Module 4 · GNOME Desktop, File Manager & System Settings
The Linux desktop looks a bit different from Windows. But it does all the same jobs. Same fridge, same kettle, same plates — different cupboards. By the end of this lesson you will know where every button lives, how to open files like you do on Windows, and how to change the bits you don't like (the wallpaper, the sound, the language, the way it bugs you with notifications).
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Find your way around the GNOME desktop without anyone helping you
- Open the Files app (called Nautilus) and use the four shortcuts that save the most time: Ctrl+L, Ctrl+H, F3, and "Open in Terminal"
- Connect to a network share at work — typing
smb://,sftp://ornfs://the same way you'd type a website address - Install a new app from the Software Centre with one click
- Open System Settings and change four things: the screen, the sound, the printer, and the language
- Turn on Do Not Disturb so notifications stop popping up during a meeting
- Use "workspaces" — extra invisible desktops you can swipe between, so your screen never feels cluttered
First, the big idea — meet GNOME
The desktop you see when you log in to Ubuntu, Fedora or Debian by default is called GNOME (say "guh-NOME"). It is to Linux what the Windows desktop is to Windows — the wallpaper, the top bar, the dock, the way windows look, the Files app, the Settings app. All of it is GNOME.
Most Windows users open GNOME for the first time and say the same thing: "It looks almost like Windows but everything is in the wrong place." That's normal. It's the same kind of feeling you get walking into someone else's bedroom.
Here is a trick. Spend ten minutes learning where stuff lives in GNOME. After that the strange feeling goes away. Everything you used to do on Windows you can also do here — same buttons, same idea, slightly different spots.
Below is a table that maps every Windows thing to its GNOME name. Read it once. You don't need to memorise it. Just know it exists. When something feels missing, come back here.
Where did Windows go? — the GNOME translation table
Every row below names the GNOME part that does the same job as the Windows part on the left. "Activities", "Files", "Settings", "Dock", "Top bar" — those are not generic Linux words, they are GNOME's official names. Other Linux desktops (KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon) use different names. You only need to learn one set: GNOME's.
| What you used in Windows | What GNOME calls it | How to get there |
|---|---|---|
| Start menu | Activities | Press the Windows key (Linux calls it the "Super key" but it's the same key) |
| File Explorer | Files | Click the folder icon in the dock, or search for "Files" |
| Control Panel | Settings | Click the top-right corner, click the cog |
| Microsoft Store | Ubuntu Software (or App Store on Mint) | Click the orange shopping bag icon in the dock |
| Taskbar | Dock | The strip of icons on the left or bottom of the screen |
| System tray (clock, Wi-Fi, battery) | Top-right corner | It's all bundled into one menu — click anywhere on the right |
| Search bar | Activities search | Press the Windows key, then start typing |
| Recycle Bin | Trash | Open Files — it's at the bottom of the left sidebar |
Four GNOME shortcuts you'll use every single day
Every shortcut below is built into GNOME Shell — the part of GNOME that draws the top bar and handles your keys. If you forget everything else from this lesson, please remember these four. They will get you through 90% of what you do on a computer. Real promise.
| Press this | What happens |
|---|---|
| Windows key (called "Super" on Linux) | Opens Activities — your "Start menu". Type the name of any app or file and press Enter. |
| Alt + Tab | Switch between open windows. Same as Windows. Doesn't change. |
| Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V | Copy and paste. Same as Windows. Doesn't change either. |
| Right-click the mouse | Paste. Right-clicking in a text field or terminal shows a Paste option — handy when your hand's already on the mouse. |
| Ctrl + Alt + T | Opens the terminal. We'll meet that properly soon — for now, just know the shortcut exists. |
Most other Windows shortcuts work too. Alt+F4 still closes a window. F2 still renames a file. Ctrl+S still saves. Your muscle memory mostly transfers.
The "Activities" search bar is sneaky-smart
Press the Windows key and start typing. It doesn't just find apps — it also finds:
- Files in your folders (type the filename, hit Enter)
- Settings (type "wifi" — it opens Wi-Fi settings; type "sound" — it opens sound settings)
- Quick maths — type
42 * 7and the answer appears. No calculator needed.
