Welcome to Dagric OS
Everything you need for your first week. This page works offline.
Coming from Windows? Everything is still here
Ten years of habits don't need relearning — almost everything has a direct equivalent, usually on the same keys. This table is the whole trick to feeling at home in an afternoon.
One row below carries a PRO badge. That badge appears throughout this guide and marks something that comes with Dagric Pro.
| On Windows | On Dagric |
|---|---|
| Start menu | Launcher — press Meta, the ⊞ key, and type |
| File Explorer | Files — Meta+E, same keys |
| Control Panel / Settings | System Settings — one place, searchable |
| Task Manager | Task Manager — same name here, and Ctrl+Shift+Esc still opens it (it is System Monitor underneath, and that name still finds it) |
| Microsoft Edge | Firefox — import your bookmarks from its menu |
| Notepad | Text Editor |
| Photos | Photos — opens pictures on a double-click, same as ever (Gwenview underneath, and that name still finds it) |
| Snipping Tool | Screenshot — Meta+Shift+S grabs a region, same keys as Windows (Spectacle underneath, and that name still finds it) |
| Windows Update | the tray icon when updates are ready — security fixes install themselves |
| Recycle Bin | Trash — in the Files sidebar |
| Defender / antivirus | built in: the firewall is on from the first boot, with documented AppArmor coverage for selected system services. Keep the system and browser updated and use normal care with downloads; this is not a replacement for malware scanning |
| Word / Excel / PowerPoint | LibreOffice Writer / Calc / Impress — opens and saves the same files |
| Outlook | Thunderbird PRO — on the free edition, open your webmail in Firefox |
| Command Prompt / PowerShell | Terminal (Konsole) |
Your first day, as a checklist
Nine small things, in a sensible order. Tick them off — this page remembers where you got to, even after you close it.
Bringing your files from Windows
Open the Dagric Hub and pick
Migrate from Windows (or run dagric-migrate).
It finds the Windows still on this PC, shows your Documents, Pictures,
Music, Videos, Desktop and browser bookmarks, and copies what you pick into
your new home folder.
Your Windows drives and USB sticks
They just work. Plug in a USB stick or external drive (including NTFS-formatted Windows drives) and it appears in Files — the folder icon in the taskbar, and what Windows called File Explorer. If you read a forum post that calls it Dolphin, that is the same program: Dagric labels apps by what they do, and the original name still finds them when you search the launcher.
If a Windows drive refuses to open, or opens but will not let you save anything, that has one usual cause and it is covered in When something goes wrong.
Wi-Fi, sound, displays
All in the system tray (bottom right). Click the network icon to join Wi-Fi, the speaker for volume and output device, and the display icon when you plug in a monitor or projector.
Updates
Security updates install silently in the background. When bigger updates are ready, a tray icon appears — apply them whenever you like. Dagric never restarts your computer for you.
Installing apps
Open the Software Store (the bag icon in the taskbar — it is called Discover underneath, and that name still finds it). Search, click Install, done. Repository details and permissions are shown before installation, and installed apps are removable. Flathub includes both open-source and proprietary software, so review the publisher, permissions, licence, and source before you install. Removing an app actually removes it — nothing comes back on its own.
Printers
Plug the printer in (or have it on the same Wi-Fi), then open System Settings → Printers → Add Printer. Most printers are detected automatically. If yours is not found, When something goes wrong has the usual cause.
Keyboard shortcuts worth knowing
If everything looks too small
On a laptop with a very sharp screen, text can come out tiny. Open Text Size from the launcher (or the Hub → Text size and night light) and pick a size between 100% and 200%. Dagric only offers sizes that still leave room for windows and buttons on your screen, so you cannot pick one that makes the desktop unusable.
The change happens straight away and then asks whether to keep it. If you answer nothing, it puts itself back after twenty seconds — so if the new size made everything unreadable, or the question ended up off the edge of the screen, just wait and the desktop returns to how it was. Dagric also measures your screen when you first sign in and picks a sensible size on its own, the way Windows does.
The same tool has a night light — Windows calls it the same thing. It warms the screen's colors so late-evening reading is easier on your eyes. Pick evenings only (on from 8pm to 7am), all the time, or off, and forget about it.
Accessibility
This section is for anyone who needs the screen read aloud, made bigger, or driven entirely from the keyboard.
