How To Disable the Default Workspace Indicator in Ubuntu

The workspace indicator in Ubuntu is the little visual hint that shows which virtual desktop (workspace) you’re on—often a row of dots or icons in the top bar or dock. It’s useful for multitasking, but if you use a minimalist setup or a different workflow, you might want to turn it off.

How you disable it depends heavily on Ubuntu version, desktop environment, and whether you’re using the default panel or extensions. This guide walks through the main approaches, explains what’s actually going on under the hood, and highlights the variables that change which method works best for you.

What Is the Workspace Indicator in Ubuntu?

In modern Ubuntu, the default desktop is usually GNOME with the Ubuntu Dock and some tweaks. The workspace indicator can appear in a few different ways:

• As dots or rectangles in the dock showing how many workspaces you have and which one is active
• As a top-bar indicator added by a GNOME Shell extension
• As a panel item in older desktops like Unity, MATE, XFCE, or KDE Plasma

Technically, workspaces are a window-management feature: they give you multiple “desktops” so you can group windows and switch between them. The indicator is just the visual widget that lets you see and switch workspaces.

Disabling the indicator doesn’t usually disable workspaces themselves; it just hides the UI element that represents them.

Step-by-Step: Common Ways to Disable the Workspace Indicator

Because there are several paths, it helps to identify which scenario you’re in. The steps below cover the most common Ubuntu setups.

1. On Default Ubuntu GNOME (with Ubuntu Dock)

If you’re on a fairly recent Ubuntu release (18.04 and later with GNOME Shell), the workspace indicator is often tied to:

• The Ubuntu Dock (left-side dock)
• Optional GNOME Shell extensions you may have installed

A. Hide workspace indicators via Ubuntu Dock settings

Ubuntu Dock doesn’t always show a traditional “workspace switcher,” but if you see dots or icons that relate to workspaces, you can usually adjust dock behavior.

You’ll need GNOME Tweaks or gsettings.

Using GNOME Tweaks

1. Install GNOME Tweaks if you don’t have it:

   sudo apt install gnome-tweaks 

2. Open Tweaks from your applications.
3. Go to Extensions (or Appearance depending on version).
4. Look for entries like:
   • Ubuntu Dock
   • Dash to Dock
5. Open the gear icon or settings for that extension.
6. Look for options related to:
   • Workspace indicators
   • Show workspaces in dock
   • Workspace isolation per monitor (sometimes tied to visual hints)
7. Turn those off or set the dock to show only the current workspace without extra indicators.