How to Open Root Terminal in Linux Mint

For various administrative tasks, you need to open the root terminal in Linux Mint. It can be used to change global operating system settings, edit configuration files, install or remove apps from console or change permissions of files. Today, we will see how it can be done.

Some Linux distros come a dedicated launcher to open the root terminal. Linux Mint does not ship the special launcher. But it is not actually required. You can turn any opened terminal into the root terminal instance with a single command. Here is how.

To open the root terminal in Linux Mint, do the following.

1. Open your terminal app.
2. Type the following command:

   sudo su

   

3. Enter your password when prompted.
4. From now, the current instance will be the root terminal.

There is alternative way to open the root terminal. Linux Mint comes with a graphical 'sudo' command gksudo. It included in all editions of the operating system. To open the root terminal using gksudo, do the following.

1. Press Alt + F2. This will open a special dialog where you can type a command to execute.
2. In Cinnamon, type the following command in the text box:

   gksudo gnome-terminal

   In Mate, type the command

   gksudo mate-terminal

   In XFCE4, type the command

   gksudo xfce4-terminal

   
   Finally, if you are running Linux Mint KDE edition, type:

   gksudo konsole

   

3. Enter your password when prompted.

This will open the root terminal in your desktop environment in Linux Mint.

You are done.