How to enable/disable wayland on Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop

Wayland is a communication protocol that specifies the communication between a display server and its clients. By default the Ubuntu 20.04 desktop does not start Wayland as it loads to Xorg display server instead.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to enable Wayland
  • How to disable Wayland

Login to Ubuntu 20.04 using Wayland display server

Login to Ubuntu 20.04 using Wayland display server

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Installed Ubuntu 20.04 or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa
Software N/A
Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to enable/disable wayland on Ubuntu 20.04 step by step instructions

  1. Asuming that GDM3 is your default display manager, edit the /etc/gdm3/custom.conf to either disable or enable Wayland:
    $ sudoedit /etc/gdm3/custom.conf
    


    Wayland is enabled

    Wayland is enabled

    Wayland is disabled

    Wayland is disabled

  2. Restart GDM3 or reboot your Ubuntu 20.04 desktop:
    $ sudo systemctl restart gdm3
    
  3. To login to Ubuntu 20.04 using the Wayland click on the gear button and select Ubuntu on Wayland option before you login. If you have disabled the Wayland display server as per the above Step 1 this option would not be available at all.
    Login to Ubuntu 20.04 using Wayland display server

    Login to Ubuntu 20.04 using Wayland display server