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On a GNOME-based Ubuntu desktop, the practical way to add a login chime is to create a Startup Applications entry that runs /usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="GNOME Login". Open Startup Applications, add that command, save it, then sign out and sign back in to check the result.
This method plays the sound after your user session starts. It does not add a sound to the graphical login screen before authentication, and it does not change a firmware or boot beep. The sound is audible only when your selected sound theme provides the desktop-login event and your audio output is working and unmuted.
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What “login sound” means in Ubuntu
Ubuntu can produce audio at several different points, and they are not controlled by the same mechanism. The Startup Applications method targets the desktop session that begins after you enter your password and the desktop loads.
| Sound location | What triggers it | Does the Startup Applications method control it? |
|---|---|---|
| Firmware or boot beep | Computer firmware or hardware during power-on | No |
| Graphical login-screen chime | The display manager before a user session is authenticated | No. A normal user autostart entry has not run yet. |
| Desktop login sound | Your GNOME session starting after sign-in | Yes, when the command and sound theme are available. |
That distinction matters because a command can work perfectly and still appear to “fail” if you are expecting a tone before the password prompt. The procedure below is specifically for the third row: a sound after sign-in.
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Check the conditions before adding the entry
The instructions are written for a GNOME-based Ubuntu desktop. Ubuntu Help documents Startup Applications as the place where applications can be configured to start at login. Names and installed utilities can vary with the Ubuntu release, desktop session, and installation choices.
- You need a graphical Ubuntu session in which Startup Applications is available, or the
gnome-session-propertiesutility. - Your session must have an audio output selected and not muted. Check the desktop volume control and, if you use external speakers or headphones, confirm that the intended device is connected.
- The command must exist at
/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play. The command is an example used by Ubuntu community sound-theme documentation; it is not evidence that every current Ubuntu installation includes the executable. - Your active sound theme must define an event named
desktop-login. Requesting an event by ID cannot produce audio when the selected theme has no matching event.
You do not need speakers, headphones, or any other physical product specifically to enable the setting. Hardware only determines whether an available event can be heard.
Add the post-login sound with Startup Applications
Use this procedure for a per-user GNOME session. Save the exact command, including its quotation marks.
- Open the Activities overview and search for Startup Applications. Select the matching utility.
- If the launcher is not listed, open a terminal or the Run a Command dialog and run
gnome-session-properties. The utility may not be installed or exposed in every desktop version. - In Startup Applications, select Add.
- Enter a descriptive name, such as
GNOME Login Sound. The name is only a label for your entry. - In the Command field, enter exactly:
/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="GNOME Login" - Use the comment field, if your version displays one, to note that the entry is intended for the sound after sign-in. This makes it easier to identify later; it does not affect playback.
- Save or close the dialog so the new row appears in the Startup Applications list. Make sure its checkbox or enabled state is on if your version shows one.
- Sign out and sign back in, or reboot, to check the behavior. Testing after a fresh session is important because the command is meant to run when the session starts.
Recommended entry values
| Field | Value | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Name | GNOME Login Sound |
A recognizable label; any clear name is acceptable. |
| Command | /usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="GNOME Login" |
Requests the sound-theme event named desktop-login. |
| Comment | Optional note such as “Play sound after user sign-in” | Documentation for you; it is not an argument passed to the player. |
| Enabled | On, when the interface provides an enabled checkbox | Disabled entries are not launched at login. |
Test the command without signing out
You can separate a Startup Applications problem from an audio or sound-theme problem by running the command manually first. Open a terminal and paste:
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/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="GNOME Login"
If the event is present in the active theme and the output is available, you should hear the corresponding sound immediately. A silent result does not by itself prove that the autostart entry is wrong; it usually means the event is absent from the selected theme, the command is unavailable, or the audio path is muted or pointed at another device.
Do not add extra shell syntax, sudo, or a trailing ampersand to this entry. The Startup Applications field should contain the executable path and its two options as shown. Running it as your normal user also keeps the behavior tied to the session that is actually logging in.
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Startup Applications cannot be found
Search from the Activities overview for the exact name Startup Applications. If no launcher appears, try gnome-session-properties from a terminal or the Run a Command dialog. Ubuntu Help lists both routes, but availability can differ by desktop version and installation. If the command itself is unavailable, the graphical tool is not present in that installation and this particular interface cannot be used until the relevant desktop component is provided by your Ubuntu setup.