All of it is already on this computer — nothing to download, no account, no extra edition.
Reading the screen aloud. The Orca
screen reader is installed on every edition, together with its speech
engine and voice — a screen reader with no voice installed is a
common and useless outcome, so Dagric pins both deliberately. Turn it on
with Meta+Alt+S, or in
System Settings → Accessibility → Screen Reader.
The manual has a full page on Orca, including how to use a refreshable
Braille display — the driver for those, brltty, ships
on every edition, so a supported display works as soon as you plug it
in.
Making things bigger. Text Size (above) scales the whole desktop between 100% and 200% and puts itself back if you say nothing. For a magnifier that follows the mouse instead, System Settings → Accessibility switches on the screen zoom; the same page lists the keys that drive it.
Keyboard and mouse. Sticky modifier keys (for pressing Ctrl+C one key at a time), a visible flash instead of the system beep, and moving the pointer with the number pad are all in System Settings → Accessibility. Colour filters for colour blindness are there too.
This guide and the manual are built to be read with a screen reader and driven from the keyboard: press Tab on any page and the first stop is Skip to content, which jumps you past the sidebar.
The setup wizard is still there
If you have not installed Dagric yet, this section is a description of what happens the first time you sign in. If you have, it is the way back to it.
The first time you signed in, Dagric walked you through six short screens — light or dark, an accent color, a wallpaper, how big the text should be, where the taskbar goes, and bringing your files over from Windows. That was Set Up Dagric, and it did not vanish after the first run. Press the launcher, type Set Up Dagric, and go through it again whenever you like (it is also in the Hub, under Get started).
Everything in it applies as you click, so you see the real desktop change rather than a preview. If you go too far, the Undo my changes button at the top of the window puts back the colors, wallpaper, text size and taskbar you started with.
Making it yours: Looks and Styles
Not sure which one to open? Start here.
| What you want to change | Open this |
|---|---|
| Where the taskbar, panels and menus sit | Dagric Looks |
| Light or dark, accent colour, wallpaper | Dagric Styles |
| See a change before you keep it | Dagric Appearance |
| How big the text is | Text Size — its own section |
| Go through the first-run choices again | Set Up Dagric — the setup wizard |
Two tools shape the desktop, both one click and both reversible. Dagric Looks changes the layout — where the taskbar, panels and menus sit. Dagric Styles changes the mood — light or dark colors, accent color, wallpaper, and window effects like glassy blur. They combine freely: a centered taskbar in deep Midnight, a classic taskbar in warm Dawn. Pro adds the Command, Duo, Horizon and Unity layouts — side docks and top menu bars. Find both in the launcher or the Hub, and pick Reset in Styles any time to return to standard Dagric.
If you would rather see a change before you commit to it, open Dagric Appearance (launcher, or Hub → Appearance gallery). It shows every style and layout as a picture. Click one and the desktop changes immediately, but nothing is saved yet: a bar appears offering Keep or Revert, and if you answer neither — or the change made the screen unreadable — the desktop puts itself back on its own after twenty seconds. Trying things costs nothing, so try everything.
When something goes wrong
Something isn't working. Start here.
The eight things that actually come up, each with the fix that actually works. Nothing here needs the terminal.
If it is worse than that — if the computer itself is unwell rather than one program — read this before anything else:
No sound
Click the speaker icon in the tray and check the output device — after plugging in a monitor or TV, sound often moves to it over HDMI while your speakers sit silent. Pick the right device from the list. The same panel has a per-application mixer, so check the app itself isn't muted.
My Windows drive won't open, or is read-only
This one isn't Dagric — it's Windows. Its Fast Startup feature doesn't fully shut the computer down; it hibernates, and a hibernated Windows keeps its drives locked. Boot into Windows, and either shut down while holding Shift, or turn Fast Startup off for good: Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → untick Turn on fast start-up. After a real shutdown, the drive opens normally here.
Wi-Fi won't connect
Click the network icon in the tray and check Wi-Fi isn't switched off or in airplane mode. If your network is listed but won't take the password, click the connection's settings icon and choose Forget, then join it fresh. If nothing is listed at all, run the Hardware Check from the Dagric Hub — it reports whether the Wi-Fi chip needs anything and says so in plain language.
