How to Install Grub Customizer on Ubuntu (24.04, 22.04)

Grub Customizer provides a graphical GRUB editor and boot manager for Ubuntu, replacing direct configuration file edits with a point-and-click interface. You can install Grub Customizer on Ubuntu to change boot order in dual-boot systems, adjust the boot menu timeout, select a default operating system, and apply custom themes. The Daniel Richter PPA provides the package for download on Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04 since Grub Customizer is not in Ubuntu’s default repositories. The steps below cover the full process from PPA setup through configuration, management, and troubleshooting.

The Daniel Richter PPA publishes Grub Customizer packages for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (noble) and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (jammy). Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (resolute) does not have a build yet, so the installation steps below apply to 24.04 and 22.04 only. See the troubleshooting section for 26.04 workarounds.

If you are using Linux Mint instead, use our guide on installing Grub Customizer on Linux Mint.

Install Grub Customizer on Ubuntu

Update Ubuntu Packages Before Installing Grub Customizer

Refresh package metadata and install pending updates before adding the PPA. This reduces dependency conflicts during installation.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

This guide uses sudo for commands that need administrative privileges. If your account is not configured for sudo yet, use the root account or follow our guide on adding a new user to sudoers on Ubuntu.

Add the Grub Customizer PPA

Grub Customizer is not available in Ubuntu’s default repositories. Use the Daniel Richter PPA to install the package on Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04.

Add the PPA to your system:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer -y

The -y flag automatically confirms adding the repository, which is useful for scripted installations. If you prefer to review the PPA details before confirming, omit this flag.

Refresh the APT cache so Ubuntu can read the new package list:

sudo apt update

The PPA appears in the update output as a new source:

Get:1 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/danielrichter2007/grub-customizer/ubuntu [your-release] InRelease [18.x kB]
Get:2 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/danielrichter2007/grub-customizer/ubuntu [your-release]/main amd64 Packages [6xx B]
Reading package lists...

Verify the PPA provides the grub-customizer package:

apt-cache policy grub-customizer

Expected output:

grub-customizer:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 5.2.5-0ubuntu1~ppaXX
  Version table:
     5.2.5-0ubuntu1~ppaXX 500
        500 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/danielrichter2007/grub-customizer/ubuntu [your-release]/main amd64 Packages

The version suffix (ppa1n, ppa1j, etc.) and release codename (noble, jammy) vary by Ubuntu version. Both 22.04 LTS and 24.04 LTS receive the same core version (5.2.5) with different build identifiers.

Install Grub Customizer from the PPA

Install Grub Customizer using APT:

sudo apt install grub-customizer

Confirm the installed version:

grub-customizer -v

Expected output:

Grub Customizer, version 5.x.x

Launch Grub Customizer on Ubuntu

Launch Grub Customizer from Terminal

Launch Grub Customizer from a terminal as your normal user. The application requests administrative access through a PolicyKit authentication prompt when you apply or load privileged GRUB settings, so you do not need to prefix the command with sudo:

grub-customizer

Launch Grub Customizer from the Applications Menu

Alternatively, launch Grub Customizer through the graphical interface:

1. Click the Activities button at the top left corner of your screen.
2. Type “Grub Customizer” in the search bar.
3. Click the Grub Customizer icon to launch the application.

Configure GRUB Settings with Grub Customizer on Ubuntu

Once Grub Customizer opens, the main window displays your current boot entries and the top menu provides access to additional settings. All changes require saving and typically prompt GRUB configuration regeneration. The table below summarizes the most common tasks.

Task	Where to Find It	When to Use
Change boot order	Main window, arrow buttons in toolbar	Dual-boot systems where you want a different default OS
Adjust timeout	General Settings	Control how long the boot menu displays before auto-selecting
Enable OS detection	General Settings, os-prober toggle	When other operating systems are not listed in the menu
Apply themes	Appearance Settings	Custom background images, text colors, and font sizes

GRUB changes affect how your system starts. Make one change at a time, save it, and verify the result after rebooting so you can quickly identify which change caused a problem if the boot menu behaves unexpectedly.

