{"id":51351,"date":"2026-06-06T10:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=51351"},"modified":"2026-06-06T10:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T10:40:22","slug":"gnome-50-2-released-with-files-screenshot-improvements-nvidia-fixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/gnome-50-2-released-with-files-screenshot-improvements-nvidia-fixes\/","title":{"rendered":"GNOME 50.2 Released with Files, Screenshot Improvements & NVIDIA Fixes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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GNOME 50, the default desktop for Ubuntu 26.04 and Fedora 44, announced its second maintenance update one day ago.<\/p>\n

The new small version of this popular Linux desktop environment introduced numerous bug-fixes, fixes and improvements for NVIDIA support, as well as its Nautilus file manager and built-in screenshot tool.<\/p>\n

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First, GNOME 50.2 fixed that the graphical login manager GDM failed to properly terminate conflicting graphical sessions started outside of GDM (e.g. ThinLinc, TigerVNC). It also fixed plymouth (the boot animation) hanging indefinitely on headless systems or systems without monitors, which prevent the system from booting into graphical login screen.<\/p>\n

It as well fixed loading X11 sessions (e.g., XFCE4, MATE) because GDM would incorrectly set the session type to Wayland.<\/p>\n

And, the session\/a11y menu in the login screen now accept both left and right mouse clicks which can be useful for left-handed mouse users.<\/p>\n

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For Intel and AMD with VA-API hardware acceleration implementation, the built-in screen recording previously would produce 18x larger H.264 video files at 4k, due to missing rate control parameters with no visible quality benefit.<\/p>\n

The new version added rate-control=vbr<\/code>, bitrate=2048<\/code>, target-percentage=50<\/code> to both VA-API pipelines which significantly reduce the file sizes for 4K screen recording (VA-API H.264).<\/p>\n

Also for the built-in screenshot\/screencast tool, it fixed that the mouse pointer and handle center (for drag resizing area selection) didn’t align, making hard to extend to the extreme corners for the screen, though you may drag moving (instead of resizing) the selection area to workaround.<\/p>\n

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For Nautilus, aka GNOME Files, the new version added search entry<\/i> in the file’s “Open With” context menu, allowing to quickly find out that application that you want.<\/p>\n

It now supports opening multiple files with different extensions (e.g., a.jpg, b.png, c.webp) via “Open With” dialog, instead of silently silently fail when confirming an application selection.<\/p>\n

And, it fixed possible crash with properties window, thumbnails not appearing in remote locations, and potential crash in list view.<\/p>\n

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Add Search Entry in open with dialog<\/p><\/div>\n

Instead of ignore primary GPU device that does not support KMS (or KMS initialization fails), GNOME will now try configuring it in headless mode, which is useful when user want to use the GPU as render-only device or disable the display capability at boot time.<\/p>\n

For NVIDIA GPU, this version fixed a deadlock issue that can freeze GNOME desktop or prevent the system from waking up from sleep. It also fixed the desktop animations stuttering issue with some driver versions (e.g., nvidia-595), and black screen on some NVIDIA GPUs for GNOME Remote Desktop.<\/p>\n

Other changes in GNOME 50.2 include:<\/p>\n