# rEFInd-minimal: seven files that restyle a UEFI boot screen

> A theme for the rEFInd boot manager, installed by cloning into the themes directory and adding one include line, with icon paths and a wallpaper resolution gotcha worth knowing before you start.

**evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal** — A stunningly clean theme for the rEFInd UEFI boot manager.

- Repository: https://github.com/evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal
- Website: https://evanpurkhiser.com/rEFInd-minimal/
- Stars: 2,279 · Forks: 234
- Language: Unknown
- License: MIT
- Published: 2026-10-06 · Updated: 2026-10-06 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/evanpurkhiser-refind-minimal

## What the theme actually contains

The repository is seven entries, and that is the whole product. There is a `theme.conf`, three PNG files named `background.png`, `selection_big.png` and `selection_small.png`, and an `icons/` directory. There is no build script, no package manifest, no theme compiler and no source artwork in the tree.

That shape follows from what rEFInd's theme mechanism is. The README's opening line describes rEFInd as an easy to use boot manager for UEFI based systems, and a theme is a directory of images plus a configuration file that rEFInd reads. Nothing needs to be generated, which is why the install instructions are four steps rather than a build.

The two selection images are the detail that tells you the format is aimed at real hardware rather than a screenshot. rEFInd draws a highlight bar over the selected entry, and it wants a small and a large version of that bar so it looks right on a low-resolution panel and a high-resolution one. Shipping both is the author's acknowledgement that boot screens get photographed on whatever machine is on the desk.

## Installing it is four steps and one include line

The README's usage section is the shortest in this batch, and it is complete enough to follow. Locate the rEFInd EFI directory, which is commonly `/boot/EFI/refind` but depends on where you mounted the EFI System Partition and where rEFInd was installed. The README suggests `fdisk -l` and `mount` as the way to find out, which is the right advice because guessing here produces a theme that never loads.

Then create a `themes` directory inside it if it does not exist, clone this repository into that directory, and add one line at the end of `refind.conf`:

```text
include themes/rEFInd-minimal/theme.conf
```

Appending matters, because rEFInd reads `refind.conf` top to bottom and later directives override earlier ones. Put the include at the top and any theme-setting lines you already have will win instead.

No build step, no package install and no root beyond the permissions needed to write into the EFI partition. The whole install is a directory copy and one line of configuration, and reversing it is removing the same line and the directory.

## Icon paths in manual entries are where it breaks

The README's example menuentry block is where the theme earns its keep, because it shows the icon path convention explicitly rather than leaving you to infer it.

```text
menuentry "Arch Linux" {
	icon /EFI/refind/themes/rEFInd-minimal/icons/os_arch.png
	loader vmlinuz-linux
	initrd initramfs-linux.img
	options "rw root=UUID=dfb2919d-ff78-48db-a8a7-23f7542c343a loglevel=3"
}

menuentry "Windows" {
	icon /EFI/refind/themes/rEFInd-minimal/icons/os_win.png
	loader /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
}
```

Three things are visible there. The `icon` value is an absolute path into the themes directory, not a path relative to the entry. It points at the theme's own `icons/` directory, so the icon travels with the theme. And a manual entry needs four things spelled out, including the `initrd` line, where an autodetected entry would have found the initramfs by itself.

The README closes that section by saying entries that are autodetected should also show the proper icons. That is the real division of labour: hand-written entries cost you an absolute icon path, autodetected ones cost you nothing, and rEFInd picks the icon by recognising the loader. Whether that mapping is as tidy as the screenshot is not something the repository documents, so the icons directory is worth opening yourself before you assume a given system is covered.

## A blurry background is a resolution mismatch, not a compression problem

The README has a short troubleshooting section for this, and its diagnosis is specific: if the background looks blurry, the included wallpaper is probably the wrong resolution for your monitor. The fix is to download the original high quality wallpaper, resize it to suit, and replace `background.png` in the theme directory.

That is the right diagnosis because a boot screen is displayed once, at a resolution nobody designed it for. There is no browser zoom to hide behind and no chance to test on the target panel before committing. A theme that includes one fixed-size image cannot serve a 1080p laptop panel and a 4K desktop monitor equally well, so on this project the first edit most users make is replacing an asset that ships in the box.

