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sddm-simplisim: a login screen that is just black

Mohamad Almousli · 2026-10-05 · 1 min read

#linux#sddm#theme#minimal

Most login themes compete for your attention. simplisim doesn't: a pure black screen with a live clock, a username field, a password field and a power-off button. That is all of it.

What is on screen

Black background, the time, two fields, one button. Nothing animates and nothing needs configuring, so the theme file stays tiny and easy to read.

The simplisim login screen.
The simplisim login screen.

Install it

`sudo make install` copies the theme to /usr/share/sddm/themes/simplisim. To enable it, set Current=simplisim under [Theme] in /etc/sddm.conf or in a file under /etc/sddm.conf.d/. `sudo make uninstall` removes it again.

What is inside

Four files: Main.qml is the whole greeter interface, theme.conf is the (currently empty) configuration, metadata.desktop is the SDDM theme metadata and screenshot.png is the preview. If you want to tweak it, Main.qml is the only place to look.

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