Most people stop clicking on the dock after a week of this. It's just faster.
Your first five minutes inside GNOME
Sit in front of your fresh GNOME desktop and do these five things, in order. By the end you'll know where everything important in GNOME lives — Activities, Files, Settings, the Software app and the terminal.
Press the Windows key
The screen "zooms out" and shows you all your open windows plus a search bar at the top. This is your Start menu replacement. Type "Firefox", press Enter — Firefox opens. Done.
Find your Documents folder
Click the folder icon in the dock (or press the Windows key and type "Files"). The Files app opens. You'll see Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos — exactly the same folders as Windows. The path is just /home/your-name/Documents instead of C:\Users\You\Documents.
Open Settings
Click the top-right corner of the screen (where the clock and Wi-Fi icon are). A small menu drops down. Click the cog icon. Settings opens. From here you can change the wallpaper, connect to Wi-Fi, change the screen brightness — all the same things you'd do in the Windows Control Panel.
Install an app from "the app store"
Click the orange shopping-bag icon in the dock (or search for "Ubuntu Software"). It looks like a phone app store. Find something fun — try VLC (a video player), or GIMP (a free Photoshop alternative). Click Install. Type your password if asked. Done. The app appears in your Activities menu.
Peek at the terminal (don't be scared)
Press Ctrl+Alt+T. A black window opens with a flashing cursor. This is "the terminal". You won't actually need to type anything yet. Just look at it. It's not magic — it's just a different way to talk to your computer. We'll use it properly later. For now, close the window. You're done.
"Where's the minimise button?"
You might notice that some Linux desktops (especially Ubuntu's "GNOME" desktop) don't show a minimise button on each window. This catches almost everyone out the first day.
Easy fix: press Windows key + H to minimise the active window. Or right-click the title bar — Minimise is in the menu. If it bothers you, search for "GNOME Tweaks" in your app store and turn the button back on permanently. Linux Mint shows the button by default — no fix needed there.
For curious readers: workspaces (multiple desktops at once)
Linux desktops give you something Windows is only just starting to offer: multiple desktops side by side. Imagine your screen as one of several. You can keep email and Slack on desktop 1, your browser on desktop 2, and a video on desktop 3. Switch between them with Ctrl+Alt+→ and Ctrl+Alt+←.
Open Activities (Windows key) and you'll see strips on the right showing each desktop. Drag a window into a different strip to move it.
It feels weird for an hour. After a week, going back to one desktop feels cramped.
The App Centre (software store): installing and removing apps, without downloading anything from the web
On Windows, to install software you went to a website, downloaded a .exe file, then clicked "Next, Next, Finish." On Linux you do the opposite — and it's both simpler and safer. You open a single app — the App Centre (depending on the distribution: "Ubuntu Software," "App Center," or just "Software") — search for what you want, and click Install. It's the exact equivalent of the Microsoft Store, or your phone's app store: a catalogue of free, verified, safe apps you install in one click.
To open it: click the orange shopping-bag icon in the dock, or press the Windows key and type "software" (or "App Center").
- 1Search. Type an app name in the search bar (e.g. VLC for video, GIMP as a free Photoshop alternative), or browse the categories: Productivity, Internet, Graphics, Education…
- 2Read the listing. Just like the Play Store or App Store: screenshots, a description, a rating and reviews. You see what the app looks like before installing it.
- 3Click "Install." Type your password if asked (this is normal, just like installing software on Windows). Wait a few seconds.
- 4Done. The app appears in the Activities menu (Windows key). No "setup wizard," no "also install this toolbar" box to untick.
To uninstall, it's the same place: open the App Centre, go to the "Installed" tab, find the app and click Uninstall. It's the equivalent of "Add/Remove Programs" on Windows. The "Updates" tab lists the new versions available — we'll cover that in detail in Module 10 ("Keeping yourself safe").
