Ubuntu is a Debian-based operating system that has become one of the most popular Linux distributions for the desktop. Since it has a Linux kernel at its core, it follows the same code of conduct and public license as Linux, so it’s completely free to use and users can run, copy, distribute, and develop its software. This makes it an extremely reliable and safe alternative, and makes it less prone to bugs and errors.

Ubuntu is bundled with so many amazing features and it’s no wonder it has gained such a large following. One such feature that is very much appreciated by all users is its customizable and extensible nature. Ubuntu is extremely easy to configure and tweak, and this is a huge plus as users want to be able to customize their desktops to suit their interests. There are hundreds of Linux themes available and the number continues to grow.

A popular choice among users is the Papirus Icon Theme, a polished and well-designed theme that is available on multiple desktop environments including Unity, GNOME, Cinnamon, XFCE, KDE and so on.

Therefore, the topic of our discussion in this article revolves around installing Papirus on our Ubuntu systems, as well as looking at the appearance of the interface after installation.

What is the Papirus Icon Theme?

Papirus Icon Theme is an open source and free icon theme specially designed for Linux. It was derived from the Paper Icon Theme developed by Sam Hewitt. Papirus is available for various desktop environments including Unity, GNOME, Pantheon, Cinnamon, XFCE, KDE and many others. It’s a huge icon set that has nearly a thousand icons in its bundle. Known for its polished and stylish look, Papirus is available in four flavors, the Papirus, Papirus dark, Papirus light, and ePapirus (This applies to the Elementary and Pantheon desktop environments).

Requirements: Installation of the GNOME Tweak Tool

Before we proceed with installing Papirus, we must first install the GNOME Tweaks tool, which, as the name suggests, is a tool for configuring the GNOME desktop environment. The GNOME Tweak Tool has a variety of features installed in it and allows users to change various settings of Ubuntu, such as: it can be easily installed with the apt command. To install it, open the terminal via Ctrl + Alt + T or Ubuntu Dash and just run the following commands in the terminal:

Install Papirus Icon Theme

There are three main methods that Papirus Icon Theme can be used to install on Ubuntu. Let’s look at all three:

1) Install Papirus with PPA

Papirus can be easily installed through its official repository, or PPA for short. To do this, we use the apt command again. Enter the following command to add the Papirus repository to your Ubuntu system:

Next we need to run the update command so that our system’s entire apt cache is up to date and there are no problems later. This can be done by running the following command:

Finally, run the following command to install the Papirus Icon Theme on Ubuntu 20.04:

2) Install Papirus using the installer script

Another method of installing Papirus is to use the installer script which installs the latest version of Papirus directly from the GitHub repository. To do this, we first have to run the update command again so that the entire system cache is up to date.

Next, enter the following command in the terminal to install Papirus:

3) Install Papirus with Debian file

For users who are not familiar with the terminal, they can also use the Debian file to install Papirus on their systems. Users can download the .deb packages from here. Download the latest file for your Ubuntu 20.04.

To install Papirus just click on the Debian file, then click To install.

This will install the Papirus Icon Theme

Setting up Papirus on Ubuntu

After you’ve installed all of the packages, find the GNOME Tweaks tool that you installed on the Ubuntu dash and open it.

Next, click on the Appearance section of the Tweaks Tool.

Select the desired variant from the four options of the Papirus Icon Theme (note: the ePapirus Variant is for Elementary and Pantheon desktops).

You will immediately see that the changes are being made.

Files:

Application list:

Main screen:

Adding Papirus Icon Theme to Ubuntu

Ubuntu is extremely customizable and gives users a lot of freedom. Users can tweak and change their interface settings, move the dock left to right, top to bottom, change the font and background image, and much more. One such example is changing icons that originally came with Ubuntu. Papirus Icon Theme is a very popular icon set that is very popular in the industry for its nifty and polished styles. It has several flavors that users can install and is available for almost all popular Linux desktop environments.