Disable the transparent Terminal background in Linux Mint

Martin Brinkmann
Nov 26, 2017
Updated • Jan 4, 2018
Linux, Linux Mint
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13

If you use the terminal on a system running Linux Mint, you will have noticed that the Terminal window is transparent on the system.

While some Linux Mint users may not use the Terminal at all or rarely only, others may use it frequently.

Whenever I use the Terminal on Linux Mint, I find its default design, and here specifically the use of transparency, irritating.

You may feel the same, especially if you use a  wallpaper that is not all black and gray, but uses other colors. The default level of transparency is set to a low value, but it still gets in the way in my opinion.

Since I do capture screenshots sometimes as well, I dislike the transparency of the Terminal window as well as it makes the screenshots look less professional.

Disable transparent Terminal background in Linux Mint

linux mint non transparent terminal

When I first started using Linux Mint, I searched for quite some time to find a solution to turn off the transparency of the Terminal window.

I checked the system settings, installed different themes, and naturally also in the Terminal options. It took a while before I realized that the transparency of the Terminal window was linked to a particular Terminal profile.

Here is what you need to do to disable the transparency of the Terminal window on Linux Mint:

  1. Open a Terminal window on the device. Terminal is linked in the taskbar by default.
  2. Select Edit > Profile Preferences from the menu at the top.
  3. Switch to the colors tab when the "Editing Profile" window opens.
  4. There you find the option to disable "use transparent background" to turn off transparency completely.
  5. You can alternatively use the slider to reduce it, or, if you like it a lot, increase the transparency instead.
  6. The third-option that you have is to link the use of transparency to the system theme that is used.
  7. Select the close button to close the window once you are done.

If you have disabled transparency, you will notice that the effect is no longer applied to the Terminal window on the system.

Now You: Do you have other productivity tips for Linux?

Summary
Disable the transparent Terminal background in Linux Mint
Article Name
Disable the transparent Terminal background in Linux Mint
Description
Find out how to disable the transparent Terminal background on machines running a recent version of the Linux distribution Mint.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Linux lover said on June 18, 2019 at 11:31 am
    Reply

    Martin is a hero first commenter is a ***, i am very grateful because i am total newbee i was fighting it on kali but i failed, i spammed my Linux guru but he dished me: i am busy use google retard was his reply. So i googled it( i hate google and Microsoft dumped MS google is the next thing to dump !!!) and i found this tutorial. It takes time and love to make these things and the first commenter is a ***. [Editor: had to remove some parts of the comments, please no personal attacks. Thank you]

  2. Seadude said on April 15, 2019 at 12:04 am
    Reply

    Thanks. I too find that Transparent terminal very stupid and annoying!

  3. stevedonato said on February 21, 2019 at 12:03 am
    Reply

    Linux mint 18.2 has no such option as ‘colors’ under preferences, only one called ‘color’ which has nothing to do with the terminal and has NO option releating to “use transparent background”? So where is it on linux mint 18.2 cinnamon? And nothing called Appearences like in XFCE either. I also looked in system settings all catagories but nothing?

  4. Anonymous said on December 10, 2018 at 1:46 am
    Reply

    Thanks so much for this tip. I have searched the settings for the past two days trying to figure out where to change this setting.

  5. Stefan said on November 28, 2017 at 1:50 am
    Reply

    Thank You, Martin ! Transparency has annoyed me a lot to be honest.

  6. me said on November 27, 2017 at 12:07 pm
    Reply

    Martin is doing all of us a favor by sharing useful tips.
    Keep on the good work!

    Those who don’t like it – the internet is a big place – go elsewhere.

  7. intelligencia said on November 27, 2017 at 3:59 am
    Reply

    @Terri White

    Why on earth did you come for Mr. Brinkmann?
    It is if you personally attacked him.
    All he did was give a tip for us Linux users!
    Personally I do not mind having the transparent Terminal background . . . but others may find it annoying.

    Mr. Brinkmann: I and many others around the globe Appreciate and Embrace what you do for all of the subscribers/viewers out there . . for taking the time to help us with all things concerning computers and the Internet.
    A BIG Thank You!
    i
    Eastern Seaboard, United States of America

  8. SEO Mafia said on November 27, 2017 at 12:43 am
    Reply

    We GNU/Linux – Not SystemD Init – Now !!

  9. TWP said on November 26, 2017 at 10:46 pm
    Reply

    You don’t mention which Desktop Environment (DE) you are using.

    I use Linux Miint XFCE and see no transparency in the terminal window…

    1. mikef90000 said on November 30, 2017 at 12:28 am
      Reply

      Go to edit > preferences > appearance and you will see a transparency setting slider.
      I don’t remember what the default setting is, as my fingers automatically remove the very annoying transparent background when LM is installed. :-)

  10. Terri white said on November 26, 2017 at 9:28 pm
    Reply

    Really? Transparent terminal make your photos less professional?
    And that becomes a reason for an article this trivial?
    Sheez

    1. P. M. Claarke said on November 27, 2017 at 11:01 am
      Reply

      They would already look more professional if it was just the terminal window without the menu bar.

      Last time I checked alt+printscr works on *NIX as well.

    2. Valrobex said on November 27, 2017 at 1:19 am
      Reply

      @ Terri white,

      Where are you coming from? In case you didn’t read the article, Martin simply described the motivating factor that led him to figure out how to reset the terminal background in Linux Mint. He then instructs the reader how to change it. Even though it isn’t a significant “techy” article it demonstrates one of the outstanding attributes of Ghacks. Martin writes for a wide population of readers: very technically based readers, educated laymen, novice techies, and interested readers who know very little. There’s something for just about everyone who has interest in computer technology.

      If an article isn’t “significant” enough for you simply move on without displaying your ignorance by rudely commenting about it.

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