Your First Day After Installing Omarchy

Learn the Omarchy desktop, top bar, launcher, clipboard, hardware checks, updates, and backups before turning a new install into a daily workstation.

The goal of your first Omarchy session is not deep customization. Confirm that the machine boots reliably, essential hardware works, your data has an independent backup, and you can reach the main controls from the keyboard. Import important data only after these checks pass.

Keep a non-Bluetooth keyboard available

A default encrypted installation normally cannot use a Bluetooth keyboard at the pre-boot unlock screen. Use a wired keyboard or a 2.4 GHz receiver until the disk is unlocked.

Entering the desktop

The first-run flow collects the keyboard layout, user name, and password. Once the desktop appears, learn four entry points:

Task	Common entry point
Open the Omarchy menu	`Super + Space`
Open a terminal	`Super + Return`
Open a browser	`Super + Shift + Return`
Close the focused window	`Super + W`, or the binding shown by current hotkey help

Super is normally the Windows key. On a Mac keyboard it is usually the physical key marked Command, subject to your active keyboard mapping.

Read the top bar

The top bar is part of the Quickshell-based Omarchy Shell. The left side contains the menu and workspaces, the center usually carries time, status, and update indicators, and the right side contains the tray, AI agents, Bluetooth, network, audio, display, and power. Some icons appear only after their feature becomes relevant.

Common keyboard-accessible panels include:

Super + Ctrl + A: audio;
Super + Ctrl + W: network;
Super + Ctrl + B: Bluetooth;
Super + Ctrl + D: display;
Super + Ctrl + P: power.

Use arrows to move, Return to act, Tab to move between panels, and Escape to close. Check the current Top Bar manual if a release changes a binding.

Unified clipboard and files

Omarchy uses Super + C for copy, Super + X for cut, Super + V for paste, and Super + Ctrl + V for text and image history across most terminal and graphical applications. Selecting a history entry puts it back on the clipboard for the next paste.

Clipboard history may contain tokens, passwords, and screenshots. Clear sensitive material before sharing or recording the screen, and never treat clipboard history as durable storage.

Post-install checklist

Complete a normal shutdown, boot, and disk unlock.
Test Ethernet or Wi-Fi, DNS, audio input/output, and Bluetooth.
Verify scaling, refresh rate, external displays, sleep, and wake.
Set timezone, keyboard layouts, and any required input method.
Run one planned update through Omarchy, reboot, and check your workflow.
Establish an independent user-data backup; snapshots are not enough.
Restore or clone one test project and verify browser, editor, Git, and keys.
Bookmark the troubleshooting guide and official manual.

Avoid these first-day mistakes

Do not replace all of ~/.config at once.
Do not run a system update, an AUR updater, and third-party installers together.
Do not remove the old operating system before proving recovery.
Do not replace every binding and theme just to match a screenshot.
Do not confuse a same-disk system snapshot with an off-device backup.

Where to go next

Continue with input methods and fonts if you type Chinese or other complex scripts. Developers should read apps and development environments. Windows and macOS users can build habits with the 30-day migration plan.

Sources: Omarchy Getting Started, The Top Bar, and Unified Clipboard.