I think TheBuntuNewb's answer is pretty good. Use this command to install it. Its awful, that this simple feature has to be done the complex way On default DE (Gnome 3) symlinking does not work, but .desktop files copying works as TheBuntuNewb said: For Lubuntu 20.04 desktop the next works: Displaying items on the desktop could be done using .desktop file copying, .desktop file or folder symlinking or .desktop file creating. With that being said, we conclude our guide on creating shortcuts on the Ubuntu desktop. Using Lynx to Browse the Web From the Linux Terminal. How To Set Up Nginx Server Blocks on Ubuntu 22.04, How to Set Up a Firewall with UFW on Ubuntu 22.04, How to Install and Use PHP Composer on Ubuntu 22.04, How to Remove a PPA Repository in Ubuntu 22.04, How to Install and Set up PostgreSQL Database on Ubuntu 22.04, Declares that this file is a Desktop Entry, The name of the application for which you are creating this file (update this accordingly), A brief description of the application (update this accordingly), Path to the executable of the application (update this accordingly). Youve now got an icon on the desktop, but it doesnt look anything like it should. As far I know GNOME devs removed the functionality several versions back. This way, they dont have to go looking for them in their corresponding directories. Below is the desktop entry of firefox developer edition. To create such desktop shortcut in Ubuntu create a file with the .desktop extension, e.g. End of Life Notice: Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri) reached End of Life on July Ubuntu 20.04 desktop files and icons missing.
What happens if I accidentally ground the output of an LDO regulator? To launch an application, find its icon in this menu and click it. Copy the following lines in the editor window: The editor window should look something like this: Now, double click this newly created .desktop file and on the prompt, click on Trust and Launch this will update the icon and its label with the applications icon and title and launch the application. I'm very new to linux, but you all made this too difficult for 20.04. I will suggest to use "$PWD" , as if you have spaces in folder paths, this will not create correctly. As seen above, the file has been copied to the Desktop. While in MS Windows, the user downloads and runs an installer binary file, Ubuntu has a more easy to use packaging system; with a single command downloading and installing software. RELATED: How to Install Software Using Git on Linux. Let's add some fresh knowledge to the forum now Ubuntu 20.04 is out =). Although the shortcut file has been copied to the desktop, it is still not allowed to be executed. Can Power Companies Remotely Adjust Your Smart Thermostat? Installed applications can be launched directly from the Terminal simply by entering the applications name in the console. Right-click the icon of the launched application in the dock and select the option Add to favorites to lock the application to the launcher. I ended up creating a link using. The first line of the .desktop file must be: This identifies to Linux what it is youre clicking on when you double-click it. This has been going on in even the latest versions of Ubuntu; as the majority of the Ubuntu user base mainly uses the Terminal. Although its not as simple in Ubuntu, as it is in Windows to create desktop shortcuts, in the end, its quite handy to create shortcuts for applications that are frequently used; like web browsers and music players. Follow these easy steps to get desktop shortcuts for your favorite applications, just like on other operating systems and other Linux desktops. By submitting your email, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. One icon. All you need is to create .desktop file at ~/.local/share/applications or /usr/share/applications/ depending whether you want the shortcut to be accessible only by the local account or by everyone. Other than creating desktop shortcuts to quickly launch your favorite applications, various other alternatives can be opted for depending on a users preference. Click the toggle button to set it to on, and in the following prompt, click Install. 1/2:- I can create shortcut of anything on desktop using right-click menu on Xfce (Xubuntu). click the item the shortcut has to produced for with the left mouse button and drag it to the desktop folder in your home directory with the ALT-key pressed. You need to search google and become crazy simply to add one icon. On the other hand, GNOME (Ubuntus desktop) does not provide this option by default. What is SSH Agent Forwarding and How Do You Use It? This is the icon in Ubuntu 18.04. If there is no image in the extracted folder you can download one and use it. I have a solution for such method which was tested on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS freshly installed VM. Now we need to use the filename .desktop file of that application, we want to create a desktop shortcut. Thanks for this. The method varies if the application was installed or just ran from an extracted archive. The Comment entry can hold any descriptive text you like. My question today is simple; what is the most elegant way to create desktop shortcuts (e.g. A very easy and elegant way to create a shortcut to an file or folder is to create a symlink to the desktop. rev2022.7.21.42639. The Icon entry is the path to the icon file that you wish to use for the desktop shortcut. Do weekend days count as part of a vacation?
