Ubuntu Tips (beta)

The desktop "panels" located at the top and bottom of a default Ubuntu desktop are configured to expand to the entire width of the screen. In some situations, this can mean that they consume more space than needed. This tip shows how to configure these panels to only take up as much space as is required by their contents.

1. Find an empty space on the panel in question and right click
2. In the resulting menu, choose "Properties". If you don't see a Properties choice, then try right clicking on another empty part of the panel.
3. In the resulting "Panel Properties" window, unclick the "Expand" checkbox. This will cause the panel to shrink down to a minimal size.

At this point, panels can be repositioned by dragging the "handles" on the end of the panel.