Are you having trouble getting Chromium working with the native Ubuntu interface? I did too, specifically in Ubuntu 24.04. I Never had this problem in Ubuntu 22.04 on my Dell XPS 13 9320. The proper title bar decorations were missing, I couldn’t right-click to move windows between workspaces, and the whole thing just looked… wrong.

The Problem

After upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04, Chromium (installed via snap) started using client-side decorations (CSD) instead of the proper GNOME/Ubuntu server-side decorations. The browser was functional, but it didn’t integrate with the desktop environment properly anymore.

What Didn’t Work

I tried several common solutions that you’ll find suggested online:

  • Adding –gtk-version=4 or –gtk-version=3 flags
  • Using –enable-features=UseOzonePlatform –ozone-platform=wayland
  • Trying –enable-features=WaylandWindowDecorations
  • Reconnecting snap theme interfaces
  • Refreshing gtk-common-themes

None of these fixed the problem. The issue persisted because Chromium was trying to use Wayland with its own window decorations, which conflicted with Ubuntu’s expectations.

The Solution

The fix turned out to be forcing Chromium to use X11 instead of Wayland:

$ chromium --ozone-platform=x11

This immediately restored the proper Ubuntu UI with native title bars and full desktop integration.

Making It Permanent

To make this change permanent, I had to edit Chromium’s desktop file:

Copy the snap’s desktop file to your local applications folder:

$ cp /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/chromium_chromium.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/

Edit the local copy:

$ nano ~/.local/share/applications/chromium_chromium.desktop

Find all four Exec= lines in the file and add --ozone-platform=x11 after /snap/bin/chromium.

For example, change:

Exec=env BAMF_DESKTOP_FILE_HINT=/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/chromium_chromium.desktop /snap/bin/chromium %U

To:

Exec=env BAMF_DESKTOP_FILE_HINT=/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/chromium_chromium.desktop /snap/bin/chromium --ozone-platform=x11 %U

Save the file and update the desktop database:

$ update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications

Close Chromium completely and relaunch it from your application menu.

Why This Works

Ubuntu 24.04 uses Wayland by default, and Chromium’s Wayland implementation tries to handle its own window decorations. This conflicts with how GNOME/Ubuntu expects applications to behave. By forcing Chromium to use X11 through XWayland, it falls back to the traditional X11 window decoration system that integrates properly with Ubuntu’s desktop environment.

Google Chrome Still Broken

Interestingly, I’ve had similar theming issues with Google Chrome since upgrading to 24.04, and I haven’t managed to fix that one yet. The same --ozone-platform=x11 flag that works for Chromium doesn’t seem to help with Chrome. If anyone has solved this for Chrome specifically, I’d love to hear about it!