.deb file (Linux's equivalent of an .exe) from a trusted source, a double-click opens it straight in the App Centre to install it cleanly.| On Windows | On Linux (GNOME / Ubuntu) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Store | App Centre / Software | Orange "shopping bag" icon in the dock. |
Download a .exe from a website | Search the app in the App Centre | Safer: no need to go to the web to install. |
| Add/Remove Programs | App Centre → Installed tab → Uninstall | The same place handles install and uninstall. |
| Windows Update (for Store apps) | App Centre → Updates tab | Covered in depth in Module 10. |
The GNOME Files app (Nautilus) — Windows Explorer's GNOME cousin
Nautilus is GNOME's official file manager — the same way "Explorer" is Windows's official one. Its app icon and label are just "Files". Click the folder icon in the dock, or press the Windows key and type "files". A two-pane GNOME window opens: places on the left, contents on the right. If you've used Windows Explorer or macOS Finder you already know how to use Nautilus — the muscle memory transfers.
| Windows Explorer | Nautilus / Files | How to do it |
|---|---|---|
| F2 (rename) | F2 (rename) | Same key. |
| Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V (copy / paste) | Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V | Same shortcuts. |
| Right-click → New folder | Right-click → New Folder | Or Ctrl+Shift+N. |
| Address bar at the top | Shown as breadcrumbs by default; press Ctrl+L to flip to a text address bar | Type a path and press Enter to jump (e.g. /etc). Press Ctrl+L again to return to breadcrumbs. |
| Show hidden files | Ctrl+H toggles them | Linux hides any file whose name starts with a dot. |
| Open Properties | Right-click → Properties (or Ctrl+I) | Permissions, location, size, sharing. |
| Search in the current folder | Ctrl+F — same shortcut | Type to filter contents instantly. |
| Compress (Send to → Zipped) | Right-click → Compress… | Pick .zip for Windows-friendly, .tar.gz for Linux-native. |
Two quick-fixes most Windows users want immediately. First, the address bar: Nautilus hides it by default and shows "breadcrumbs" instead. Press Ctrl+L any time to get the text address bar back; press it again to return to breadcrumbs. Second, two-pane mode (like macOS Finder column view): press F3 to split the window into two side-by-side panes — handy for drag-and-drop file moves.
Connecting to a shared folder at work — Ctrl+L then smb://
At school or at work, important files often live on a "shared drive" — a folder that lots of computers can see at the same time. On Windows you might know it as \\server\\team. GNOME's Files app talks to network shares using a built-in piece of GNOME called GVFS ("GNOME Virtual File System") — but you don't have to think about that name. You just type a slightly different address.
Open the Files app (Nautilus). Press Ctrl+L. The path bar at the top flips into a text input box. Type the address of your shared folder there (e.g. smb://server-name/team) and press Enter. Linux asks for a username and password, then opens the share like any other folder.
On older Ubuntu (22.04 LTS, GNOME ≤ 45): the "Other Locations" shortcut
Open the Files app, look at the left sidebar. Near the bottom there is a button called "Other Locations". Click it. At the very bottom of that page you'll see a box labelled "Connect to Server" — type the address there instead. GNOME 46 (Ubuntu 24.04) renamed this view to Network; GNOME 47+ (Ubuntu 24.10, Fedora 41+) removed it entirely, which is why the Ctrl+L method above is the one that works on every modern GNOME.
Type the address using the right prefix
The prefix tells Linux how to talk to the other computer. Pick the one that matches what your IT person (or home setup) told you to use:
smb://server-name/folder— the Windows-style share (almost every office uses this)sftp://server-name/folder— secure file transfer over SSH (common with web hosts and developer servers)nfs://server-name/folder— the Linux-and-Mac-style share (common in schools and labs)ftp://server-name/folder— old-school file transfer (avoid unless someone tells you to use it; it is not encrypted)
Press Connect
Linux asks you for a username and password. Type the same ones you use for your work account. There is also a tick box that says "Remember password" — turn it on so you don't have to type it every morning.
Save it as a bookmark
Once the shared folder opens, drag its name from the address bar into the left sidebar. Now it sits there with your Documents and Downloads — one click to open, no typing the address again.
