GRUB customization

Customization

Always remember to run sudo update-grub after you're done customizing, so the configuration is updated.

Skipping the bootloader

If you only have one OS and would rather have GRUB instantly boot into it instead of giving you a 5 second countdown, go to /etc/default/grub and look for:

GRUB_TIMEOUT=5

Replace 5 with 0.

Letting GRUB remember your last choice

You can make GRUB remember the last system you booted into; it will be already selected the next time you see the GRUB menu, meaning after the countdown finishes, it will automatically boot into that.

In /etc/default/grub, look for:

GRUB_DEFAULT=0

And replace it with:

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true

Giving it a theme

Have you noticed those fancy bootloaders you get by installing other distros? You can achieve those through the use of GRUB themes.

Go on over to this page and see what picks your fancy; if the theme comes with installation instructions, you should follow those.

Otherwise you can do the following:

1. Extract or move the theme files to /boot/grub/themes/<NAME>, replacing <NAME> as appropiate.

2. In /etc/default/grub, look for:

   #GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080x32

   And uncomment it (remove the #). You may also wish to change it to fit your desired resolution if the default is not. The number at the end (x32 above) is the bit-depth.

3. To /etc/default/grub, append the following line:

   GRUB_THEME="/boot/grub/themes/<NAME>/theme.txt

   Replacing <NAME> with the name you gave to the folder. Do ensure that the theme.txt actually exists; otherwise you extracted the theme files incorrectly.

If I may make a recommendation, Distro Grub Themes is pretty good and even contains a Void Linux specific theme for GRUB.

Other configuration

There's more that you can do to the GRUB configuration file than what's mentioned here. If you're savvy enough, consider looking at the manual page.