# Guide to installing qt theme
**URL:** https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523
**Category:** Guides
**Created:** [November 15, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523 "2023-11-15T23:08:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@anon77591810](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/anon77591810)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/1 "2023-11-15T23:08:53Z")
Hello everyone, I can’t get the QT5 theme to work on Wayland. I’ve tried all the methods from the NixOS options, but they’re not working; the session variable just won’t apply.
I tried the following:
`qt = {
enable = true;
style = {
package = utterly-nord-plasma;
name = “Utterly Nord Solid”;
};
platformTheme = “qt5ct”; // I tried all other variants too.
};
environment.sessionVariables or environment.variables = {
QT\_QPA\_PLATFORM = “wayland”; // I tried all other variants too.
QT\_QPA\_PLATFORMTHEME = “qt5ct”; // I tried all other variants too.
};
environment.variables = {
“QT\_STYLE\_OVERRIDE” = “kvantum”; // I tried all other variants too.
QT\_QPA\_PLATFORMTHEME = “qt5ct”; // I tried all other variants too.
};
environment.variables = lib.mkForce {
QT\_STYLE\_OVERRIDE = “{mytheme}”;
};`
Additionally, if I export the variables directly in the terminal, it works. However, I can’t figure out how to make Hyprland’s share-picker use my theme, if I solve the problem, because it’s not working.
Thanks.
---
### Author:  [@anon77591810](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/anon77591810)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/2 "2023-11-21T00:27:55Z")
Hey fellow Nix enthusiasts! 🌟
If you are venturing into the beautiful world of Nix and want to spruce up your **Qt** applications with a theme, here is a simple guide to get you started:
🔧 System Configuration 🔧
```auto
environment.systemPackages = with pkgs;
[
libsForQt5.qtstyleplugin-kvantum
libsForQt5.qt5ct
];
nixpkgs.config.qt5 = {
enable = true;
platformTheme = "qt5ct";
style = {
package = pkgs.utterly-nord-plasma;
name = "Utterly Nord Plasma";
};
};
```
`environment.variables.QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME = "qt5ct";`
This snippet ensures your system knows about the **qt6ct or qt5ct or Kvantum** platform theme and **qt6ct or qt5ct or Kvantum** , a tool to apply stunning themes to **Qt** applications.
🏠 Home Manager Configuration 🏠
In your home.nix, you might want to **fetch** a fresh theme from the **unstable channel** and **get access to theme directly** :
```auto
home-manager.users.varmisa = { pkgs, ... }: let
unstablePkgs = import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/nixos-unstable.tar.gz") {
config = config.nixpkgs.config;
};
in {
home.packages = with pkgs; [unstablePkgs.utterly-nord-plasma];
xdg.configFile = {
"Kvantum/Utterly-Nord-Solid-Plasma/Utterly-Nord-Solid/Utterly-Nord-Solid.kvconfig".source = "${unstablePkgs.utterly-nord-plasma}/share/Kvantum/Utterly-Nord-Solid/Utterly-Nord-Solid.kvconfig";
"Kvantum/Utterly-Nord-Solid-Plasma/Utterly-Nord-Solid/Utterly-Nord-Solid.svg".source = "${unstablePkgs.utterly-nord-plasma}/share/Kvantum/Utterly-Nord-Solid/Utterly-Nord-Solid.svg";
"Kvantum/Utterly-Nord-Solid-Plasma/Utterly-Nord-Solid/Nord.patchconfig".source = "${unstablePkgs.utterly-nord-plasma}/share/Kvantum/Utterly-Nord-Solid/Nord.patchconfig";
"Kvantum/kvantum.kvconfig".text = "[General]\ntheme=Utterly-Nord-Solid";
};
```
👁 What’s happening here? 👁
We’re telling our **home environment** to use a cool theme called ‘Utterly Nord Plasma’. By pointing to the **unstable channel** , we get the latest goodies. We also directly tell our **system** where to find the **theme’s configuration** files.
📁 Finding Theme Files 📁
Not sure where your **theme’s files** are? Run this magic spell in your **terminal** :
`nix-store -q --requisites /nix/store/*-package-name*`
Replace `package-name` with the name of your **theme package**. This command will reveal all the **paths related to your theme** in the **Nix store**.
Hope this helps! Happy theming! ✨
P.S. Quick note, friends! This guide assumes that you’re using a setup where Home Manager is integrated as part of your **Nix system configuration**. If you’re running **Home Manager standalone** , the steps will differ slightly. This setup is great for a cohesive **environment** where **system and user configurations are harmoniously blended**. 🤝 Happy configuring! 🛠✨
---
### Author:  [@ThinkChaos](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/ThinkChaos)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2023, 3:49am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/3 "2023-11-27T03:49:02Z")
Hi, thanks a lot for your post, it was very helpful to get it working on my side!
A couple things: the system configuration section you posted is actually a mix of HM and NixOS.
And I’ve got it down to something a bit simpler 🙂
All of the following is in my HM config:
```nix
qt = {
enable = true;
platformTheme = "qtct";
style.name = "kvantum";
};
xdg.configFile = {
"Kvantum/kvantum.kvconfig".text = ''
[General]
theme=GraphiteNordDark
'';
"Kvantum/GraphiteNord".source = "${pkgs.graphite-kde-theme}/share/Kvantum/GraphiteNord";
};
```
I prefer not overriding `qt.style.package` so HM provides all the kvantum libs for me (there’s a couple you’re missing for Qt6, see [here](https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/blob/3de857fa7d996a60966cccb44fbfce8d3c4544d8/modules/misc/qt.nix)).
