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Linux GUI and CLI mode

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Short guide to switch between GUI and CLI (text) Linux interface
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Celestino Amoroso 2025-07-02 07:14:58 +02:00
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= GUI-or-CLI - Interfacce GUI e CLI per Linux
Sottotitolo documento
:authors: Celestino Amoroso
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## Switch between GUI and CLI
To switch to text mode (also known as command-line interface or CLI) in systemd-based systems, you can use systemctl `set-default multi-user.target` to permanently change the default boot target. Alternatively, you can temporarily switch to text mode using `systemctl isolate multi-user.target`.
Here's a breakdown of how to switch to text mode:
### 1. Checking the Current Default Target*
First, it's helpful to know what your current default target is. You can check this with:
systemctl get-default
This command will display the current default target, which is likely `graphical.target` if you're currently in a graphical environment.
### 2. Permanently Switching to Text Mode (Multi-User Target)
To make text mode the default target on boot, use the following command:
sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target
After running this command, you will need to reboot your system for the change to take effect:
sudo systemctl reboot
Now, when your system starts, it will boot directly into text mode.
###3. Temporarily Switching to Text Mode (Using isolate)
If you want to switch to text mode without changing the default, you can use the isolate command:
sudo systemctl isolate multi-user.target
This command will immediately switch your system to text mode without requiring a reboot. However, the next time you boot, it will revert to the default target (which you can set using set-default as described above).
### 4. Switching Back to Graphical Mode
To switch back to graphical mode, you can use the following command (if you previously used set-default):
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
And then reboot:
sudo systemctl reboot
Or, if you used isolate, you can switch back with:
sudo systemctl isolate graphical.target
## Important Notes
### multi-user.target
This target represents a system with networking enabled but without a graphical interface (X server or Wayland).
### graphical.target
This target represents a system with a graphical interface.
### Reboot
When changing the default target, a reboot is necessary for the change to be applied.
### Temporary changes
Using isolate provides a temporary change that is not persistent across reboots.
### Closing Applications
Switching to text mode will terminate any running graphical applications. Make sure to save your work before switching.
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*Celestino Amoroso* +
*celestino . amoroso @ gmail . com*
image::https://gravatar.com/avatar/88d204d546890e5d89073fb1cec29fe9.png?size=48[]