Back Up GRUB Defaults Before Using Grub Customizer

Grub Customizer directly modifies bootloader behavior. Before changing boot order, timeout, or OS detection settings, back up your current GRUB defaults so you can restore them quickly:

sudo cp /etc/default/grub /etc/default/grub.backup

If a change causes problems, restore the backup and regenerate GRUB:

sudo cp /etc/default/grub.backup /etc/default/grub
sudo update-grub

Reorder Boot Menu Entries in Grub Customizer

To change the order of operating systems in your boot menu, select an entry from the list and use the up/down arrow buttons in the toolbar. The entry at the top becomes the default boot option unless you configure a different default. After reordering entries, click Save in the toolbar to apply changes.

Adjust the Boot Timeout in Grub Customizer

To reduce or increase the boot menu display time, navigate to General Settings from the menu bar. Locate the Default Entry section and adjust the timeout value. Ubuntu desktop installs default to GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 with GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden, which skips the menu entirely on single-OS systems. For dual-boot setups, increase the timeout to 5-10 seconds so you have time to select an alternative OS. Click Save to apply the new timeout.

Enable OS Detection (os-prober) in Grub Customizer

If you run a dual-boot system with Windows or another Linux distribution, ensure Grub Customizer detects all operating systems. Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 both disable automatic OS detection by default (22.04 omits the setting entirely; 24.04 ships it commented out). Open General Settings, locate the OS-prober option, and enable it. If the toggle does not work or your other operating systems still do not appear, use the manual os-prober fix in the Troubleshooting section below. After enabling the option, click Save and allow GRUB to regenerate.

Apply GRUB Themes with Grub Customizer

To personalize your boot screen appearance, navigate to Appearance Settings from the menu bar. Here you can modify background images, text colors, font sizes, and menu positioning. Select a custom background image or choose from installed GRUB themes. Changes preview in the settings window before you save them. Click Save to apply your theme customizations.

Always click Save in the toolbar after making changes. Grub Customizer typically prompts you to regenerate the GRUB configuration automatically. If prompted, allow the regeneration to complete before rebooting. Otherwise, your changes will not take effect.

Manage Grub Customizer on Ubuntu

Update Grub Customizer from the Ubuntu PPA

Since Grub Customizer was installed from a PPA, updates are delivered through the standard APT upgrade process. For more details on Ubuntu package management, see our guide on updating packages via Ubuntu command line. Run these commands periodically to receive the latest version:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade grub-customizer

The --only-upgrade flag updates grub-customizer only if it is already installed, which avoids pulling in unrelated package upgrades when you only want to refresh this application.

After updating, verify the new version installed successfully:

grub-customizer -v

Expected output:

Grub Customizer, version 5.x.x

Remove Grub Customizer from Ubuntu

If you no longer need Grub Customizer, remove the package along with its configuration files and clean up orphaned dependencies:

sudo apt purge grub-customizer
sudo apt autoremove

Removing Grub Customizer does not revert GRUB changes you already saved. Settings such as boot order, timeout values, and OS detection remain in /etc/default/grub and the /etc/grub.d/ scripts. Review those files and run sudo update-grub to restore previous behavior manually.

Remove the Grub Customizer PPA

After removing Grub Customizer, remove the PPA to prevent APT from checking an unused repository. For more details about managing PPAs, see our guide on removing PPAs from Ubuntu.

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer -y
sudo apt update

The apt update command refreshes your package cache to reflect the PPA removal. Now verify the package is no longer available from the removed repository:

apt-cache show grub-customizer

Expected output after removal:

E: No packages found

Troubleshoot Grub Customizer on Ubuntu

Ubuntu 26.04 PPA Returns a Missing Release File Error

If you try to use the Daniel Richter PPA on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (resolute), sudo apt update fails because the PPA does not publish a resolute repository yet.

sudo apt update

Err: https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/danielrichter2007/grub-customizer/ubuntu resolute Release
  404  Not Found
E: The repository 'https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/danielrichter2007/grub-customizer/ubuntu resolute Release' does not have a Release file.

