How to switch the window buttons to the left in Cinnamon?

Question

I tried Ubuntu Tweak and dconf-editor but nothing seemed to help. Perhaps if there is an extension for the same, please share if you happen to know this or any other workaround.

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I notice that this post is tagged "cinnamon." I am not familiar with this desktop environment. I suggest that having the open/close/maximize buttons on the left is part of the cinnamon way of doing things. — grahammechanical, Jan 30 '12 at 13:40

score 28 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 10 '14 at 20:27

28

Cinnamon Settings -> Window -> Left Sided Title Bar buttons. Titlebar section of cinnamon's window settings You might have to restart cinnamon to see the changes; here are some ways to do that:

Right click the panel -> Troubleshoot -> Restart Cinnamon
Open a terminal and type cinnamon --replace &

(No need for gconf-editor!!!)

edited Sep 10 '14 at 20:27

zwets

12,790

answered Sep 02 '12 at 11:03

Maimon Mons

281

score 10 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 11 '17 at 19:00

10

I am guessing it has retained the same gconf settings as gnome-shell since it is just a fork of gnome-shell.

So, you can change the window control buttons layout using gconf-editor .

After installing it, press Alt+F2 and enter gconf-editor.

Then, move to Desktop -> gnome -> shell -> windows, and double click on the entry and enter these for button_layout: close,minimize,maximize:.

All that matters is the position of the :.

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edited Mar 11 '17 at 19:00

Community

1

answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:51

jokerdino

41,762

1

This worked for me, on Linux Mint 13, BUT: I had to restart cinnamon. Run "sudo killall cinnamon && cinnamon --replace &" to restart cinnamon – JDS Aug 22 '12 at 16:50
1

I can't find a 'Shell' under 'Gnome' anymore. – Seth Jan 02 '13 at 02:54
A solution that doesn't include commands is preferable (see Maimon Mons answer) – hytromo May 13 '13 at 11:24

score 8 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

UPDATE FOR 12.10

The other answers didn't work for me in 12.10, so here is how I did it.

There are actually two ways of doing this.

Open "Cinnamon Settings" and click 'Windows'. Here you can change the buttons in the title bar and which side they are on.

enter image description here

You can also use dconf-editor. First install dconf using
```
sudo apt-get install dconf-tools
```

Open dconf-editor and navigate to:

org --> cinnamon --> overrides

Rearrange the value of button-layout from:

:minimize,maximize,close

to

close,minimize,maximize:

enter image description here

This will move the title buttons from the right side to the left in Cinnamon 1.6.7 and Ubuntu 12.10.

Thanks, using dconf-editor, I was able to add a 'stick' button so I could toggle sticky windows (always on visible workspace). Currently not implemented in Cinnamon Settings. — d_rail, Sep 10 '13 at 21:03

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Feb 20 '12 at 19:37

0

In dconfig-editor go to /desktop/cinnamon/windows and alter button_layout.

edited Feb 20 '12 at 19:37

jrg

61,787

answered Feb 20 '12 at 19:34

Marcos

1

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:41

0

It's in each theme itself. For instance go to usr/themes/Ambiance open the document Ambiance as administrator. At the bottom of the document you'll see this ButtonLayout=close,minimize,maximize:

move the colon to the front of close like this ButtonLayout=:close,minimize,maximize

answered Jan 30 '12 at 13:41

asadullahibnrob

1

Its already set to :close,minimize,maximize but still it is showing on the right hand site. – subeh.sharma Jan 30 '12 at 13:47

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 30 '12 at 14:47

0

this one still works.

press alt+f2, go to Apps-metacity-general, edit the "button layout" into this "close,minimize,maximize:"

it will change right away

answered Jan 30 '12 at 14:47

dsaint

774

How to switch the window buttons to the left in Cinnamon?

6 Answers6

UPDATE FOR 12.10