Using Pop Shell on other GNOME Desktops

For Ubuntu-Based Distros

In order to build Pop Shell from source, we’ll first need to install the build dependencies, git to clone the repository, and the Extensions app to provide a GUI for enabling/disabling extensions and changing advanced extension settings:

sudo apt install git node-typescript make gnome-shell-extension-prefs

Note: these instructions assume an Ubuntu-based distro; other distributions (see examples below) will use different package managers, and may have different package names.

Next, we’ll clone the repository and enter the directory using these commands:

git clone https://github.com/pop-os/shell.git
cd shell

Then, check out the appropriate branch for your version of Ubuntu. Not all Ubuntu codenames are listed; if your version isn’t listed, use the closest version before it in alphabetical order.

git checkout master_focal # For Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10, 21.04, and 21.10.
git checkout master_jammy # For Ubuntu 22.04, 22.10, and 23.04.
git checkout master_mantic # For Ubuntu 23.10.
git checkout master_noble # For Ubuntu 24.04, 24.10, and later versions.

Finally, we’ll enter the directory for Pop Shell (called “shell”) and build the package:

make local-install

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For Fedora-based distros

Pop Shell is already packaged in the Fedora repostitories:

sudo dnf install gnome-shell-extension-pop-shell

After installing, log out and back in (or reboot), then run the following command to enable the extension:

gnome-extensions enable pop-shell@system76.com

For Arch

Pop Shell is packaged in the AUR, but for the keyboard shortcuts to work, you will need to build it from source like we did above.

In order to build Pop Shell from source, we’ll first need to install the build dependencies and git to clone the repository:

sudo pacman -S git typescript make

Next, we’ll clone the repository using this command:

git clone https://github.com/pop-os/shell.git

Now we’ll enter the directory for Pop Shell (called “shell”) and build the package:

cd shell
make local-install

To remap the launcher to Super+Space:

gsettings --schemadir ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/pop-shell@system76.com/schemas set org.gnome.shell.extensions.pop-shell activate-launcher "['<Super>space']"

You can remap launcher to just Super_L (Left Super key), but it will eat the Super modifier and prevent other Super combinations from working:

gsettings --schemadir ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/pop-shell@system76.com/schemas set org.gnome.shell.extensions.pop-shell activate-launcher "['Super_L']"

To disable the Super key from opening the GNOME overview:

gsettings set org.gnome.mutter overlay-key ''

For Manjaro

Pop Shell is available in the repository:

sudo pamac install gnome-shell-extension-pop-shell

To learn about Pop Shell’s keyboard shortcuts, you can view this support article. You can also view Pop Shell’s source code here.