How can I change the borders in the app grid from black to transparent?

Question

My platform is Ubuntu 24.04 LTS x86_64 and the GNOME version is 46.0. I would like to change the background of the applications and folders of the Applications grid from black to transparent. This is what I mean:

I managed to make some borders transparent, as shown in the below screenshot, but I can't change the remaining applications:

How can I make all borders transparent in the Applications grid?

Note: The background image of the app grid (mostly blue) is different from the wallpaper (ubuntu default wallpaper). The extension blur my shell turns the background image of the app grid into a wallpaper with the ubuntu logo.

Answer 1

You can use the Blur my Shell extension.

1. Install the extension using either Extension Manager or from the GNOME Extensions website.

2. After installing it open the extension's settings.

3. By default the extension applies a blur effect to the overview, so we have to first create a custom pipeline to only apply transparency without any blur:

   • Go to the Pipelines tab → + Add pipeline.

     

   • Scroll to the bottom where you will find the new pipeline and name it "Transparent".

     

   • Click Manage effects → + Add Effect → Native gaussian blur → click the arrow on the right and set Radius to 0.

     

4. Now go to the Overview tab and make sure that Background blur is enabled. In the Pipeline dropdown select Transparent (the one we just created). Also set Overview components style to Transparent.

5. Enable Application folder blur and set Application folder dialog style to Transparent.

The final result should be something like this (looks bad in my case due to the wallpaper I'm using):