Some things don't work well for me in xfce, and I don't see that xfce is faster. Also have Gnome on my laptop. Running xfce on a 2010 Mac desktop with 12 Gb of RAM, not that it matters. I'd just rather go back to Gnome. How do I do it?
Stan
Hello,
How did you install it? Did you replace GDM with LightDM?
The fatest and cleanest way is to re-install the OS, but it shouldn't be impossible to remove XFCE.
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Yes, replaced GDM with LightDM. (at least per my memory). I was under the impression that both were there and I could switch back. (I'm running 16.2 core.) Hope I won't have to reinstall the OS. Grrr.
Have you removed any of the Gnome stuff?
sudo apt install --reinstall zorin-os-desktop-core gdm3
Should get you back to Gnome. You might want to test it before removing XFCE packages.
Note: this is out of my memory, as I'm current logged in Zorin atm. (will be in a hour or so).
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I'll give it a try. And, after confirming that Gnome is working properly, how do remove the xfce desktop?
That I'm sure @Aravisian can tell. He's the XFCE expert on this board. But he is out of town at the moment.
But I can dig a little meanwhile.
Oh, just noticed that you said from memory. If it's not too much trouble, please confirm when you can. I'd rather be sure of the command. I'm in no big hurry. Thanks so much for your help with this.
Okay. To reinstall Gnome for Core users and set up GDM;
sudo apt install zorin-os-desktop gdm3
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3
If you used the terminal to install xfce, you can type history in the terminal, scroll up till you see xfce or zorin-desktop-lite (currently the only two ways I know of to install it). Once you seen it, you can do the reverse -> sudo apt remove xfce or sudo apt purge xfce. You may have to add to that command based on what you used to install (i.e. xfce4, xfce-desktop...etc.).
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Could a;
sudo apt remove --purge xfce*
Do the trick? It will remove everything called XFCE.
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Yes, you could glob it. This should be done with caution though. 
while globs are useful in such a sense, and in this case should be harmless, it can remove things unintendedly.
Apt did update their commands to include a apt purge command, so the flag is redundant now (and performs as your command).
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The proper command must be
sudo apt remove --purge xfce4
I agree with @337harvey about using the wildcard(*) with caution. In this case, it should not really be necessary.
Using synaptic Package Manager may be a very solid way of safely removing all elements of XFCE.
However, the O.P. may want to use Gnome and stick with Gnome, but still may find certain XFCE applications useful or even preferable. After all, the same is true on Cinnamon or Mate or XFCE, where Gnome apps are used.
I use Nemo file manager instead of Thunar. In fact, I defer to Nautilus even, before Thunar.
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I ran these commands:
sudo apt install zorin-os-desktop gdm3
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3
I chose gdm, OK. Wasn't sure what to do next. Restarted, but back to xfce desktop.
Found this in history:
229 sudo apt install -y zorin-os-litedesktop
230 sudo apt install zorin-os-lite-desktop
231 sudo apt install lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
Have not tried sudo apt remove --purge xfce4. Should that be next?
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Try remove lightdm and then reconfigure gdm3 again, but wait for a second opinion.
How would I remove lightdm?
To be honest .... just download Zorin Core Gnome and make a bootable USB stick
Boot the stick
Make shure that you select 'wipe the disk, and install Zorin OS' (or something like that in the installer)
Finish the installation and you have a perfectly running Gnome, Zorin.
The other suggestions work as well, but that is a critical way of doing things. You get a mixup of D-E's ... and it is not just a click, click, click building over a desktop at all.
XFCE and Gnome have big differences under the hood, yet they have some identical libs. So that makes it unreliable to work that suggested way.
Clean, fresh install = 100% good working Zorin 16.2 Core (or even Pro).
Just my two cents on this issue.
This
Answers this:
You can run:
sudo apt remove --purge zorin-os-lite-desktop lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
Once done, run:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3
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Arrgh . . .
stan-zorin@stanzorin-iMac:~$ sudo apt remove --purge zorin-os-lite-desktop-gtk-greeter-settings
[sudo] password for stan-zorin:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package zorin-os-lite-desktop-gtk-greeter-settings
It was removed with the zorin-os-lite-desktop i believe. I hope you haven't restarted, because you should run the dpkg command first to ensure gdm is set to handle the login.
ran dpkg command, set gdm, restarted, still xfce desktop. 