Right-click on the required file, and click Copy To. How to Hack WPA/WPA2 WiFi Using Kali Linux. You can reach out to me on LinkedIn. His writing has been published by howtogeek.com, cloudsavvyit.com, itenterpriser.com, and opensource.com. Show that involves a character cloning his colleagues and making them into videogame characters? So we shouldn't be surprised to see that feature being limited/ terminated in the future too. The functionality loss of GNOME Shell you have already discovered. Our entry needs to be false. The behaviour is different (changed?) This creates the link in the target's directory which can be copied/moved to the required location. How to Create Ubuntu Persistence using mkusb, Cool Custom Welcome Messages on Linux terminal. Works also for appImage, but for this one, the key was to find out where the .desktop file is hided For me, it was at ~\.local\share\applications (after using the AppImageLauncher). Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Stack Exchange network consists of 180 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. His writing has been published by howtogeek.com, cloudsavvyit.com, itenterpriser.com, and opensource.com. Whats going on? We can also see that the binary file is called gc . How to Customize Linux Terminal Using powerlevel10k? Well need that information shortly. again to quote in part Eiko's method, 1 show your desktop in your home directory. A full list of possible .desktop file entries and their values can be found in the .desktop file specification. To do so the terminal command will be , Below is the terminal shell depiction after executing the command . Release the mouse button. On Windows, many application installers prompt the user to add a shortcut to the application on the desktop. Most users prefer to put shortcuts to various applications on the desktop to launch applications quickly. A .desktop file is a text file with settings it in. Linux is always tricky to use. So there you have it. After that, you will notice that the icon of the application will be visible on the desktop, and you will be able to launch the application using the shortcut. You might also have to allow launching for an existing .desktop file after upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04. The icon will look different in Ubuntu 19.10. Site design / logo 2022 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. The last three lines are supplementary data regarding the application. Click on that to launch Tweaks. You can choose whether you wish to have shortcuts to your home directory, the trash can, network servers, and mounted volumes shown on the desktop. Locate and copy the .desktop file of the desired application. We can use the following command , ln -s /home//Desktop. This could be used to hold descriptions such as video editor, web browser, or word processor. This application doesnt fall into any particular category, so well just give it a longer version of the application name. As this program is going to be used by a single user, well copy the .desktop file to his local applications directory. Comment entry is the small dialogue box that appears when hovering over the icon. Icon is the path to the image of the application. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. For now it is difficult to do in the enterprise-grade default Ubuntu desktop environment. Youll only see the Untrusted Application Launcher dialog the first time you use the shortcut. However, executing the same thing on Linux is slightly more complicated. Obviously, we want our entry to be Application. In the case of an installed application, follow the given steps to create shortcuts: Launch the Files app. Now any time you right click on a file or folder, you can drag that file or folder with in "Files" to "Desktop" on the left side column. They wont make any difference here, but theyre a good habit to get into. @Erdnase and here I thought only Windows has this nonsense. Announcing the Stacks Editor Beta release! The start of Eiko's "Easy graphical way:" (see above) had the best answer. It only takes a minute to sign up. Launch Firefox or Chrome and browse to this link. Make sure that the Icons on Desktop option is enabled, as shown below. Type the name of the application in the text box and hit enter to launch. How to make a desktop shortcuts on Ubuntu 20.04? In actual fact, its not difficult, but it is definitely counter-intuitive. Close the properties dialog. Is moderated livestock grazing an effective countermeasure for desertification? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. On this test computer, weve got a program that doesnt have a .desktop file. Click the Show icons slider button to allow desktop icons. Easy solution! By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. when you leave the item on the desktop folder a context meune appears, that give you three options. Although this would usually move what was being dragged, in this case, it copies it. Once you allow it for launching, you will see that the file icon changes to the actual icon of the Application; in this case Mozilla Firefox. Finally a shortcut should have been created! The Terminal entry can be True or False. These are text files that describe certain attributes about the application. But what do we need to drag? mv fails with "No space left on device" when