For Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch and Manjaro Linux, etc with GNOME Desktop, there’s an extension to automatically trigger the ‘Activities’ overview when there’s no active windows on screen.
As you may know, GNOME desktop logs into overview screen instead of blank screen since version 40. Many users do not like this feature, and Ubuntu even disable the function out-of-the-box.
For those however like this feature, “Auto Activities” is a good choice to extend the function. With it, GNOME also automatically goes into overview when all app windows are closed or minimized. Or, it can go into app grid screen (trigger ‘Show Applications’) automatically instead.
Install & Configure Auto Activities
This extension at the moment supports GNOME from version 42 to 47, meaning Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 24.10, Fedora 39/40/41, RHEL 9, Debian 12, Arch/Manjaro, etc with GNOME are supported.
To install it in Ubuntu 22.04+, do:
- Search for and install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software.
- Open Extension Manager and navigate to ‘Browse’ tab, finally search and install “Auto Activities”.
To install on other Linux with GNOME, just go to the link below in web browser and toggle the ON/OFF switch.
After installation, close all app windows to see the magic! Or, search for and install “Gnome Extensions” app from Gnome Software.
Then use either “Gnome Extensions” or “Extension Manager” to open the extension configuration page. There you can do:
- enable “Detect Minimized Windows” so the function works when all windows minimized.
- or enable “Show App Grid instead of Overview” so it triggers “Show Applications” instead.
That’s all. Enjoy!