The quick way to find the theme name and path I do is open a shell with the theme package so it’s in your store. Then do `ls /nix/store/*-${pkg}*`.
You should see a `share` folder and in there the themes. The theme name is just the name of the `.kvconfig` file.
---
### Author:  [@anon77591810](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/anon77591810)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 3:16am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/4 "2023-12-01T03:16:04Z")
Hello, good to hear, now my config looks different, it’s modified, and I can’t move this thing to Home-Manager, I don’t know how the qtct option works for you, when it’s not in NixOS, there’s qt5ct instead.
My properly config now:
System and Home-Manager config:
```auto
environment.sessionVariables = {
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP = "Hyprland";
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP = "Hyprland";
XDG_SESSION_TYPE = "wayland";
GDK_BACKEND = "wayland";
GTK_USE_PORTAL = "1";
QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME = "qt5ct";
QT_QPA_PLATFORM = "wayland";
QT_WAYLAND_DISABLE_WINDOWDECORATION = "1";
QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR = "1";
MOZ_ENABLE_WAYLAND = "1";
};
users.users.varmisa = {
isNormalUser = true;
description = "Varmisanth";
extraGroups = ["networkmanager" "wheel" "audio"];
packages = with pkgs; [
unstable.telegram-desktop
gnome.nautilus
gparted
(callPackage /etc/nixos/gui/terminals/rio/default.nix { })
libsForQt5.qtstyleplugin-kvantum
libsForQt5.lightly
unstable.qt6Packages.qt6ct
qt6.qtwayland
qt5.qtwayland
unstable.wl-screenrec
appimage-run
hyprpaper
xdg-utils
procps
slurp
grim
imv
wl-clipboard
cliphist
nix-prefetch-github
git
];
};
qt = {
enable = true;
platformTheme = "qt5ct";
style = {
package = pkgs.catppuccin-kvantum;
name = "kvantum";
};
};
home-manager.users.varmisa = { pkgs, ... }:
let
unstablePkgs = import (fetchTarball "https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/nixos-unstable.tar.gz") {
config = config.nixpkgs.config;
};
in
{
home.packages = with pkgs; [
(unstablePkgs.catppuccin-kvantum.override {
accent = "Blue";
variant = "Macchiato";
})
];
xdg.configFile = {
"Kvantum/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue.kvconfig".source = "${unstablePkgs.catppuccin-kvantum}/share/Kvantum/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue/Cattpuccin-Macchiato-Blue.kvconfig";
"Kvantum/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue.svg".source = "${unstablePkgs.catppuccin-kvantum}/share/Kvantum/Catppuccin-Macchiato-Blue/Cattpuccin-Macchiato-Blue.svg";
};
gtk = {
enable = true;
theme = {
name = "Tokyonight-Dark-BL";
package = pkgs.tokyo-night-gtk;
};
iconTheme = {
name = "TokyoNight-SE";
package = tokyo-night-icons;
};
};
home.pointerCursor = {
gtk.enable = true;
package = pkgs.bibata-cursors;
name = "Bibata-Modern-Classic";
size = 24;
};
home.stateVersion = "23.05";
};
system.stateVersion = "23.05";
}
```
---
### Author:  [@ThinkChaos](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/ThinkChaos)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 4:04am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/5 "2023-12-01T04:04:15Z")
`qtct` works because HM rewrites it to `qt5ct` automatically: [qt.nix](https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/blob/3de857fa7d996a60966cccb44fbfce8d3c4544d8/modules/misc/qt.nix#L12-L18)
That was originally added in [d214b93](https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/commit/d214b93ee3c82b2746b85e8cb96bc150c6a74e50), which is from June and not yet in any stable HM branch though, so if you’re on NixOS+HM stable it won’t yet work.
---
### Author:  [@anon77591810](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/anon77591810)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/6 "2023-12-01T23:29:53Z")
Yes, I’m using stable 23.05 ( since yesterday it deprecated ).
---
### Author:  [@itslychee](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/itslychee)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/7 "2024-02-12T11:52:35Z")
you shouldn’t be configuring a qt theme inside `nixpkgs.config`, this is bad advice and I have my doubts as if this actually worked or not.
---
### Author:  [@mun](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/mun)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2024, 6:05am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/8 "2024-03-03T06:05:21Z")
I could not get the [nixos option](https://search.nixos.org/options?channel=unstable&show=qt.style&from=0&size=50&sort=relevance&type=packages&query=adwaita) qt style to work.
So this is how I do it, with nixos unstable 24.05 and it works.
`/etc/nixos/configuration.nix`
```auto
environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
adwaita-qt
];
environment.sessionVariables = {
QT_STYLE_OVERRIDE = "adwaita-dark";
};
```
---
### Author:  [@sachinchaudhary1808](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/sachinchaudhary1808)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/9 "2024-06-30T13:41:45Z")
same here thanks for this
---
### Author:  [@Alexuty](https://discourse.nixos.org/u/Alexuty)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2025, 7:55am UTC](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/guide-to-installing-qt-theme/35523/10 "2025-11-15T07:55:24Z")
This worked so great, thank you! For some applications like Ark, I had to add `adwaita-qt6` to the system packages in order to get the theme to apply.