How to install the McMojave Linux theme

The McMojave GTK theme allows Linux users to transform their desktop environment into something that looks close to the new Mac OS Mojave update. It supports all Linux desktops (so long as they support the latest GTK2 or GTK3), including Gnome Shell, XFCE4, Cinnamon, and others.

McMojave comes with a few variations, including Mojave Light, Mojave Dark, Mojave Light transparent, Mojave Dark transparent, and more. Here’s how to get the McMojave Linux theme pack working on your Linux PC!

Note: the McMojave theme is built with GTK. As a result, it will not work well with the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment, or the LXQt desktop environment.

Download themes

Each McMojave theme must be downloaded independently, as the creator of the theme does not have a “theme pack” where users can grab all of the different GTK themes in one go.

In this section of the guide, we’ll show you how to get all of the different McMojave themes available.

Mojave Light

The Mojave Light theme is one to install if you prefer the white theme of Mac OS Mojave. To download the McMojave theme, head over to Gnome-look.org and click on “Files” button. Once in the “files” area, search for “Mojave-light-solid.tar.xz” and click the blue button next to it to start the download.

Mojave Light transparent

Like the white look that Mac OS provides but wish it was transparent? If so, get your hands on the Mojave Light transparent theme. It offers up the same style as Mojave Light, but with a see-through twist.

To download Mojave Light transparent, visit the McMojave theme page on Gnome-look.org, click on “Files” and download “Mojave-light.tar.xz.”

Mojave Dark

One of the most exciting things about Mac OS Mojave is the dark theme it ships with. If you’d like to experience this look on your Linux PC, you need to download Mojave Dark. To do this, click here to go to Gnome-look.org. Then, click “Files” and download “Mojave-dark-solid.tar.xz.”

Mojave Dark transparent

The dark McMojave theme looks good, but if you’d prefer the theme be transparent, for added visual effects, consider getting Mojave Dark transparent instead. To download Mojave Dark transparent, click on this link to go to Gnome-look.org. Then, select “Files” and download “Mojave-dark.tar.xz.”

Install the McMojave Linux theme

Now that you’ve downloaded the McMojave theme you’d like to use on your Linux PC, it’s time to install the theme to the system, so that it can be used as the default look of your Linux operating system.

To start the installation process, open up a terminal window. Opening a terminal window can easily be done by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard.

Install McMojave themes system-wide

Installing the McMojave theme system-wide is a good way to ensure that every single user on your Linux PC has access to the themes and can use them, as all these theme files are placed in /usr/share/themes/.

Note: installing GTK themes system-wide involves using superuser. For this reason, be sure that you have access to sudo or su before continuing.

To start the installation process, use the CD command to move into the “Downloads” folder, where the downloaded McMojave TarXZ file is located.

cd ~/Downloads

Inside of the “Downloads” folder, use the tar command to extract the compressed McMojave theme files, so that they can be accessible to the system.

tar xvf Mojave-*.tar.xz

With everything extracted, place the McMojave theme in the theme directory using the mv command.

sudo mv Mojave-* /usr/share/themes/

Install McMojave themes for a single user

To install any McMojave theme for a single user, start out by moving the terminal window from the home directory to the “Downloads” folder with the CD command.

cd ~/Downloads

In the “Downloads” folder, extract the McMojave TarXZ file using the tar command.

tar xvf Mojave-*.tar.xz

With the extraction done, use the mkdir command to create a “.themes” folder in your home (~/) directory.

Note: if your Linux PC already has this folder, the mkdir command will produce an error. This error is harmless and safe to ignore.

mkdir -p ~/.themes

From here, use the mv command to place the theme files into the newly created theme folder.

mv Mojave-* ~/.themes

Enabling McMojave

To use any of the McMojave themes covered in this tutorial, they must be activated. Activating themes on desktop environments are different, depending on what desktop environment, but usually themes are tweaked within the “Appearance” settings of most desktop environments.

Not sure where the “Appearance” settings are on your Linux desktop? Do yourself a favor and check the links below. Each item in the list links to detailed instructions on how to customize and enable custom themes!