The command returns “not found”
Check the path exactly as written: /usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play. A missing executable means the sound-event player is not present at that location. The community sound-theme documentation demonstrates the command but does not establish a universal package requirement for every Ubuntu release, so do not assume that installing a similarly named package will be correct for your edition. Identify the desktop and release-specific package guidance for your installation before changing packages.
The command runs but nothing is audible
- Run the command manually in a terminal so you can distinguish playback from autostart timing.
- Open the system sound controls and verify that output is not muted, the volume is high enough to hear, and the selected output is the device you are using.
- Check the active sound theme. The event ID is
desktop-login; a theme that does not include that event has nothing to play. - Try the same command after selecting the intended output device. If other desktop sounds are also silent, resolve the general audio problem first.
- Sign out and back in after correcting the theme or output. The autostart entry only runs at the beginning of the new session.
The command invokes an event by name; it does not manufacture an audio file. Consequently, a missing theme event and a muted output can produce the same symptom even when the Startup Applications row is configured correctly.
You hear the sound at the wrong time
If the chime occurs after the desktop appears, that is expected for this method. A user-session autostart entry cannot run before the graphical login screen because the user has not been authenticated and that session does not yet exist. To change a pre-login sound, you would need a display-manager or system-level configuration, which is outside this per-user procedure and is not supplied by the Startup Applications instructions.
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Look for duplicate entries in Startup Applications. Keep one enabled row for the command and disable or remove copies created during testing. Also check whether another desktop utility is already configured to play a login event. The command itself requests one event each time it is launched; two autostart rows can therefore request two sounds.
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It worked once but not after a change
Confirm that the row is still enabled, that the command has not been edited with typographical changes, and that the selected sound theme and audio output are the same ones you tested manually. Sign out completely before judging a change: editing an autostart row does not retroactively rerun it in an already-open session.
Understand the command’s two options
The executable is canberra-gtk-play, a player for named desktop sound events. The --id="desktop-login" option selects the event ID. The --description="GNOME Login" option supplies a human-readable description for the playback request; it does not select a different sound and does not change when the command runs.
The event ID is the important link to the theme. Sound themes provide event names and their corresponding audio assets. The archived Ubuntu community communitheme-sounds repository documents this command in an early pre-release theme’s desktop-login test instructions. That repository was archived on July 26, 2018, so its example is useful as a practical pattern, not proof that every current Ubuntu theme still ships the event or that every current installation includes the player.
Version and desktop-session limits
An Ask Ubuntu answer about Ubuntu 20.04, edited March 5, 2024, gives the same canberra-gtk-play approach and explicitly separates a post-login sound from a login-screen sound. It is community guidance for that version, not a guarantee for later Ubuntu releases.
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Ubuntu Help’s current stable Startup Applications documentation, accessed October 13, 2026, supports the navigation and the purpose of the tool: it configures applications that start at login in addition to the system’s default startup applications. The exact labels, whether the launcher is installed, and the contents of the active sound theme can change between Ubuntu releases and desktop sessions.
For that reason, treat the command as a GNOME example. If you are using a different desktop environment, its autostart manager and sound-event system may use different labels or conventions. Do not infer that a successful setup on Ubuntu 20.04 is automatically verified for every later release.
Disable or remove the sound later
- Open Startup Applications or run
gnome-session-properties. - Select the row you created, such as GNOME Login Sound.
- Turn off its enabled checkbox if you might want to restore it, or choose Remove to delete it.
- Sign out and sign back in to confirm that the command no longer runs at session start.
Disabling the row affects this autostart action only. It does not remove your sound theme, change the system volume, or disable unrelated desktop audio.
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- Want a sound after entering your password? Add the command to Startup Applications.
- Want a tone before the password prompt? This user-session method cannot provide it.
- No Startup Applications launcher? Try
gnome-session-properties; availability varies. - No sound from a manual test? Check the event in the active theme and verify an unmuted, correctly selected output.
- Using the archived community command as a guarantee? Do not. It is an example from documentation archived July 26, 2018.
- Need to undo it? Disable or remove the single autostart row, then start a new session.
What to expect when it is configured correctly
At the next sign-in, Ubuntu starts the configured user-session application. The player requests the desktop-login event, and the active sound theme supplies the corresponding audio if it contains that event. The result is a post-authentication desktop chime, not a boot sound and not a pre-authentication login-screen sound.
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