the destination has 31 GB of space remaining. Go to Computer > usr > share > applications. Can anyone Identify the make, model and year of this car? Dave is a Linux evangelist and open source advocate. It indicates whether the application executes in a terminal or not. How to Browse From the Linux Terminal Using W3M? They want the desktop to be a plain wallpaper with nothing on top. The standard software installation process in Ubuntu (and almost every major Linux distribution) is quite different from the one used in Microsoft Windows. When you double click the icon on the desktop, youll see the same warning dialog as earlier. Applications that are provided as part of a distributions default packages, or are installed from repositories, have their .desktop files installed into: Other applications that have been locally installed with system-wide accessmeaning they are available for all usersusually have their .desktop files installed into: Applications that have been installed so that they are only accessible to a single user have their .desktop files installed into the home directory of that user: LibreOffice is available for all users, so were going to launch Files and browse to the /usr/share/applications directory. Dave McKay first used computers when punched paper tape was in vogue, and he has been programming ever since. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. All it is is a text file with the appropriate details listed in it. then select one of these sessions on the login screen and as the result to forget this new GNOME Shell nightmare (the Desktop without DESKTOP is a pain, but not the real desktop). (instead of occupation of Japan, occupied Japan or Occupation-era Japan). Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. 2/2:- Recently there's some cries like that about how extensions are de-virginizing gnome. Make sure to include the .desktop ending. Amongst other things, they tell the operating system where the binary executable resides in the file system. (if missing) https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1465/desktop-icons/, https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/3240/add-to-desktop/. A little long-winded, but simple enough. How to create desktop shortcuts for folders in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.04 desktop - create new document, Mimicking windows shortcut to folders for quick desktop access. Hosting Sponsored by : Linode Cloud Hosting. ("he Desktop without DESKTOP is a pain, but not the real desktop"). You could leave it out. So, for the sake of being thorough, ensure youre application launches and runs correctly when you start it manually. Control All Your Smart Home Devices in One App. A simple desktop shortcut in Ubuntu can be created from the command line using ln: The Link is Broken: To avoid this error provide the full path to the . To pin applications to the launcher, search for the desired application by searching for it and then launching it. open two windows of nautilus. Select Desktop from the left side pane and press Select. How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. We need to use an icon that has been supplied with the application. Few Tips for Fast & Productive Work on a Linux Terminal, Shortcut to Move to the Beginning or Ending of a Command in Linux Terminal, Ttyper - Test you typing speed in terminal, Greeting By Your Favourite Movie Quotes in Rainbow Colors on Every Terminal Launch, Complete Interview Preparation- Self Paced Course, Data Structures & Algorithms- Self Paced Course. Downloads.desktop file which opens the Downloads directory by nautilus is created the next way: In my case file properties changing is not required for .desktop file - it asks to execute it anyway: In ubuntu 20.04 you need to make the file executable first, then you'll find the "allow launching" option, anyway I can't add it to the launcher, there's simply no way to do it. To do this, follow these steps: Open the terminal by using the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T or search for the terminal by opening the dash. For folder shortcut, first you need to enable the simlink creation under Files --> Preferences in the Behavior tab (Show action to create symbolic links) in order that the Create link menu can appear when you right click on a folder. More technical users who prefer traditional desktop with traditional habbits have to remove GNOME Shell completely and install other DE of their preference. Click that, and click Preferences, then click Behavior, then "Show Action to create symbolic links". Its the type of thing that gives them the impression that getting anywhere with Linux is going to be a long hard slog.
To demonstrate this process, were going to create a desktop shortcut for LibreOffice writer. For example, a shortcut of the Chromium browser on the current users desktop may be created as follows: Much more customizable desktop shortcut in Ubuntu can be created as a desktop entry the configuration file that describes how a particular program is to be launched. How to install Telegram-Desktop in Ubuntu, How to install OnlyOffice Desktop Editors on ubuntu. During his career, he has worked as a freelance programmer, manager of an international software development team, an IT services project manager, and, most recently, as a Data Protection Officer.
