How to Switch Between GDM and KDM on Ubuntu

If you have installed the Kubuntu desktop on top of Ubuntu or the other way around, you may want to switch from gdm to kdm, or from kdm to gdm. This is an easy thing to do.

Open a terminal window and type in the following command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

Hit enter at the OK prompt, and then you can switch between the two easily:

The Geek is the founder of How-To Geek and a geek enthusiast. This article was written on 12/13/06 and tagged with: Ubuntu, Ubuntu Tips & Tweaks

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Comments (9)

1. April 13, 2007 9:45 pm
   Kavitha

   Thanks a bunch for the tip!! It comes in quite handy.

2. April 27, 2007 6:55 pm
   Terry

   Hi,

   I tried it, but I get an error message at the end:

   “invoke-rc.d: initscript gdm, action “reload” failed”

   I have Ubuntu 7.04 and install Kubuntu-desktop on top of it. I am currently using KDM, but want to switch back to GDM

   How do I fix it ?

   Thank you very much for the help

3. June 26, 2007 2:06 am
   chibuzor onwurah

   Thanks Geek. Gonna try it right away

4. September 24, 2007 11:18 pm
   Igron

   > How do I fix it ?

   May be
   sudo dpkg-reconfigure kdm

5. April 29, 2008 4:55 am
   smgbulldog

   Awesome!

6. January 6, 2009 6:59 am
   Jack Hackett

   Subject:- How to Switch Between GDM and KDM on Ubuntu
   WEB Page:- http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....on-ubuntu/

   Is there a ‘Launcher’ for this?
   Do I have to go to the Terminal every time i go to SWITCH

7. February 7, 2009 5:53 am
   Fabian Rodriguez

   Thank you. Still useful in Jaunty.

8. May 3, 2009 3:59 am
   mhernandez

   Nice tip. Helped a lot!

9. May 12, 2009 6:43 am
   Jaxon

   Perfect!
   Thanks heaps!!!