I'm new to Linux Mint and somehow changed my desktop environment from Cinnamon to GNOME. After rebooting, the interface looked completely different, and I'd like to return to Cinnamon for now. I'm not sure whether Cinnamon was removed or merely changed as the default session, so I'm looking for the safest way to restore it without breaking the system.
3 Answers
First check whether Cinnamon is still installed. At the login screen, select your username, look for a session or gear icon, and choose Cinnamon before entering your password. If Cinnamon isn’t listed, reinstall the desktop with `sudo apt update` followed by `sudo apt install cinnamon`. Avoid removing GNOME packages until Cinnamon is confirmed working, since deleting the wrong dependencies can leave you with a broken session.
Be careful with commands that remove every package matching `*gnome*`. They can remove shared components or leave the login and desktop configuration incomplete. If you’ve already done that and Cinnamon now shows a black screen, use a text console with Ctrl+Alt+F3, log in, and reinstall the session packages with `sudo apt update && sudo apt install --reinstall cinnamon cinnamon-session`. Then reboot and explicitly select Cinnamon at the login screen.
You can use a desktop-environment selector such as `tasksel`, but it’s usually simpler and safer to choose the session from the login screen. Linux Mint Cinnamon editions normally already include the correct Cinnamon session, so switching the session there may be all that’s needed.
I tried removing the GNOME packages and now I reach a Cinnamon login screen, but logging in gives an error saying that `cinnamon-session-cinnamon` cannot be found, followed by a blank screen. I’ll try reinstalling the Cinnamon session from a text console instead of removing more packages.