When you install a fresh copy of Ubuntu Desktop and log into the GNOME environment for the very first time, the operating system automatically launches a large, unskippable “Welcome to Ubuntu” wizard (gnome-initial-setup). This wizard forces you to click through several screens asking you to connect online accounts, opt into telemetry data collection, and enable location services.
If you are a system administrator deploying Ubuntu across 50 workstations, or if you are scripting an automated installation via a preseed or autoinstall file, having the graphical desktop blocked by this mandatory wizard is a massive hindrance. You cannot hand the machine over to an end-user without manually clicking through the setup screens yourself.
You can programmatically suppress this wizard so that the user is immediately greeted by a clean, ready-to-use desktop.
How to Disable the Initial Setup Wizard
The “Welcome to Ubuntu” wizard checks for a specific hidden file in the user’s home directory. If the file exists, it assumes the setup is already complete and aborts the launch.
- Open your terminal application (
Ctrl+Alt+T). - Create the configuration directory if it does not already exist:
mkdir -p ~/.config
- Create a blank file named
gnome-initial-setup-doneinside that directory:
touch ~/.config/gnome-initial-setup-done
- If you are provisioning a machine for a different user, simply run that command in the target user’s home directory and ensure they have ownership of the file (e.g.,
sudo touch /home/username/.config/gnome-initial-setup-donefollowed bysudo chown username:username).
The next time the GNOME desktop starts, the gnome-initial-setup daemon will spot this hidden marker file, quietly shut itself down, and drop the user directly onto the standard Ubuntu desktop without any interruptions.