How can I restart X Window Server from the command line?
I'd really like to be able to restart my GUI without having to do a full system reboot.
asked Aug 5, 2010 at 18:09
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7 Answers
NOTE: This will forcefully quit all graphical programs, you'll lose any unsaved work, and you'll be logged out. Non-graphical programs will not be affected.
TL;DR: on systems with systemd (Ubuntu 15.04 and newer)
sudo systemctl restart display-manager
This will restart the appropriate display manager service (lightdm till 17.04, gdm3 after, sddm in Kubuntu, etc.). You can replace display-manager with lightdm, gdm3, sddm, etc. if needed, but this should be enough.
For other Ubuntu versions, first find which display manager your ubuntu is having with following command:
cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager
Than depending on what display manager, you can use one of the following commands:
Default Ubuntu (with LightDM)
sudo systemctl restart lightdmGnome (with GDM)
sudo systemctl restart gdmKDE (with KDM)
sudo systemctl restart kdmNote: From 12.10 to 15.04, Kubuntu also uses LightDM.
For MDM (e.g. for Mint Cinnamon)
sudo systemctl restart mdm
answered Aug 5, 2010 at 18:11
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2It seem to close all the applications and documents immediately without saving (unlike regular restart), what's the difference between this and sudo reboot? Feb 1, 2015 at 16:23
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2@uval,
sudo rebootreboots all your system, that is the computer, while this restarts only the Xorg server, so that other programs, which do not require a graphical interface, for instance a web server, can continue to work. As well as all mounter file systems (like encrypted ones), all connections to remote hosts etc. do persists in the case of this instead of therebootcommand– d.kJun 16, 2016 at 6:43 -
2I get restart: Unable to connect to Upstart: Failed to connect to socket /com/ubuntu/upstart: Connection refused.– WilliamOct 10, 2016 at 18:16
For 11.04 and earlier:
sudo service gdm restart
For 11.10 and later:
sudo service lightdm restart
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+1 Works nicely on the Raspberry Pi as well (in case anyone is curious, that's what got me here :)– LevonAug 6, 2014 at 18:03
Found out that you can do
sudo pkill X
and it seems to work for me!
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4Works perfectly for me (I have no *dm service, Xorg is started directly upon user autologin).– zgodaFeb 24, 2017 at 11:14
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You can try pressing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart X.
answered Aug 5, 2010 at 18:19
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8This is deactivated by default in 10.04 and will therefore normally not work. Aug 5, 2010 at 18:28
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6It can be reactivated though, by going to System -> Preferences -> Keyboard, clicking the 'Options...' button in the 'Layouts' tab and enabling 'Key sequence to kill the x server'.– dv3500eaAug 5, 2010 at 18:33
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8The correct shortcut is "Alt+SysRq+k", however he asked for command line.– Li LoAug 5, 2010 at 20:44
Newest version of Ubuntu as of 24 Oct, 2012.
- Open Dash Home
- Search for keyboard layout
- Click Options
- Expand tab labelled "Key sequence to kill the X server"
- Enable it and Close.
Command Line:
sudo restart lightdm
Since ubuntu 9.04 Ctrl+Alt+Backspace is disabled, however you can now type Alt gr + Print Screen + K.
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Alt+PrtScr/SysReq+k logged me out pdq and my programs were killed or terminated. Is this the desired behaviour expected when restarting X-server? I have 11.10 and sudo restart lightdm took me into text mode and seemed to stay there shutting down a bunch of daemons then stopping. I had to reboot manually fortunately the off button does it gracefully (sometimes).– AsherDec 22, 2011 at 15:49
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6SysRq+k kills all running processes and child-processes on the current terminal (i.e. the one running your X-server). Using it may cause the system to lose data! See: askubuntu.com/questions/14155/… Dec 22, 2011 at 17:50
For KDE:
sudo systemctl restart sddm.service
answered Jun 11, 2022 at 20:41