The README also says you can of course choose your own background, so `background.png` is a slot rather than a fixed part. Worth knowing that the selection images and icon set stay as they are, since only the wallpaper is called out as user-replaceable.

## Licensing covers the repository, not the artwork

The repository carries an MIT licence, which is the easy half. The README's attribution section is the part that deserves a second read, because the artwork did not come from the author.

The OS icons are credited as Lightness for burg by SWOriginal, and the background as Minimalist Wallpaper by LeonardoAIanB. A third credit thanks Padster for locating the wallpaper. So a theme repository under MIT is distributing two sets of third-party images with named creators, and anyone repackaging the theme should carry those credits along. The MIT file covers the repository's own contribution, which for a project like this is the selection images and the theme configuration, not the drawings.

There is a small editing artefact in that same section: the wallpaper author's name is written with a stray character in it, and one link label is reused for two different targets. Cosmetic, but it is the sort of thing that makes you check the credits yourself rather than assume they were maintained.

## What this is an alternative to

There are three other routes to a different rEFInd appearance, and this theme is the cheapest of them. You can write a theme from scratch, which is what a theme with your own artwork requires. You can leave the themes mechanism alone and set the banner and selection colours in `refind.conf` directly, which changes colours but not artwork. Or you can install one of several themes the community shares, of which this is one and there are others with different names and different looks.

Comparing rEFInd itself with GRUB is the other question people ask about this project, and the theme's existence is only tangentially related to it. The short version: rEFInd builds its boot menu by scanning the EFI directory and listing what it finds, which is why autodetected entries get icons without configuration, while GRUB is driven by configuration files you write by hand. That autodetection is the property this theme leans on, and it is also why the theme needs nothing more than an include line to work.

The honest limit is that a theme cannot make rEFInd discover a kernel it does not have. If your boot setup needs manual entries with absolute paths anyway, the icon saving shrinks and you are left with a nicer background.

## Conclusion

rEFInd-minimal is a good fit if you want a boot screen that looks deliberate and you would rather not hand-place icons for every kernel, which is the work the theme's icon set absorbs. It is worth exactly as much as the theme format allows, which is not much: one background, two selection images, a set of OS icons and a single include line. The one thing to sort out before cloning is the icon path convention in manual menu entries, because rEFInd wants an absolute path into the themes directory and a relative one silently falls back to a generic icon. Autodetected entries need no work at all. If the background looks soft on your monitor, replace `background.png` with a wallpaper at your own resolution, and if you are packaging the theme for others, carry the icon and wallpaper attribution along with it, because the MIT licence covers the repository while the artwork credits named artists.

## FAQ

### How do I install the rEFInd theme?

Create a `themes` directory inside your rEFInd EFI directory, which is commonly `/boot/EFI/refind`, clone the repository into it, then add `include themes/rEFInd-minimal/theme.conf` at the end of `refind.conf`. The README suggests `fdisk -l` and `mount` to locate the directory, since the path depends on where the EFI System Partition is mounted.

### What files does the rEFInd-minimal theme provide?

Seven entries: `theme.conf`, three images (`background.png`, `selection_big.png` and `selection_small.png`) and the `icons/` directory. Nothing is compiled or generated, which is why the installation is a directory copy and a single include line.

### Why does the rEFInd-minimal background look blurry?

The README attributes it to the included wallpaper being the wrong resolution for your monitor. The fix is to download the original wallpaper, resize it to suit your display, and replace `background.png` in the theme directory.

### How do I use a custom icon for a manual rEFInd menu entry?

Add an `icon` line with an absolute path into the theme's icons directory, for example `icon /EFI/refind/themes/rEFInd-minimal/icons/os_arch.png` inside a `menuentry` block. Entries that rEFInd autodetects pick up icons on their own, without an `icon` line.

## Sources

- [evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal on GitHub](https://github.com/evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal)
- [Issues](https://github.com/evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal/issues)
- [License: MIT](https://github.com/evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://evanpurkhiser.com/rEFInd-minimal/)
- [README](https://github.com/evanpurkhiser/rEFInd-minimal/blob/main/README.md)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/evanpurkhiser-refind-minimal