This is a repository availability issue, not a local package manager problem. Remove the unsupported PPA entry to restore normal apt update behavior:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer -y
sudo apt update

Verify the unsupported PPA entry is removed and that Grub Customizer is still unavailable on Ubuntu 26.04 from the default repositories:

apt-cache show grub-customizer

Expected output:

E: No packages found

The add-apt-repository Command Is Not Found

If Ubuntu reports that add-apt-repository is missing, the software-properties-common package is not installed on your system (common on minimal installs or customized VMs).

add-apt-repository: command not found

Install the missing package, then confirm the command exists before retrying the PPA step:

sudo apt install software-properties-common
command -v add-apt-repository

Expected output:

/usr/bin/add-apt-repository

Ubuntu Reports Unable to Locate the grub-customizer Package

If Ubuntu returns E: Unable to locate package grub-customizer, the PPA was not added successfully, the package list was not refreshed, or you are using Ubuntu 26.04 where the PPA is not currently available.

E: Unable to locate package grub-customizer

Check whether Ubuntu can see the package and whether the Grub Customizer PPA source file exists:

apt-cache policy grub-customizer
ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d | grep grub-customizer

If apt-cache policy grub-customizer returns no package details and the second command shows no matching file, add the PPA again and refresh APT:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer -y
sudo apt update

Verify the package is now visible:

apt-cache policy grub-customizer

Expected output:

grub-customizer:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 5.2.5-0ubuntu1~ppaXX
  Version table:
     5.2.5-0ubuntu1~ppaXX 500
        500 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/danielrichter2007/grub-customizer/ubuntu [your-release]/main amd64 Packages

If you are on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, see the 26.04 troubleshooting section below because the PPA currently lacks a resolute release.

GRUB Changes Not Applied After Saving in Grub Customizer

If your GRUB changes do not take effect after saving in Grub Customizer, the GRUB configuration may not have regenerated successfully. Run update-grub manually to rebuild the boot menu configuration:

sudo update-grub

Expected output:

Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub'
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-x.x.x-xx-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-x.x.x-xx-generic
Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings ...
done

Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

Grub Customizer Does Not Detect Other Operating Systems on Ubuntu

If Grub Customizer does not show all installed operating systems, os-prober is either missing or disabled. Ubuntu 22.04 does not include the GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER setting at all, and Ubuntu 24.04 ships it commented out, so both effectively disable OS detection.

Check whether an active (uncommented) setting exists:

grep -E '^GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=' /etc/default/grub

No output means the setting is absent or commented out. Either result requires adding or uncommenting the line. First, install os-prober if it is not already present:

sudo apt install os-prober

Next, open the GRUB configuration and add or uncomment the GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER line:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

If the line is commented out (prefixed with #), remove the #. If the line does not exist, add it at the bottom of the file:

GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false

Save the file (Ctrl+O), exit (Ctrl+X), and regenerate the configuration:

sudo update-grub

Expected output:

Generating grub configuration file ...
Found Windows Boot Manager on /dev/nvme0n1p1@/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
done

Reopen Grub Customizer to see the detected operating systems in the boot entry list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Grub Customizer is now installed on Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04 through the Daniel Richter PPA, ready for boot order changes, timeout adjustments, OS detection fixes, and GRUB theme customization. Before making bootloader changes, consider creating system snapshots with Timeshift on Ubuntu for quick rollback. If you manage Ubuntu 26.04 systems, edit /etc/default/grub directly until the PPA publishes a resolute build. Keep your system maintained with unattended upgrades on Ubuntu or consider an upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS if you are still on 22.04.