How to Disable or Change the Ubuntu “Activities” Button in the Top-Left Corner

The “Activities” button in Ubuntu’s top-left corner is part of the GNOME desktop. It opens the Activities Overview, where you can see open windows, virtual desktops, and search apps.

If you find yourself never using it, or you keep triggering it by accident, you might want to hide it, change how it behaves, or disable the hot corner that activates it.

This guide explains what the Activities button actually is, the main ways to control it, and how your Ubuntu version and desktop setup change what’s possible.

What the “Activities” Button and Hot Corner Actually Do

On a standard Ubuntu desktop (GNOME-based):

• The top panel has, at the top-left, the Activities label (or an icon)
• Moving your mouse to the top-left hot corner or clicking Activities opens:
  • A zoomed-out view of all open windows
  • A workspace / virtual desktop list
  • A search bar for apps and files

Behind the scenes:

• This is part of the GNOME Shell interface, not a separate app.
• The label and hot corner are essentially triggers for the same action: open the Activities Overview.
• Changing or disabling it usually means using:
  • GNOME Tweaks
  • GNOME Shell Extensions (like Dash to Panel or Just Perfection)
  • Configuration tools such as gsettings or dconf-editor

There isn’t a single checkbox in standard Settings called “Disable Activities button”, but there are several practical workarounds that control its appearance and trigger behavior.

Step 1: Confirm Your Ubuntu Version and Desktop

The options you have depend heavily on:

• Ubuntu version
  • Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 use recent GNOME versions.
  • Older releases (e.g., 18.04) use slightly different GNOME behavior and extension compatibility.
• Which desktop you’re actually running
  • Ubuntu (default) → GNOME Shell
  • Kubuntu → KDE Plasma (no Activities button like GNOME)
  • Xubuntu → Xfce
  • Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Budgie, etc. → different environments, different controls

If you’re on stock Ubuntu with the orange/purple GNOME desktop, everything below applies directly.

You can check your version quickly:

lsb_release -a 

And your desktop session (if you’re curious):

echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP 

If that shows something like GNOME or ubuntu:GNOME, the instructions here are relevant.

Option 1: Disable the Hot Corner While Keeping the Top Bar

Many people don’t mind seeing the Activities word in the top bar; what bothers them is accidentally triggering it with the mouse. In that case, the goal is to disable the hot corner, not the button itself.

Using GNOME Tweaks (if available)

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

   sudo apt update sudo apt install gnome-tweaks 

2. Open GNOME Tweaks from the app menu.
3. Look under Top Bar or Extensions (the exact layout can vary by version).
   • Some GNOME extensions or desktop variants expose a “Hot Corner” toggle here.

If there’s a direct hot-corner option, you can switch it off and still keep the Activities button clickable.

Using a GNOME Extension: Custom Hot Corners or Just Perfection

If Tweaks alone doesn’t show a hot corner toggle, GNOME Shell Extensions usually do the job:

1. Install the extension support package:

   sudo apt install gnome-shell-extensions 

2. Open the Extensions app (it may be called “Extensions” or appear under Tweaks, depending on your version).
3. Look for an extension such as:
   • “Just Perfection” (very popular)
   • “Custom Hot Corners” or similar
4. Enable the extension and open its settings:
   • Disable the top-left hot corner
   • Optionally tweak other behavior like overview animations

This way, you keep the panel layout but stop the corner-triggered overview from opening.

Option 2: Replace Activities with a Traditional Application Menu

If what you really want is a classic menu instead of the Activities label, extensions can swap it out.

A common setup is:

• Hide or replace “Activities” with a start-menu style launcher
• Disable the hot corner
• Keep the rest of the GNOME experience

A popular example is Dash to Panel:

1. Install shell extensions:

   sudo apt install gnome-shell-extensions 

2. Enable Dash to Panel in the Extensions app.
3. Configure it:
   • It merges the top bar and dash into a single bottom panel.
   • The Activities label typically disappears, replaced by:
     • A panel with an application menu icon,
     • Taskbar-like icons for running apps.

Other menu-style extensions can also provide:

• A “Windows-style” start menu
• Optional disabling or hiding of the Activities text and hot corner

The exact extension you pick and how it behaves will depend on your GNOME version and which extensions are actively maintained for it.

Option 3: Hide or Remove the Activities Text Label

In newer GNOME versions, “Activities” might already be replaced by an icon or workspace indicator, but many users still see a text label.

