A tour of the Ubuntu desktop

The first time you see a new desktop, every corner looks like it might be important. On Ubuntu there are really only a handful of places to learn, and once you know them you can start any program, find any window and check your Wi-Fi in a few seconds. This lesson is a guided tour of that handful of places, so the screen stops feeling crowded and starts feeling familiar.

What you are looking at

Ubuntu draws its screen using a desktop environment called GNOME. The desktop environment is the part of the operating system that gives you panels, menus, icons and windows to click. It is the same job the taskbar and Start menu do on Windows, arranged in a different way.

Think of the desktop as the front of a shop. There is a sign at the top with the time and a few controls (the top bar), a shelf of your favourite goods down one side (the dock), a catalogue of everything the shop sells (Show Apps), and a big counter in the middle where the work happens (your windows). Nothing here is hidden once you know where the shelves are.

The top bar

The strip along the top of the screen is always there. At the left is Activities. In the centre is the clock. At the right are small icons that together form the system menu. The top bar also shows the name of the app you are currently using, so you can always tell which window is in front.

• Activities opens the overview: a view of all your open windows, the dock, and a search box. You can also open it by pressing the Super key, which is the key with the Windows logo or a similar symbol, usually between Ctrl and Alt at the bottom left of the keyboard.
• The clock opens a small panel with a calendar and your notifications. A notification is a short message from the system or an app, for example “Software updates are available”.
• The system menu is the group of icons at the right. Click any of them to open a panel with quick switches for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound volume, screen brightness, battery information and power options such as Lock and Power Off.

The dock and Show Apps

The Dock is the column of icons down the left side. It has two jobs. First, it holds your favourite apps, so that one click starts them. Second, it shows which apps are running: a small dot beside an icon means that app has a window open. Click an icon once to start the app, or to bring its window to the front if it is already running.

At the bottom of the dock is the Show Apps button, drawn as a grid of dots. It opens a full list of everything installed on the computer, in alphabetical order. This is the place to look when an app is not in the dock. To keep an app in the dock, right-click its icon and choose Add to Favourites. To remove it from the dock again, right-click and choose Remove from Favourites. Removing an icon from the dock does not delete the app.

Windows: moving, resizing and switching

A Window is a rectangle on screen that holds one app or one folder. The bar along the top of a window is its title bar. Hold the left mouse button on the title bar and drag to move the window. Drag an edge or corner to change its size. At the right end of the title bar there are small buttons: minimise (hide the window, keeping the app running), maximise (fill the screen) and close (end the window). Double-clicking the title bar also maximises it or restores it.

To switch between windows, hold Alt and press Tab. Each Tab press moves along the row of open apps, and releasing Alt picks one. You can also press Super to open the overview and click the window you want. Both methods are worth knowing, because the overview shows pictures of the windows, and Alt+Tab is quicker with the keyboard.

Workspaces: extra desktops

A Workspace is a separate desktop for your windows. Think of it as having several tables to spread your papers on, instead of piling everything onto one. You might keep your browser on workspace 1 and a document on workspace 2, so that neither window gets in the way.

Open the overview with the Super key. Small pictures of your workspaces appear along the top of the screen. Click one to switch to it. You can drag a window from the middle of the overview onto another workspace to move it there. If you drag a window onto the empty workspace at the end, Ubuntu makes a new one. Workspaces are optional. Many people never use them, and that is fine.

Notifications and calming interruptions

When something happens, a banner appears briefly at the top of the screen. Click the clock to read your recent notifications, and click the small cross beside one to clear it. The same panel has a Do Not Disturb switch, which stops banners from popping up while you concentrate. Notifications are information, not emergencies. Updates can wait until you have saved your work.