A program stopped responding
Dagric notices on its own and offers to close it — wait a few seconds for the dialog. To do it yourself: Ctrl+Shift+Esc, find the program, end it. Your other windows are unaffected.
The printer isn't found
Make sure it's on the same Wi-Fi as this computer — the most common cause by far. Then System Settings → Printers → Add Printer. Most modern printers need no driver at all. If yours is an HP, the Hub's Finish setting up entry installs HP's full support with one tick.
I downloaded a file and can't find it
It's in Downloads — open Files (Meta+E) and it's in the sidebar. In Firefox, Ctrl+J lists recent downloads, and each one has a show in folder button.
I experimented with the looks and want out
Open Dagric Styles and pick Reset — the standard Dagric look comes back in one click. And remember the Appearance gallery's changes undo themselves after twenty seconds if you don't confirm them, so an unreadable screen fixes itself if you simply wait.
The disk is filling up
Right-click a folder you suspect in Files and choose
Properties to see its size. To see the whole list at once
instead, open a terminal (type Konsole in the launcher) and run
du -h --max-depth=1 ~ | sort -h. It lists your home
folders smallest to largest, so the culprit is the last line — almost always
Downloads or a forgotten video folder. Both work on every edition.
PRO Pro also has Filelight — type it in the launcher — which draws the whole disk as rings so the big blocks jump out at a glance. The Manual has a page on it.
None of these? Getting help is next.
Getting help
When the fixes above haven't solved it, there are people.
Try the Dagric Manual first — it is on this
computer, it needs no internet, and it has a page for every app here.
After that, visit dagric.com/support.
Your system details for any support request: open the
Terminal (Konsole) and run
cat /etc/os-release.
The full manual
This page is your first week. For every application on the computer —
what it is, what it replaced on Windows, and the five things you will
actually do with it — open the Dagric Manual from the
launcher, or run dagric-manual. It is in the Hub too, under
App manual.
It works offline exactly like this page, and its search knows the Windows names: type Notepad and you get the Text Editor, type Task Manager and you get the system monitor, type PDF and you get everything that opens one.
Backups & drive health
A backup is a second copy of your files, kept somewhere else, so that losing this computer does not mean losing them.
On Dagric Pro: Vorta makes encrypted backups to a drive
or server, and rclone connects to Google Drive, Dropbox,
OneDrive and 70+ other services. Timeshift takes system
restore points — if an update ever misbehaves, roll back to yesterday.
On every edition, Dagric watches your drives' SMART health and warns you
in plain language if one starts failing — and the Security Checkup shows
each drive's status any time.
Running Windows programs
Two kinds of Windows software, two answers: games, and everything else.
For games, install Steam with one click from the Dagric
Hub (it is never bundled), then enable Proton under Settings →
Compatibility. Heroic is an independent launcher supporting
Epic Games Store, GOG and Amazon Games accounts, and
the dagric-gaming command adds the community GE-Proton build.
For ordinary Windows software, Bottles — also one click
from the Hub — keeps each program in a separate Wine environment, not a
security sandbox. Those optional helpers are available on either edition;
compatibility varies by application, title and online service.
On Pro PRO the runtime
underneath is already installed and tuned: Wine runs many
.exe files on a double-click, and GameMode, MangoHud, Lutris
and 32-bit Vulkan are in place for games. And for the rare app that will
not run under Wine at all, Windows in a window: pick it in
the Hub (dagric-vm) to enable virtual machines and run real
licensed Windows inside Dagric.
Pairing your phone
KDE Connect links your phone to this PC for notifications, file transfer and clipboard sharing. For your safety its ports are open only on networks you mark as Home — never on café or airport Wi-Fi. If pairing doesn't find your phone, open System Settings → Firewall and set the current connection's zone to home.
USB Protection PRO
Open the Hub and choose USB Protection to block malicious USB devices (the kind that pretend to be a keyboard and type commands). Plug in everything you normally use first — Dagric remembers those and blocks only strangers. Run it again any time to refresh the list or switch protection back off.
Terminal helpers
Optional, and last on purpose: these are one-line shortcuts for people who are comfortable with a terminal.
sudo dagric-driversNVIDIAdagric-migratebring files from Windowsdagric-get-resolveDaVinci Resolvedagric-aiprivate local AIdagric-gamingGE-Protondagric-vmvirtual machines, Pro