth settings.
Name: Clipboard Indicator
Description: Adds a clipboard indicator to the top panel, and caches clipboard history.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/779/clipboard-indicator/
My 2 cents:
One I can’t live without, totally a productivity tool
Name: Drop Down Terminal X
Description: drop down terminal with extra features.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1509/drop-down-terminal-x/
My 2 cents:
Sometimes you want to go to a terminal for a short while or have it handy with the press of a button… and it also has tabs, and can go full screen when clicking F11
Name: Grown-up Notifications
Description: Do not allow apps to delete their own notifications
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1335/grown-up-notifications/
My 2 cents:
I have stumbled upon a few applications which raise notifications which is a good thing, but displays for a few seconds and than disappears into the void, this extension will prevent it. until you go to the notifications area and remove the notifications yourself.
Name: Lock Keys
Description: Numlock & Capslock status on the panel
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/36/lock-keys/
My 2 cents:
Handy if you have no cap/num lock indicators. also enables a on-screen pop up when turning on/off the lock keys, a must for laptop users.
Name: Places Status Indicator
Description: Add a menu for quickly navigating places in the system.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/8/places-status-indicator/
My 2 cents:
Reminiscent of Gnome 2/Gnome classic, adds a places button to the panel with shortcuts to various places.
Tip: bookmark your most useful locations on your filesystem with Nautilus and it will appear in Places.
Name: ShellTile
Description: A tiling window extension for GNOME Shell.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/657/shelltile/
My 2 cents:
I am a mouse guy, I am also aware of many tiling-window-managers out there. This extension perfects Gnome’s add tiling so you can drag windows to various edges of the screen for different window sizing options.
Note for Wayland users: as of time of writing this ShellTile doesn’t behave well on Wayland, and stops working after a while.
Name: Sound Input & Output Device Chooser
Description: Shows a list of sound output and input devices in the status menu below the volume slider.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/906/sound-output-device-chooser/
My 2 cents:
A long name but a useful extensions when you have multiple sound devices connected. easily switch between speakers and headphones for example.
Name: TopIcons Plus
Description: moves legacy tray icons to the top panel
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1031/topicons/
My 2 cents:
One thing I dislike is that Gnome decided to ignore the existence of classic tray icons. not all applications know to integrate with Gnome, and still use the classic implementations.
this extensions sets those tray icons back to where god intended them to be, on the right side of the panel (there are multiple options actually)
Name: Vitals
Description: This is a one stop shop to monitor all of your vital sensors.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1460/vitals/
My 2 cents:
Back when I used Ubuntu, I installed ubuntu-appindicators which had the in-panel monitoring applet reminiscent of Gnome 2, however for some reason it severely hindered Gnome’s performance. Than I found this nifty utility
Tip: chose what you want Vitals to display in the panel by simply clicking the item you want (you’ll see a small V icon on the items that are displayed in the panel)
Name: Dash To Panel
Description: An icon taskbar for the Gnome Shell.
Link: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1160/dash-to-panel/
My 2 cents:
Saved the best for last! don’t just use its defaults, customize it to your liking!
My settings:
- Activities button → visible
- Panel size → 32
- App icon margin → 3
- App icon padding →3
- Running indicator position → top
- Override Panel theme background opacity → on
- Dynamic backgroud opacity → on
- Use hotkeys to activate apps (Super + (0–9)) → on
That’s it!
Have a great extension to share? questions? Please comment!
