Ubuntu 18.04: Change color of window title bar

Question

Is it possible to make the color of the title bar of the active window different from the rest?

Right now it's black for all windows in my default set-up. I am unable to determine if I can start typing as I don't know which the focused window is.

Solution 1

This works for me (Ubuntu 18.04 + Gnome 3.28.1):

nano ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css

To customize the active title bar background colors use .titlebar and .backdrop (for inactive windows).

.titlebar {
    background: #3089FF;
    color:white; 
}

.titlebar:backdrop  {
    background: #777777;
    color:white;
} 

After saving the file, remember refresh gnome using this command:

setsid gnome-shell --replace

Solution 2

A very simple way to make the color of the title bar different, is to choose a different theme, that does take this aspect into account (why the default one doesn't, beats me).

To change the default theme, install Gnome Tweaks (sudo apt install gnome-tweaks), then choose a theme like Adwaita:

Comments

[trozen]

Maybe someone will find that useful: for Ubuntu 20.04 I've forked and modified the original yaru theme, just clone github.com/trozen/yaru and follow install instructions in CONTRIBUTING.md

[JonnyRaa]

I also had a gtk-4.0 folder here, however putting it in there has no effect, 3.0 is the way to go. Thanks! You can also restart gnome shell with Alt+F2 and then typing 'r'

[Rudy Vissers]

To avoid any misunderstanding, on Ubuntu 18.04.1, the file ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css did not exist. You have to create the file. The configuration above does paint the active title bar (the window that has the focus) in a nice blue and the not active in grey. The text is in white. It is a good solution and IMHO better than replacing the theme Ambiance by Adwaita. Certainly a question of taste.

[Rudy Vissers]

@Wonko the Sane, the color of the title bar of the file manager (Nautilus) does not change and it is of course annoying.

[Wonko the Sane]

@RudyVissers Agreed. Perhaps someone who works on the Nautilus project can assist with that.

[Puspam]

This trick worked. Thanks a lot.

[Grant Birchmeier]

Works in 20.04. Also should be explicitly noted: You have to create gtk.css if it's not already present.