gsettings

GNOME desktop configuration command-line interface

TLDR

List every schema installed on the system

$ gsettings list-schemas

List the keys a schema defines

$ gsettings list-keys [org.gnome.desktop.interface]

Read a key

$ gsettings get [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme]

Write a key

$ gsettings set [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme] [prefer-dark]

Show what a key is for

$ gsettings describe [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme]

Show the values a key will accept

$ gsettings range [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme]

Check whether a key is writable or locked down by policy

$ gsettings writable [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme]

Watch a key and print every change as it happens

$ gsettings monitor [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme]

Dump every key and value in one schema

$ gsettings list-recursively [org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings]

Undo a single customization

$ gsettings reset [org.gnome.desktop.interface] [color-scheme]

Undo every customization in a schema

$ gsettings reset-recursively [org.gnome.desktop.interface]

Use schemas from a directory that is not installed system-wide

$ gsettings --schemadir [path/to/schemas] list-schemas

gsettings is the command-line interface for GSettings, GNOME's configuration system. It provides schema-validated access to dconf settings, ensuring type safety and valid values.Settings are organized in schemas (like org.gnome.desktop.interface) containing typed keys. Unlike direct dconf access, gsettings validates values against the schema before applying them.

PARAMETERS

get SCHEMA KEY

Get the value of a key

set SCHEMA KEY VALUE

Set a key's value (must match schema type)

reset SCHEMA KEY

Reset key to schema default

list-schemas

List installed schemas

list-keys SCHEMA

List keys in a schema

list-recursively [SCHEMA]

List all settings (optionally filtered by schema)

range SCHEMA KEY

Show valid values for a key

describe SCHEMA KEY

Show human-readable description

monitor SCHEMA [KEY]

Watch for changes

COMMON SCHEMAS

org.gnome.desktop.interface - Desktop appearance settingsorg.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences - Window manager preferencesorg.gnome.shell - GNOME Shell settings

INSTALL

sudo apt install libglib2.0-bin

sudo dnf install glib

sudo apk add glib

brew install glib

nix profile install nixpkgs#glib

CAVEATS

Only works with applications using GSettings (primarily GNOME). Some settings require logout or restart to take effect. Schema must be installed for settings to work.

HISTORY

GSettings was introduced in GLib 2.26 (2010) as a replacement for GConf. It uses dconf as its backend while providing schema validation, making configuration more robust and introspectable.