The new Kali Linux Desktop is incredibly fast and absolutely gorgeous. Here are some tips and tricks to help you find your way around it quickly.

• Desktop Environments, Switching
• HiDPI
• Theme
• Terminal not showing up
• Language Settings
• Feedback

A: Run sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y kali-desktop-xfce in a terminal session to install the new Kali Linux Xfce environment. When asked to select the Default display manager, choose lightdm.

Next, run update-alternatives --config x-session-manager and select Xfce’s option. If you would also like to remove the Gnome window manager, which we do not recommend until you are sure you are ready to, run apt purge --autoremove kali-desktop-gnome. Be sure to run this after setting up Xfce.

Next time you login after a reboot you will have the Xfce theme, if you did not run the update-alternatives command you can choose “Xfce” in the session selector in the top right hand corner of the login screen.

A: If you are having issues, it may be that a config file is not set properly. First, backup .cache, .config, and .local. Next, running rm -r .cache .config .local and then rebooting will likely fix those issues.

A: Just download the Kali GNOME image from kali.org/get-kali/ or simply install the kali-desktop-gnome package.

A: You can run sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y kali-desktop-gnome in a terminal session. Next time you login you can choose “GNOME” in the session selector in the top right hand corner of the login screen.

A: Please see our HiDPI page

A: Press the Print Screen key on your keyboard will launch screenshooter. Pressing enter will take the screenshot. Alternatively you can click on the Screen-Recorder icon in the quick-launch panel (the far right icon in the panel next to the application menu) and choose Screenshot.

A: Pressing Ctrl & Print Screen on your keyboard will launch the screen recorder. Pressing Enter will start recording. Alternatively you can click on the Screen-Recorder icon in the quick-launch panel (the far right icon in the panel next to the application menu).

A: Kali Linux provides two default themes: dark and light. To switch to the light theme, go to Settings > Appearance and:

• In the Style tab, select Kali-Light
• In the Icons tab, select Flat-Remix-Blue-Light

go to Settings > Window Manager and:

• In the Style tab, select Kali-Light

To switch from Light to Dark, just select the Dark themes in these settings.

A: You can move the buttons from one side to the other in Settings > Window Manager > Style > Button Layout and simply drag and drop them to the other side of the word Title.

A: There may be an issue with your graphics and the xfwm4 compositor in use. To disable the compositor, go to Settings > Window Manager Tweaks from the main menu on the desktop and:

• In the Compositor tab, uncheck Enable display compositing

If you want a compositor and the xfwm4 compositor isn’t working for you, you can use an alternative like compton.

• sudo apt install -y compton

Then to have it auto run at login, go to Settings > Session and Startup and:

• In the Application Autostart tab, click Add and enter Compton for the name, and compton for the Command, then click OK, log out, and back in.

Alternatively, if this issue is occurring in a VM disable 3D acceleration in the VM settings.

A: In the LightDM login screen, select the desired language using the language selector on the right hand side of the top panel.

A: The keyboard layout can be changed in Settings > Keyboard > Layout

A: You can install ibus to configure different input methods, for Anthy you also have to install ibus-anthy, i.e. via

• sudo apt install -y ibus ibus-anthy

You can now add and configure various input methods through Settings > iBus Preferences. Once configured, you can use the newly added “iBus” icon on the right hand side of the panel to select the preferred input method. For a list of available input method engines, refer to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intelligent_Input_Bus#Available_input_method_plugins_and_engines

A: Please join us in the Kali Forums. It is the home of a vibrant community and the best place to discuss everything around Kali Linux.

A: Awesome. Not the fact that there is bug but that you found it. Please open a bug report in the Kali Linux Bug Tracker. We really appreciate your help in making Kali Linux better.