Ubuntu is probably the Linux distro I keep coming back to most frequently. It's also many people's first distro . It's really good, and really customizable. But I'm not fully okay with some of its defaults.
Your experience might change a lot by changing these three defaults on your latest install.
Minimize on Click
Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek
For me, one of the most immediate points of friction for users transitioning to Ubuntu from Windows or macOS is the behavior of the dock icons. By default, the GNOME desktop environment uses a specific workflow logic that differs from traditional taskbars. When you open an app, clicking its icon in the dock brings that window into focus. However, if the user clicks that same icon a second time, the default behavior does not minimize the window as one might expect. Instead, nothing happens, or in some configurations, it triggers a window overview if multiple instances are open.
Enabling "Minimize on Click" restores the familiar functionality where clicking a focused application's icon instantly tucks it away, revealing the desktop or windows behind it. Unfortunately, this specific toggle is not always exposed in the standard system settings menu, depending on the specific version of Ubuntu.
Arol Wright / How-To Geek
To activate it, you'll need to fire up the terminal. By entering gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock click-action 'skip', the click action can be reassigned to minimize the target window. Alternatively, users may install the dconf-editor tool to browse low-level system configuration databases and manually change the click-action value. Once enabled, the operating system feels distinctly more responsive to traditional desktop usage patterns. It bridges the gap between the unique Ubuntu interface and the universal standards established by other operating systems, allowing users to clear their screen clutter instantly without hunting for the small window controls in the title bar.
Move dock to bottom
The placement of the app dock is a defining characteristic of the Ubuntu desktop identity. Historically, starting with the Unity desktop environment, Ubuntu has always placed the launcher on the left side of the screen. The logic behind this design was sound; strictly functional reasoning suggests that because modern displays are almost universally wide-screen (16:9 or wider), vertical screen real estate is more valuable than horizontal space. Placing a bar on the side preserves the vertical height for reading documents and browsing the web. But while this is technically correct, let's be frank—if it's not on the bottom, it will throw us all off.
Arol Wright / How-To Geek
Moving the dock to the bottom of the screen is, then, our second course of action here. Users can simply select the "Bottom" option from the respective dropdown menu in Settings, instantly shifting the entire interface paradigm. Furthermore, once the dock is at the bottom, users often take the additional step of disabling "Panel Mode." This change shrinks the dock from a bar that stretches the entire width of the screen into a floating, centered island that only takes up as much space as the icons require. This configuration maximizes screen space while maintaining the aesthetic appeal of a bottom dock.
Enable Night Light
Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek
Finally, the modern computing experience involves staring into backlit LED displays for hours on end, often stretching late into the evening. These screens emit a significant amount of blue light, which is scientifically linked to eye strain and the disruption of circadian rhythms. Blue light mimics the brightness of the midday sun, suppressing the body's production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for signaling that it is time to sleep.
On a fresh Ubuntu install, the display is calibrated for color accuracy and brightness, which means it continues to blast cool, blue-tinted light regardless of the time of day. This can lead to significant visual fatigue after prolonged sessions and difficulty falling asleep after using the computer at night.
Arol Wright / How-To Geek
Ubuntu includes a built-in feature called "Night Light" to combat this issue, but it is not enabled by default. So we might want to activate that for long-term health and comfort. Found within the "Displays" section of the system settings, Night Light works by gradually shifting the color temperature of the screen towards the warmer end of the spectrum as the day progresses. Instead of harsh blues, the screen emits softer ambers and reds during the evening hours. This software solution effectively filters out the stimulating frequencies of light without requiring physical screen protectors or special glasses.
The feature can be set to automatically activate based on the local sunrise and sunset times, which the system determines using the user's general location data. Alternatively, users can set a manual schedule to match their personal work shifts. The intensity of the warmth is also adjustable, allowing users to find a balance where the screen is comfortable to look at without distorting colors too drastically. Enabling this feature transforms the monitor from a harsh light source into a display that adapts to the human biological clock.
These three simple adjustments significantly enhance daily usability, so make sure to apply them on your new Ubuntu install when you get a chance.