If you want to hide the label itself, rather than just stop it from doing anything, there are a few approaches:

1. Use an Extension That Hides the Label

Extensions like Just Perfection allow fine-grained control of shell elements:

• Install and open Just Perfection settings.
• Look for options such as:
  • “Activities Button”
  • “Panel elements” or similar
• Toggle off the Activities label or button.

This doesn’t usually break the overview; it just stops showing the text/button. Hot corners can still be controlled separately.

2. Use a Different GNOME Shell Theme (Advanced)

Some custom GNOME themes or tweaks alter how the top bar looks:

• They might remove the Activities text or replace it with an icon.
• This involves:
  • Enabling User Themes (another GNOME extension).
  • Installing a custom theme.
  • Applying it via GNOME Tweaks under the Appearance section.

This path is more aesthetic than functional and can be fragile across updates, but it’s another way to make the Activities element effectively invisible.

Option 4: Change How You Trigger the Overview (Keyboard vs Mouse)

You might not need to remove Activities at all if your goal is simply less accidental activation.

On many Ubuntu/GNOME setups:

• Pressing Super (Windows key) opens the Activities Overview.
• The mouse hot corner also opens it.
• The top-left button is yet another way to do the same thing.

You can:

• Keep keyboard shortcuts active (for when you do want the overview).
• Disable mouse-based triggers:
  • With extensions, as described earlier.
  • By changing how you move or arrange the panel (e.g., Dash to Panel at the bottom reduces top-left hits).

From a workflow point of view, many users find Super more intentional than bumping the mouse into the corner.

Factors That Change Which Method Works Best

Disabling or changing the Activities button is not “one size fits all.” Your best option depends on a few key variables.

1. Ubuntu and GNOME Version

Different GNOME versions change:

• What’s shown in the top-left (text, icon, workspace indicator)
• Which extensions are compatible or stable
• Whether the hot corner is configurable from built-in settings

Older vs newer GNOME versions can differ in:

2. How Comfortable You Are Tweaking GNOME

Your technical comfort level affects the approach:

• Beginner-friendly
  • Use GNOME Tweaks and the Extensions app.
  • Stick to well-known extensions like Dash to Panel or Just Perfection.
• Intermediate / advanced
  • Use gsettings or dconf-editor for deeper, manual changes.
  • Customize themes, panel layouts, or keybindings more aggressively.

The more you customize, the more you may need to troubleshoot after big GNOME or Ubuntu updates.

3. Your Desktop Layout Preferences

People use the Activities button differently:

• Multitaskers with many windows
  • May want to keep the overview accessible, but move the trigger to keyboard only.
• Minimalist / single-window users
  • Often prefer hiding Activities and hot corners entirely.
• Panel traditionalists
  • Like Dash-to-Panel-style setups with a bottom bar and start menu, completely replacing the default Activities behavior.

What feels “clean” or “efficient” depends on how you work with windows, workspaces, and app launching.

Different User Profiles, Different Outcomes

Looking at a few typical profiles makes the spectrum clearer:

• Accidental-click sufferer

  • Uses GNOME mostly as-is, just keeps bumping the top-left corner.
  • Likely outcome: disable only the hot corner via an extension, keep everything else.

• Classic desktop fan

  • Misses a single bottom taskbar and start menu.
  • Likely outcome: install Dash to Panel, hide Activities, rely on a bottom-left menu icon.

• Keyboard-centric power user

  • Rarely uses the mouse for window management.
  • Likely outcome: keep Super to open overview, disable hot corner, possibly remove Activities label for visual minimalism.

• Themer / customizer

  • Wants a very specific aesthetic.
  • Likely outcome: combine themes, Just Perfection, Dash to Panel, and keybinding changes to almost completely replace the standard Activities concept.

Each of these users is technically “disabling” Activities in a different sense—some hide it, some remove its triggers, some replace it with something else.

Why Your Own Setup Is the Missing Piece

Disabling or changing the Ubuntu left-corner Activities button isn’t a single toggle buried in Settings. It’s a mix of:

• How your particular Ubuntu + GNOME version exposes hot-corner and panel options
• Which GNOME extensions are available and stable for that version
• How much you want to lean on keyboard shortcuts vs mouse
• Whether you prefer a GNOME-ish workflow or a more traditional taskbar + menu style

Once you know which Ubuntu release you’re on, what desktop session you’re using, and how you actually interact with your windows day to day, it becomes clearer whether you should hide the label, disable the hot corner, replace the whole panel, or just shift to keyboard-based triggers.