Where are gedit's preferences?

Question

This is incredibly weird. I don't see "preferences" in any of my gedit menus. I'm running Version 3.8.3. All I want to do is show line numbers, but I can't do that without preferences.

Where the heck are they hiding?

note: I did remove indicator-appmenus because I dislike having the menus detached from the window.

2015 Update: somehow this is being flagged as a dupe of Enable line numbers in gedit which is a little confusing. The solution is the same but the questions are different.

Solution 1

I'm not sure how to get preferences back in your menus, but you can use gsettings to display line numbers. Enter this command into the terminal:

gsettings set org.gnome.gedit.preferences.editor display-line-numbers true

In case you need to change other settings for gedit, you can use this command to find quite a few that are available: (thanks to this answer)

gsettings list-recursively | grep -i gedit

Solution 2

if you are using GNOME 3, you can access the preferences via the top menu.

you should have "activities" on the top left corner of your screen. on the right side of activities, you will have gedit. click on it, and you should see the preferences.

Solution 3

To get the preferences entry back to the edit menu perform the following command in a terminal:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides '@a{sv} {"Gtk/ShellShowsAppMenu": <int32 0>}'

The problem results from Gnome3 putting the preferences menu entry to the top menu.

Solution 4

Just type Alt+E, then again E when you are in gedit. A new window called "gedit Preferences" should appear.

Solution 5

Faced similar problem...got the preference option in the activities bar in the left hand corner..I am using gedit v3.22.1

gedit preference setting

View more solutions

Comments

[Amanda]

No dice, I'm afraid.

[Radu Rădeanu]

@Amanda I am using gedit 3.8.3 in Ubuntu 13.10 and this is how I open preferences in gedit. I made you also a picture to prove you.

[Amanda]

I believe you, but my edit menu ends at "Insert Date and Time"

[OSE]

@Amanda You can also use gsettings to change gedit's settings.

[Amanda]

Boom. @OSE ... you should make that an answer.

[Irfan]

I do see preferences, but clicking it doesn't bring up anything.

[Amanda]

@Power-Inside if you've got a top menu but the "preferences" menu item isn't doing anything, you probably want to start a new question.

[BufBills]

cannot believe why gedit became so hard to use these days....

[jozxyqk]

ew! yet another reason for me not to return to gnome. why move preferences to a mac style location?? absurd

[Admin]

+1 because this answer is valid for Gedit in GNOME 3.12 and probably for newer releases also. Gedit in newer releases doesn't seem to have the preferences dialog as described here.

[dschinn1001]

@Amanda + it can be that gedit has different outfit in menu, whether you use Gnome, or Unity or simply xfce4 (to save memory).

[crobicha]

Thank you, this was the only solution that worked for me (using CentOS but solution is the same). Can't believe this is hidden by default!!

[hata]

It helps me. Thank you! I found a lot of tips for accessing through "edit" menu, however I couldn't find on my Ubuntu GNOME 16.04. I couldn't imagine that it moved onto a global menu.

[WinEunuuchs2Unix]

Although this is true, it doesn't explain how to access preferences when using gedit with super user sudo powers.

[user1708042]

launching it with sudo the preferences are in the standard three-bar, and not the top bar, and preferences are locked (gedit 3.30 under Arch)

[WinEunuuchs2Unix]

@user1708042 You can have sudo -H gedit inherit user preferences though: askubuntu.com/questions/270006/…

[蔡宗容]

The best excellent solution without the command line!!

[thybzi]

That is the best answer for me! No need to use cli or disable ui extensions. Just right-click gedit icon in panel - and you got it! You just saved my day, thanks a lot!

[Jasen]

"top menu" is the bit on the gnome desktop top bar that says "Text Editor" or "gedit" wnen gedit is focussed

[Olumide]

I don't get this mad dash by designers to remove the menu. Leave the menu alone. Its useful