On its own, that isnt enough to display an icon. Use Google, YouTube or any other means to get brief vision of their look and feel. On later versions of Ubuntu, the desktop icons setting can be found under the Extensions tab of GNOME Tweaks. Learn on the go with our new app. as result you will get a familiar window dialog with Link Here, You can't create link directly dragging file to Desktop, you should open Desktop via Files. Its the reference point for all your navigation. Its unfortunate, but a newcomer to Linux can find doing that simple task a frustrating struggle. How to Share Linux Terminal Using Teleconsole? In our example, this is the. The second method is a bit more complex but it allows to create much more customizable desktop shortcuts using the Desktop Entry Specification. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The material in this site cannot be republished either online or offline, without our permission. Left-click on the LibreOffice Writer icon, hold the left mouse button down, and drag the icon to the desktop. The Path entry is the path to the working directory for the application. The Tweaks icon will appear. and its shortcuts are created on the dock accessed from the left top corner. This answer was meant to be a comment, but I don't have enough reputation points. Could you elaborate ~ What is GNOME Shell, what is Unity / MATE DE, and what do you mean by your last sentence? If this extension is not installed for some reason, follow the steps in the next section to install it. I'm a Software Engineer who loves to write about tech. What Is a PEM File and How Do You Use It? Most unfortunate that this simplest and needy requirement isn't available out-of-the-box! How can I see from Windows which Thunderbolt version (3 or 4) my Windows 10 laptop has? When you purchase through our links we may earn a commission. You were close to making it simple. Even more annoyingly, they actually, Unfortunately this does not work on Ubuntu 20.04, Works perfectly, Amazing! We will now enable it for execution with a simple step. You now have a LibreOffice Writer icon on the desktop that can be used as a shortcut to launch the application. Double-click it to launch the application, and youll be greeted with a warning dialog. After over 30 years in the IT industry, he is now a full-time technology journalist. A-143, 9th Floor, Sovereign Corporate Tower, We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience on our website. After you have copied it save the file and you are done. The Type entry can be one ofApplication, Link, or Directory. Paste the .desktop file of the application to your desktop. When I shifted to elementary os from Windows, One thing that felt bad for me is that sometimes the application we installed we cannot see the shortcut on the desktop or in the Applications menu. The icon will change its appearance and text label to look like youd expect it to, and LibreOffice Writer will be launched. To launch an application using the run command, hit ALT+F2. If you do not have GNOME Tweaks installed, you can install it by running the following command in the terminal: On Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, click the Desktop tab. How should we do boxplots with small samples? In Ubuntu 19.10, the icons all look like cogged wheels, so youll need to check the name of the file to make sure you have the correct .desktop file. Check for the image in the extracted folder. Thanx to "nobody" here on this forum, the command below solves this problem once you've created your starter on your desktop: Just open two windows of Files (file manager) and drag a file what you need, with holding down Alt key, to folders, applications or documents) in Ubuntu 20.04? Navigate to the desktop and right-click over the icon and select Allow Launching. But the most elegant way for average non-techinal user who is scared by the terminal - would be to not use GNOME Shell and install Unity or MATE DE instead with one of the two solutions below: sudo apt-get install ubuntu-unity-desktop, sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop^. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. If it doesnt, youre not going to get it working with a .desktop file either. Open the folder in the file manager (nautilus), navigate to the directory to which you want to create a shortcut to. Open File Explorer from the left-hand Dock and Click on Other Locations. Open the Terminal and run the following command: Restart the browser and navigate to this link. generate link and share the link here. Most of the popular Linux desktop environments like KDE Plasma, XFCE, and Cinnamon also allow users to add their favorite application shortcuts on their desktop. It is absolutely crazy that in 2021 you cant add a link to a launch bar. Note that in Ubuntu 19.10, the desktop icon settings are under the Extensions settings, so click the Extensions entry in the left-hand pane. Cool Tip: Systemd service file examples! Copy and paste the following path in the address bar: /usr/share/applications, /usr/share/applications contains the .desktop files of all the applications installed on the system. Writing code in comment? So as a first step, we need to move the launcher file to the Desktop. The second part of your answer is not related to Unity, but GNOME 3 (default DE on standard Ubuntu 20.04). Scientifically plausible way to sink a landmass, Is "Occupation Japan" idiomatic? Most users prefer to have their most-used applications placed on the launcher. How did this note help previous owner of this old film camera? By default, you cant copy files or icons to Ubuntus GNOME Shell desktop. