There was an option to change background to solid color. However, I notice that that option is no longer there.
The only options available are to use existing image or to add picture.
Was this setting moved to somewhere else?
Here are some of the option available in the previous version
Ubuntu Studio 18.04 64-bit
Why can't I change my background to a solid colour
Look at the solid colour settings there
Newer versions of Ubuntu Desktop have removed the capability to set the background to a solid color. You may run the following command in a terminal window to accomplish this task:
To clear the current image setting:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri none
If you use dark mode, you can clear the current image setting with:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri-dark none
To set the primary color (the first color in a gradient or the solid color):
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#000000'
Reference: https://www.fcpace.com/node/55
So building on Sabrina's answer to create a plain colour gradient background without messing around making an image the following works:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-options 'none'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#004000'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background secondary-color '#306030'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background color-shading-type 'vertical'
The primary colour will be the top (or left if you go for horizontal instead of vertical) and the secondary colour will be the bottom (or right).
For people using the dark theme on recent releases of Ubuntu, there is another gsettings value that may need to be set.
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri-dark none
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#000000'
Just as with Sabrina's answer, this will show a nice black background again.
(Must be a new feature, as I already did the changes before and it worked. After an update, I got a background image again...)
You can also find these settings using dconf Editor
apt-get install dconf-editor/org/gnome/desktop/background into the URL edit box
I used my iPhone with the flash turned off to take a picture of "solidblack" (no shortage of black plastic in my house), then imported and applied the photo to my 20.04 desktop. This worked fine. I also did some testing with an upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04 where the desktop was already set to solid black. The upgrade preserved that setting.
I use Open Office Draw to create my gradient backgrounds, then export the .odg file as a .jpg. I select this .jpg when I Change Background. I increase the size of the image a little when exporting it. You are welcome to my image, (attached), if you like. In my opinion 20.04 has the worst screen images of any Ubuntu to date.
Sorry it took too long to answer this.
Find Desktop | Background | Style and select None.
You're welcome.
