Reference

gnome-shell(1)

Graphical shell for the GNOME desktop

Name

gnome-shell - Graphical shell for the GNOME desktop

SYNOPSIS

gnome-shell [OPTION...]

DESCRIPTION

GNOME shell provides core user interface functions for the GNOME 3 desktop, like switching to windows and launching applications. GNOME shell takes advantage of the capabilities of modern graphics hardware and introduces innovative user interface concepts to provide a visually attractive and easy to use experience.

gnome-shell is a required component of the GNOME desktop, i.e. it is listed in the RequiredComponents field of /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session. It is started in the window manager phase of the session.

OPTIONS

--wayland

Run as a wayland compositor

--display-server

Run as a full display server, rather than nested

--no-x11

Run wayland compositor without starting Xwayland

--wayland-display=DISPLAY

Wayland display name to use

--mode=MODE

Use a specific mode, e.g. "gdm" for login screen

--list-modes

List possible modes and exit

--version

Print version and exit

--help

Display help and exit

FILES

/usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session, /usr/share/applications/org.gnome.Shell.desktop.

BUGS

The bug tracker can be reached by visiting the website <https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/issues>. Before sending a bug report, please verify that you have the latest version of gnome-shell. Many bugs (major and minor) are fixed at each release, and if yours is out of date, the problem may already have been solved.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For further information, visit the website <https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/blob/main/README.md>.

History

--display-server since Debian 12 (Bookworm); --list-modes since Debian 8 (Jessie); --mode since Debian 8 (Jessie); --no-x11 since Debian 12 (Bookworm); --wayland since Debian 12 (Bookworm); --wayland-display since Debian 12 (Bookworm).

--clutter-display until Debian 11 (Bullseye); --display until Debian 13 (Trixie); --nested until Debian 13 (Trixie); --replace until Debian 13 (Trixie); --screen until Debian 11 (Bullseye); --sm-client-id until Debian 13 (Trixie); --sm-disable until Debian 13 (Trixie); --sm-save-file until Debian 13 (Trixie); --sync until Debian 13 (Trixie); --x11 until Debian 13 (Trixie); -d until Debian 13 (Trixie); -r until Debian 13 (Trixie).