What do smb, sftp and nfs actually stand for?
You don't need to remember the long names. But here they are if you're curious: SMB = "Server Message Block", the protocol Windows uses for file sharing. SFTP = "SSH File Transfer Protocol", a secure way to copy files over the network. NFS = "Network File System", the protocol that Linux and Mac computers prefer.
If you ever get a "cannot connect" error, the most common fix is: try smb:// instead of typing the server name on its own. Linux needs the prefix to know which language to speak.
Multi-monitor — GNOME Settings → Displays
External monitors work the same way Windows users expect: plug in the HDMI / DisplayPort / USB-C cable and the second screen comes alive almost instantly. To position and scale them you use GNOME's Settings app → Displays panel — the GNOME equivalent of Windows's "Display Settings" right-click on the desktop.
Plug the cable in. Wait three seconds.
Linux detects the monitor automatically. If the second screen lights up showing your wallpaper extended, you're done — drag windows onto it. If it stays black, the GUI fix is one panel away.
Open Settings → Displays
Press the Windows key, type displays, press Enter. The Displays panel shows a visual representation of your monitors as numbered rectangles. Drag the rectangles to match the physical arrangement on your desk — if the external is to the right of your laptop, drag its rectangle to the right.
Pick a mode
Join Displays (the default) extends your desktop across both. Mirror shows the same thing on both — useful for presentations. Single Display turns one off. Pick what you want from the dropdown at the top.
Pick the primary display
The primary display is the one with the top bar / dock and where new apps open. Click a monitor's rectangle and toggle "Primary Display". Drag the dock to the other screen if you prefer — most desktops remember per-monitor positions.
Match the scale to the screen size
On a 4K external next to a 1080p laptop, the resolution mismatch makes text the wrong size on one of them. The Scale slider on each monitor fixes it independently — 200% for the 4K, 100% for the 1080p, and the text size matches.
Laptop lid closed, external monitor still working
Settings → Power → "Suspend & Power Button" → set "Power Button Behaviour" to your preference and "Suspend when laptop lid is closed" to off. With that setting your laptop keeps running with the lid down — useful when the laptop sits on a stand or you're treating it as a desktop with the external as the only display.
Wi-Fi from the GNOME top bar — no terminal needed
The top-right cluster of icons on your screen is called the GNOME system status menu (Windows users would call it the "system tray"). To connect to Wi-Fi you click that menu and pick a network — no app, no terminal. The drop-down lists every Wi-Fi network in range. Click yours, type the password, done. GNOME remembers it — every future time you're in range it reconnects on its own.
Click the top-right of the screen
That's where the clock, battery, sound and network icons live (this area is called the "system tray" on Windows and the "system status menu" on GNOME). A panel drops down. Click the Wi-Fi triangle.
Pick your network
The list shows every nearby network with a strength bar. Click yours. If it asks for a password, type it. Click Connect. Within a few seconds you're online — the Wi-Fi triangle goes solid white.
Forget a saved network (the "stop auto-connecting to the airport Wi-Fi" trick)
Settings → Wi-Fi. Click the cog next to a saved network. Untick "Connect automatically", or click "Forget Connection" to drop it entirely. Same panel lets you change a saved password.
Wi-Fi hotspot from your laptop
Settings → Wi-Fi → top-right menu → "Turn On Wi-Fi Hotspot…". Linux turns your laptop into a Wi-Fi access point — handy for sharing a wired connection or a phone-tethered USB connection to other devices. Pick a name and password, click Turn On.
Captive portals. Hotel and café Wi-Fi that makes you click "I agree" before working: Linux detects these and pops up the login page automatically the moment you connect. If the page doesn't appear, manually go to any non-HTTPS site (try http://neverssl.com) and the captive page intercepts you.
