How can I adjust the transparency of the Status Bar (top panel)?

example panel transparency

For example 100% transparency...

A useful option if you are using transparency is the option just below - Transparency Maximized Toggle (called Opaque panel for maximized windows in Unity-Tweak-Tool)

Switching on this option will not display the top panel as transparent if the window is maximised i.e. with 100% transparency but this toggle switch-on:

Nautilus is maximised and therefore the top-bar does not remain transparent.

13.04

The panel transparency can be defined with unity-tweak-tool

12.04

(click to install)

The panel transparency can now be defined in MyUnity

From the terminal, you can use

gsettings get org.compiz.unityshell:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/ panel-opacity

to get the current value for panel opacity and

gsettings set org.compiz.unityshell:/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/ panel-opacity X

to set the panel opacity to X. X must be between 0 and 1.

_{P:S This way is preferred over any other method that uses dconf directly. And safer than using CCSM}

See also:

• Can I change the Unity Launcher transparency?

For 12.04 and 12.10 - Using CCSM

Since existing Unity configuration tools are not yet updated for 12.10, we are confined to using CCSM. Before we get going, here's some precaution:

• What are some of the issues with CCSM and why would I want to avoid it?

If you still want to persist, install compizconfig-settings-manager and go to Ubuntu Unity plugin:

Navigate to Experimental tab and input any value between the range of 0.0000 to 1.0000 in the option Panel Opacity, where 0.0000 is complete transparent and 1.0000 is complete opaque.

Here's what my top panel looks like at 0.3670 opacity: