Linux Mint is an excellent community-driven Linux distro based on Ubuntu. It is very popular among beginners because Linux Mint is very easy to use. Though it has Debian in its core, the user interface is quite modern and beautiful. It is mostly because of its default desktop environment Cinnamon. This open-source desktop environment can be used on other Linux distributions. Cinnamon is almost similar to Xfce and GNOME 2 because of its conservative design model. But since its release in 2011, it has got huge coverage because of its ease-of-use. The active developer community of Cinnamon is relentlessly developing amazing Cinnamon themes for the mass users. These Linux Mint themes can change your desktop and create such a gorgeous look.
Best Cinnamon Themes for Linux
As Cinnamon is an open-source platform, creative developers have a huge scope for creating themes for this desktop environment. For this reason, there are more than a thousand themes available for it. It’s very difficult to try out each and every theme to feed your eyes.
This is why we have made a list of the 15 best Cinnamon themes for your Linux desktop. We know that everyone’s taste is different. So, on this list, you will find different types of themes. Some will suit the best for the office workers while others will be liked by the young generation.
1. McOS
This is a specially designed Cinnamon theme looking like Apple’s macOS for Linux users. The latest version 2.0, is a reengineering of macOS Mojave. This Linux Mint theme was developed with Manjaro Cinnamon, but it is totally compatible with any distribution of Linux.
The default Nemo file manager has been tweaked a bit in this theme to look like macOS Finder. Some media apps automatically get dark mode with this theme to get blended with the rest of the user interface. You can also manually enable a dark theme for specific apps.
amazing distros and flexibility that no one wants to go back to Windows. But there are definitely some people who miss the user interface of Windows OS. This Cinnamon theme is for them. Though this tool will not give you the complete vanilla Windows 10 look, it will bring the flat vibe of Microsoft’s flagship software.
After installing this theme, your desktop will look like a cross-breed of Windows and Linux. The title bar buttons have a touch of bold and bright colors. On the other hand, the taskbar has a flat look to it to resemble almost a Windows desktop.
most popular base-theme Adapta. It fixes some missing things from the vanilla version of Adapta. It is highly inspired by the popular Adapta fork Adapta Colorpack from Ivankra. This theme has a lot of customization features than other Linux Mint themes that will change the entire look of your desktop.
It features 19 unique accent colors to choose from, including red, green, blue, pink, etc. Each color variant has six different flavors, such as light, dark, compact, dark compact, and light window decorations. Roboto or Noto Sans suits best with this theme, but you can use any of your favorite typefaces.
Zorin OS. It is compatible even with the latest version of Linux Mint with Cinnamon desktop installed. The entire UI is pitch black with red accents.
If you set it up with some red and black wallpapers, it will look dope. The icons of the preinstalled apps are customized to suit this theme. But you can always install a custom icon pack to soothe your eyes. This simple and elegant-looking theme is very popular among coders.
Linux Mint. It has a beautiful bright green accent to it, which blends nicely with the classic Mint color. The user interface is quite simple yet aesthetically pleasant. The start menu button is actually a Linux Mint logo.
If you set it up with a green techy wallpaper and custom icon pack, it will bring a fresh vibe. The power and lock buttons have a dark and flat design. The taskbar of this theme is not extraordinary. But you can use custom widgets to make it even more gorgeous.
14. YouTube
Never be confused with the video-sharing site! This is a very interesting theme, just like its name. It will bring the YouTube ambiance onto your Linux desktop. From the taskbar to the application windows, each and every panel is transparent in this theme. There is a red accent painted over the transparent panels.
The taskbar has a bold red borderline to distinguish itself from the desktop area. Don’t expect some Google-inspired icons in this theme. The icons are kept simple and minimal. But the overall appearance of this theme is so good that you will bound to love it anyway.
15. BlueSky
BlueSky is one of the most elegant Linux Mint themes available out there. The color combination is soothing and classy. Users of all ages tend to like this theme. This Cinnamon theme is based on Arc, which is one of the most popular base-theme. BlueSky has dark and light modes from which the users can choose their style.
The stylings can be tweaked by going to the settings menu. It inherits all the useful features and customizations from its parent. For the launcher icons, it uses the White Pixel icon pack. This flat theme can be your next choice for your desktop.
How To Customize the Look of Cinnamon
Since Linux Mint is a lightweight distribution of Linux, many people have a common misconception that Mint’s default desktop manager, which is Cinnamon, doesn’t offer a beautiful user interface. Well, it’s partially true in the case of the stock or vanilla look. But as you can see on the above list that Cinnamon offers a huge library of beautiful and modern looking themes for your desktop.
You can easily install those themes and get a unique and gorgeous look. Sometimes the downloaded packages of Cinnamon themes for Linux aren’t enough for customization. If you want granular control over your desktop, you should always change almost every element of the desktop environment because the Cinnamon desktop environment offers great flexibility in customizing its default look.
Changing the Wallpaper
Changing the wallpaper is very basic but undoubtedly the most effective way of customization. You can download free HD and 4K wallpapers of different styles from the internet. If you custom search on Google about it, you can even get wallpapers that match the color scheme of your theme. A little knowledge about photography and GIMP can help you bypass this downloading thing and make your own wallpaper.
To change the existing wallpaper of your desktop, right-click on the desktop and then select the Change Desktop Background option from the drop-down menu. It will open a window, and from here, you can add new wallpapers from your computer’s storage. The Settings tab will be very useful if you want to change the behavior of your new wallpaper. Just tinker around a bit with this to find the best settings.
Editing the Panel
Some Windows kinda people prefer it calling the taskbar. Anyway, the Cinnamon desktop offers great flexibility in customizing the panel. To change the panel settings, you have to right-click on the existing panel and select the Panel Settings option from the menu.
Now a new window will open with a lot of customization features. From here, you can change the panel height, behavior, icons, and even add new panels. This customization will not only change the look and feel of your desktop but also boost your workflow.
Adding the Desklets
Desklets are useful desktop widgets to quickly view different things like time, date, temperature, computer resources, etc. But the most important aspect of these desklets is the ability to beautify your desktop in an aesthetic way.
There are some desklets preinstalled with the Cinnamon desktop environment, while you can download other desklets from the internet. To add a desklet in Cinnamon, you have to right-click on the desktop and select Add Desklets option. The Settings tab will even help you with changing the behavior of the desklets.
Tweaking the Login Screen
This thing is not customized by most of the Cinnamon themes users. But believe me, by customizing the login screen of your desktop, you can easily bring a very own type of look into your computer. Though the login screen is not a thing to use for hours of hours, anyone seeing you logging into your computer may get surprised by this customization.
To customize the login screen, just go to the menu and then enter into the Administration category. Now click on the Login Window option; a new window will open. The pop-up window will let you change the different parameters of your login screen.
Final Thoughts
The above-mentioned Linux Mint themes are both beautiful and classy. The most important fact is that all of the above themes are recently updated. I think if you try out these 15 Cinnamon themes, you will get your desired daily driver. All the themes are open-source, and this is why you can tweak them if you want granular control over your desktop. As I said earlier, every person’s taste is different. So you can suggest your favorite Cinnamon themes below so that others can try that out.