This is a repost, because no one had popper solution. What to do when gnome-shell freezes? Everything works correctly (music is still playing etc.), just the gui freezes. I am able to ctrl+alt+f1. What can I do after logging in the ctrl+alt+f1 terminal, in order to restore gnome-shell? If gnome-shell worked, I'd just hit alt+f2 and run r. I usually end up sudo rebooting which I don't like, because I have to reopen apps.