Make GNOME yours — wallpaper, dark mode, fonts, accent colour
A fresh Ubuntu install looks fine — but you'll want to make it look like your machine. Almost everything Windows calls "Personalisation" is here too, under GNOME Settings → Appearance. For the deeper tweaks GNOME exposes a separate app called GNOME Tweaks. Five quick wins.
| You want… | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Change the wallpaper | Right-click the desktop → Change Background…. Or Settings → Appearance. |
| Switch to dark mode | Settings → Appearance → Style: Dark. Apps pick it up live — no logout needed. |
| Pick an accent colour | Settings → Appearance → Accent colour. Ten options on Ubuntu 24.04+; not all desktops have this. |
| Change the system font | Install GNOME Tweaks from the App Centre → Fonts. Defaults are good; extra fonts (e.g. JetBrains Mono) are in the App Centre too. |
| Make text bigger across the system | Settings → Accessibility → "Large Text" (boosts every text size at once). Or Settings → Displays → Scale. |
| Show seconds in the clock | GNOME Tweaks → Top Bar → "Clock — Seconds". |
| Animations off (for older machines or accessibility) | Settings → Accessibility → "Reduce Animation". Snappier on low-end hardware. |
The Tweaks rabbit-hole. Once you've installed gnome-tweaks, you have access to dozens of small switches Settings doesn't expose — minimise/maximise window buttons, the "double-click title bar to maximise" behaviour, custom keyboard shortcuts, font hinting. Spend ten minutes clicking through it on a new install; nearly every Windows habit you have can be re-built.
Sound — GNOME Settings → Sound, plus the top-bar volume slider
Click the GNOME system status menu at the top-right of your screen. A volume slider drops down. Drag it to make it louder or quieter. The little arrow next to the slider opens a list of every speaker and headphone GNOME can see — laptop speakers, USB headphones, Bluetooth earbuds. Click the one you want. For the full controls, open GNOME Settings → Sound.
Open Settings → Sound
Press the Windows key, type sound, press Enter. The Sound panel opens. Three tabs at the top: Output (where the sound comes out), Input (your microphone), and Sound Effects (the little ding when a notification arrives).
Pick the right output for a meeting
Before a Zoom or Teams call, open Sound and look at Output Device. If you've plugged in headphones, pick them. If you want sound on your laptop speakers and the headphones are still connected (annoying), switch the dropdown back to "Built-in Audio". Linux remembers your choice per device — plug your headphones in tomorrow and they go straight back to being default.
Test the microphone
In the Input tab, talk normally. The little bar next to your microphone moves up and down. If it doesn't move, your mic is muted (click the speaker icon next to it) or the wrong mic is selected.
Printers — GNOME Settings → Printers (plug-and-print, no driver disc)
Setting up a printer on Linux is usually shorter than on Windows. GNOME Settings → Printers is the GNOME panel where you do it. Underneath GNOME sits an older Linux service called CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) — that's the bit that actually talks to the printer. GNOME just gives it a friendly face. No driver disc, no "downloading driver…" wait; the printer drivers live inside the operating system already.
Plug in the USB cable — or check it's on the same Wi-Fi
USB printers: just plug them in. Wireless printers: turn the printer on and make sure both your laptop and your printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. (Office printers usually live on the office Wi-Fi; home printers on your home Wi-Fi.)
Open Settings → Printers
Press the Windows key, type printers, press Enter. Click Add Printer…. Linux scans the network and lists every printer it can find. Click yours.
Test print
Right-click the new printer and click Print Test Page. If a page comes out, you're done. If nothing happens, check the paper tray (it's almost always empty paper or a paper jam — not Linux).
"My printer needs a driver from the manufacturer's website"
Sometimes a very new or unusual printer needs an extra step. The easiest path: open a web browser, type 127.0.0.1:631 into the address bar. That's the CUPS print management page that ships with every Linux. It has a step-by-step "Add Printer" wizard with hundreds of printer makes listed. Pick yours and it walks you through the rest.
Language — GNOME Settings → Region & Language
GNOME ships in one language but switching is two clicks inside GNOME Settings → Region & Language. You can also have several languages running at once — handy if you switch between French and English at work — and toggle between them with the GNOME Shell input-source switcher (Super+Space).
Open Settings → Region & Language
Press the Windows key, type language, press Enter. Two important rows: Language (the words you read — menus, buttons, error messages) and Formats (how dates and numbers look — French uses 24-hour clock, the comma for decimals).
