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quefacilescriticar

Member

Registered: 2025-09-04

Posts: 6

The desktop font size

The desktop font size cannot be set to 0, the minimum is 2. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,190

Re: The desktop font size

Hello and welcome.

The limit is a UI limit. Uncheck the font size option in desktop settings and add the following to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

XfdesktopIconView {font-size: 0px}

You'll need to restart xfdesktop or log out and back in again for the change to have an effect.

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quefacilescriticar

Member

Registered: 2025-09-04

Posts: 6

Re: The desktop font size

Thank you very much for answering. Unfortunately, the solution you suggested didn't work for me on my Debian. I appreciate it anyway.

Hello and welcome.

The limit is a UI limit. Uncheck the font size option in desktop settings and add the following to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

XfdesktopIconView {font-size: 0px}

You'll need to restart xfdesktop or log out and back in again for the change to have an effect.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,190

Re: The desktop font size

It should work. Did you log out and back in again? Can you post back the contents of the gtk.css file?

Also, what version of xfdesktop are you running?

Last edited by ToZ (2025-09-07 14:10:11)

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quefacilescriticar

Member

Registered: 2025-09-04

Posts: 6

Re: The desktop font size

Hi toZ, thank you very much for helping me.
The version of xfdesktop is 4.20m. I created the gtk.css file since Debian didn't have it.
The file contents:
XfdesktopIconView {font-size: 0px}.
The file path is:
~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

It should work. Did you log out and back in again? Can you post back the contents of the gtk.css file?

Also, what version of xfdesktop are you running?

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,190

Re: The desktop font size

Which debian version do you have?

Did you restart xfdesktop or log out and back in again?

Also, can you post back the output of:

ps -ef | grep -i desktop

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quefacilescriticar

Member

Registered: 2025-09-04

Posts: 6

Re: The desktop font size

Hi again toZ, xfdesktop --restart doesn't work on Debian, but I understand that xfdesktop restarts every time the system is rebooted.
The version of Debian I'm using is Trixie 13, but the problem is with xfce 4.20 and 4.18; it didn't happen with previous versions.

ps -ef | grep -i desktop

1014     870  0 19:43 ?        00:00:02 xfdesktop
   1297     845  0 19:44 ?        00:00:00 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal
   1333     845  0 19:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
    2978    2972  0 21:01 pts/0    00:00:00 grep -i desktop

Which debian version do you have?

Did you restart xfdesktop or log out and back in again?

Also, can you post back the output of:

ps -ef | grep -i desktop

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,190

Re: The desktop font size

Hmm. This is really strange. I've installed Debian Trixie in a VM and this snippet works for me.

Are you running as root and/or is the xfdesktop process running as a different user than your logged in user?

As a sanity check, can you post back the output after running these commands?

ls -l ~/.config/gtk-3.0
cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gth.css

And finally, what GTK (Appearance) theme are you using? Maybe its over-ridding something.

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quefacilescriticar

Member

Registered: 2025-09-04

Posts: 6

Re: The desktop font size

Hi hoZ, it seems the problem is with Debian and its derivatives (the same thing happens with MX Linux). Everything works correctly with Linux Mint Xfce, so I understand it's a Debian issue with Xfce. I thought the problem was with Xfce 4.20, but it seems I was mistaken. Thank you very much for your interest; I really appreciate it.

Hmm. This is really strange. I've installed Debian Trixie in a VM and this snippet works for me.

Are you running as root and/or is the xfdesktop process running as a different user than your logged in user?

As a sanity check, can you post back the output after running these commands?

ls -l ~/.config/gtk-3.0
cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gth.css

And finally, what GTK (Appearance) theme are you using? Maybe its over-ridding something.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,190

Re: The desktop font size

But it works in my Debian VM. I'm curious now. Can you do the 3 following things:

1. Post back the output of:

   ls -l ~/.config/gtk-3.0
   cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gth.css

2. Are you running any aspect of your desktop as root?

3. what GTK (Appearance) theme are you using?

   xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName

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quefacilescriticar

Member

Registered: 2025-09-04

Posts: 6

Re: The desktop font size

Hi hoZ, I've uninstalled Debian Xfce and installed Mint Xfce, which works correctly, so I can't do what you're asking. Thank you very much for everything.

But it works in my Debian VM. I'm curious now. Can you do the 3 following things:

1. Post back the output of:

   ls -l ~/.config/gtk-3.0
   cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gth.css

2. Are you running any aspect of your desktop as root?

3. what GTK (Appearance) theme are you using?

   xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Net/ThemeName