Restarting Unity desktop in Ubuntu

This is for Ubuntu < 18.04. Ubuntu ≥ 18.04 no longer use Unity.


If the desktop seems to freeze for more than a few seconds, try

  1. press together the keys: Ctrl Alt F1
  2. login and type
unity & disown

This leaves desktop/apps all as they were while fixing the broken state.

Full desktop reset

Restart the whole Unity desktop (which is like unto logging out and logging in, discarding the current desktop):

service lightdm restart