Oh My Zsh Installation (Including Themes and Plugins)

Hello! 👋

I had been using Fish Shell for a long time, but I wanted to try Oh My Zsh to further customize my terminal experience.
I encountered some errors during the installation process and couldn't find enough up-to-date Turkish resources, so I compiled my own experiences in this guide. 🚀

🔧 Installation#

First, let's install the Zsh shell:

sudo apt install zsh          # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install zsh          # Fedora
sudo pacman -S zsh            # Arch Linux

Installing Oh My Zsh#

Oh My Zsh is a configuration framework for Zsh. Installation is quite simple — you can perform it with either curl or wget methods:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

or

sh -c "$(wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh -O -)"

After installation is complete, change your shell to Zsh:

chsh -s $(which zsh)

🧠 Note: Log out and log back in or restart the system for changes to take effect.

⚙️ Shell Change Problem#

On some systems, the default shell change may not take effect immediately. In such cases, you can manually edit the /etc/passwd file:

sudo nano /etc/passwd

Make sure the end of your user line ends with /bin/zsh. Save the changes and restart the terminal.

⚠️ Warning: Make sure you change your shell before removing your old shell (such as Bash or Fish).

🎨 Theme Installation#

After installation, let's edit the .zshrc file:

nano ~/.zshrc

Find the ZSH_THEME line and select a theme you like:

ZSH_THEME="agnoster"

Some popular themes:

• agnoster — minimal and clean
• powerlevel10k — advanced, customizable prompt
• ys — classic and fast

🔗 Zsh Themes List (Official Wiki)

💡 Powerlevel10k Theme (Recommended) For a more advanced look, you can install Powerlevel10k with the following command:

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git \
  ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

Then in the .zshrc file:

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

🔌 Plugin Installation#

Oh My Zsh increases terminal efficiency with hundreds of plugins. To enable plugins, edit the .zshrc file again:

nano ~/.zshrc

Find the plugins line:

plugins=(git)

And add new plugins, for example:

plugins=(git extract z)

💡 Recommended plugins:

• git → Git shortcuts
• z → Quick navigation to frequently used directories
• extract → Automatic archive extraction
• colored-man → Colored man pages
• history-substring-search → Search in history

To activate changes:

source ~/.zshrc

🚀 Bonus: Powerlevel10k Configuration#

Upon first run, Powerlevel10k automatically launches a configuration wizard. You can fully personalize your terminal by selecting your visual preferences.

To restart it anytime:

p10k configure

🧩 Troubleshooting#

• Zsh not starting: → Run chsh -s $(which zsh) command again.
• Theme appears broken: → Use a compatible font (e.g. "MesloLGS NF").
• Plugin not loading: → Make sure plugin names are correctly written in the .zshrc file.

✅ Conclusion#

Now you have Oh My Zsh installed on your system, with themes and plugins enabled! Your terminal has become both more powerful and much more aesthetic. ✨

In the next step, you can enhance your Zsh experience by adding custom aliases and functions.

🔗 Resources#

• Oh My Zsh Official Site
• Oh My Zsh GitHub
• Powerlevel10k Theme Guide
• Zsh Plugin List

This article is the first part of the Oh My Zsh Series:

1. Oh My Zsh Installation (Including Themes and Plugins) ✅
2. Using Shopt in Zsh
3. Oh My Zsh Custom Aliases and Functions