🖥️ gnome-ui-backup

Backup and restore your GNOME desktop look — extensions, themes, icons, and fonts — across any supported Linux distro.

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✨ What it does

These two scripts let you clone your exact GNOME visual setup to a new machine or fresh install — without touching your apps or packages.

What gets saved	What gets skipped
✅ GNOME Shell extensions	❌ Installed applications
✅ Extension settings (dconf)	❌ System packages
✅ Themes	❌ App configs
✅ Icon packs
✅ Interface & WM preferences
✅ Segoe UI font

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🐧 Supported distros

Distro family	Includes
Arch	Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, Garuda
Debian/Ubuntu	Ubuntu, Debian, Pop!_OS, Mint, Elementary
Fedora	Fedora
openSUSE	openSUSE Leap / Tumbleweed

Cross-distro restore is supported. If you back up on Arch and restore on Ubuntu, the scripts will warn you and still apply themes, icons, extensions and fonts correctly.

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🚀 Usage

1. Backup

Run this on your source machine:

chmod +x gnome-backup.sh
./gnome-backup.sh

This creates a ~/gnome-ui-backup/ folder with everything needed.

2. Copy to new machine

Transfer the backup folder however you like:

# Example with rsync
rsync -av ~/gnome-ui-backup/ user@newmachine:~/gnome-ui-backup/

# Or with scp
scp -r ~/gnome-ui-backup/ user@newmachine:~/

3. Restore

Run this on your target machine:

chmod +x restore-gnome.sh
./restore-gnome.sh

The restore script will automatically:

• Detect your distro and use the right package manager
• Install GNOME Tweaks if not already present
• Download and install the Segoe UI font if missing
• Restore all extensions, themes, icons, and dconf settings
• Re-enable each extension
• Restart GNOME Shell

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📦 What gets installed automatically

GNOME Tweaks

Used to apply themes and fonts. Installed via your distro's package manager if not found.

Segoe UI font

Installed from mrbvrz/segoe-ui-linux if not already present on the system. Includes the full font family with emoji and symbol support.

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📁 Backup folder structure

~/gnome-ui-backup/
├── distro.txt                  # Source distro ID
├── pkg_manager.txt             # Package manager used
├── extensions.txt              # List of enabled extensions
├── extensions/                 # Extension files
├── extensions-settings.ini     # dconf extension settings
├── interface.ini               # dconf interface settings
├── wm-preferences.ini          # dconf window manager settings
├── themes/                     # ~/.themes
└── icons/                      # ~/.icons

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⚠️ Notes

• The scripts only back up user-level themes and icons (~/.themes, ~/.icons). System-wide themes in /usr/share/themes are not included.
• If an extension can't be re-enabled during restore (e.g. incompatible GNOME Shell version), it will warn you and continue.
• If GNOME Shell can't be restarted automatically, just log out and back in — all changes will apply.

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📄 License

MIT