Pick a new language
Click the Language row. A list pops up with hundreds of languages. Pick the one you want. Linux might say "Some language packs are missing — install them?" Click Install. It downloads what it needs (about 30 MB) and tells you to log out and back in. Do that. When you log in again the whole desktop is in your new language.
Add a keyboard layout (typing accents, é, à, ç…)
In the same panel, click Input Sources. Click the + button to add a new layout. Pick "French" if you want easy accents. Now there's a little flag in the top bar — click to switch between English and French keyboards. Or press Super+Space to flip.
Notifications and Do Not Disturb — the GNOME Shell focus switch
Email arrives and a little pop-up slides in from the top-right corner. Phone synced over Bluetooth — same. Those pop-ups are drawn by GNOME Shell, and the missed alerts pile up in GNOME's notification centre (click the clock in the top bar to open it). They are useful, until they aren't (during a meeting, or when you're trying to finish homework). GNOME has a clear off-switch called Do Not Disturb.
The fast off-switch
Click the top-right of the screen. The drop-down panel has a button called "Do Not Disturb". Click it. Now all notifications stop popping up. They still arrive — they just wait quietly in a list. Click the same button again to turn alerts back on. Same idea as Focus mode on a phone.
See what you missed
Press the Windows key and look at the top of the screen. The clock has a little number next to it — that's how many notifications are waiting. Click the clock. The whole list drops down. Click any one to open the app it came from. Click the X to delete it.
Per-app rules
Open Settings → Notifications. Every app that wants to notify you is in a list. Want Slack to keep buzzing but Files to go quiet? Toggle each one separately. There are also two helpful checkboxes: "Show on Lock Screen" (notifications that appear even when your laptop is locked — turn it off for any app that shows sensitive content) and "Show Message Content" (whether the actual text of the message previews on the pop-up).
Pro tip: schedule Do Not Disturb
If you want your computer to go quiet automatically every evening, install gnome-shell-extension-do-not-disturb-while-screen-sharing or use the simpler trick: Settings → Notifications → Do Not Disturb → set hours from 18:00 to 09:00. Now it switches itself off after work and on before you start.
Bonus · not covered in the video
Two safety habits to set up before you continue
You've now found your way around GNOME. Before you move on and start installing software, editing configs, and trying things in the terminal, take ten minutes to put a safety net under your machine. Both habits are pure GUI — no terminal yet. Module 10 covers the full mechanics; this is just the day-one setup.
1. Apply pending updates — Software Updater
Press the Super key (the Windows key), type update, press Enter. Software Updater opens and immediately checks. If there are patches, click Install Now and type your password. Most updates apply live with no reboot — only a new kernel asks for a restart, and the notification will say so.
Make a weekly habit of it: every Monday, open Software Updater, install pending patches. Module 10 covers what runs underneath (the apt catalogue, security vs. other updates, unattended-upgrades for fully-automatic security patches at night).
2. Turn on Déjà Dup — one-time backup setup
Plug in a USB stick or external drive (64 GB free is plenty for a personal kit). Press Super, type backup, press Enter. Déjà Dup (labelled simply "Backups") opens. Three clicks:
- Folders to back up → leave the default (your Home folder).
- Storage location → pick your USB drive.
- Scheduling → toggle Back up automatically on. Daily is the right answer.
That's it. Déjà Dup runs in the background whenever the drive is plugged in. It encrypts the backup with a passphrase you set on first run — write that passphrase down somewhere safe. Module 10 covers the full picture: Timeshift system snapshots, the 3-2-1 rule, restore drills, and Nextcloud as a backup target.
Why do this now, before the rest of the course?
The next few modules will have you installing software, editing config files, and running commands as root. Mistakes happen. With backups on and updates current, the worst-case "I broke my machine" becomes a 10-minute restore instead of a re-install. Cheap insurance.
On a work-managed ministry laptop, IT typically configures updates and backups centrally. You don't need to do this yourself, but understanding what's running underneath is still useful — that's what Module 10 explains.