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. to how it was in past versions. Then navigate to Computer > usr > share > applications. Why had climate change not been proven beyond doubt for so long? document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Copyright 2011-2022 | www.ShellHacks.com. How to Create Contact Form using HTML and CSS, Archway Testnet ValidatorQuick Setup Guide, Serverless Computing Made Simple: AWS Lambda, Hiring : AEM Developer with AEM, Angular10 or above and JAVA Exp ( ****Exclusive Backfill ), Getting Good at Git Part 2 (Game Dev Day 2), A single script to build a minimal live Linux operating system from source code that runs Doom on, Creating virtual machines easily using vagrant, sudo nano /usr/share/applications/[applicationname].desktop. When you double-click the shortcut, Linux uses this information to find and launch the applications binary file. You can do the same with SHIFT+CTRL+M but this key combination works only if the simlink creation is enabled as described above (otherwise useless), and you will also need to turn on Capslock before using the keys to trigger capital 'M' For an average desktop user this is pain, and could be all enabled as default. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated and your email address will NOT be published. Run the following command to copy it. How to copy a file's content from Linux terminal? Make sure you dont have spaces directly before or after the equals sign. Programs that have been written in-house or applications you might have downloaded from Github, for example, often dont come with a .desktop file. The Name entry is the name of the application. Press the Super key (between the Control and Alt keys on the bottom-left of most keyboards) and type the first part of your applications name. How to encourage melee combat when ranged is a stronger option. Today, we will see how to Create Desktop Shortcuts in Ubuntu 20.10 and earlier. All Rights Reserved. For our example, we want to create a shortcut for a file that is available in the Documents folder and its name is myfile.pdf. To make this possible youll need to use GNOME Tweaks to change a setting. StartupWMClass is added to prevent duplicate icons in the launcher. Click on Files or Show Applications and type Files, and open Files. This menu shows all the applications installed in Ubuntu in a vertical grid. They also want app windows to be minimized-maximized exclusively with mouse gesture. I am assuming this is due to security concerns, but it's worth pointing out to hopefully save someone's time! The desktop is the first thing that greets the user when they login to their computer. Were going to be usinggedit, but you can use the editor of your choice. Its icon will appear in the search results. In this case, you will first have to create this file manually. How to Add or Remove PPA in Ubuntu Using GUI and Terminal. Which Terry Pratchett book starts with "Zoom in"? I had also discover, without Eiko's first steps that simply doing a Right click on the shortcut on the desktop and select. Now in the upper right corner you have your 3 lines hamburger menu. After over 30 years in the IT industry, he is now a full-time technology journalist. Double Click on the icon, or select it and press Enter to verify if the application indeed launches with the shortcut. Exec is the path to the executable file of the application. A small addition on TheBuntuNewb's answer that might be obvious to some but nearly drove me crazy: the name of the .desktop file has to match exactly the name of the executable file. Although it doesnt look like youd expect, it is a working shortcut. What's the Difference Between GPT and MBR, Take Screenshot by Tapping Back of iPhone, Pair Two Sets of AirPods With the Same iPhone, Download Files Using Safari on Your iPhone, Turn Your Computer Into a DLNA Media Server, Download and Install Older Versions of macOS. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. We saw a quick and easy way to create desktop shortcuts in Ubuntu. This note describes two methods of how to create a desktop shortcut in Ubuntu from the command line. Even people whove used Linux for a little while and know their way around pretty well can find this topic much more of a struggle that it ought to be. If the user didnt accept the option, the shortcut could be created simply by navigating the applications .exe file, right-clicking on it, selecting Send To, and then Desktop (create shortcut). one for the desktop, second for the shortcut you want to produce. I have tested this on Lubuntu 20.04 LTS, Drag the file or folder from pcmanfm to your desktop, As I said before, this will probably only work on Lubuntu 20.04 (featuring the LXQt desktop). Dave is a Linux evangelist and open source advocate. Great OS. Click here to install the GNOME Shell Integration extension for your browser. Ask Ubuntu is a question and answer site for Ubuntu users and developers. Here I will tell you how to add desktop shortcuts on Ubuntu or Debian based systems. Right-click on the desktop and select Paste from the context menu. Yes I was able to launch the file but the icon looks like a cog, but you can change that by right clicking the fille, choosing properties, click the icon and select the proper one, When I try this it simply opens the .desktop file, not the actual application, Right click the file and press allow launching, Yes, Im running it on my main machine and in a vm. The Exec entry is the path to the binary executable. Is It possible to determine whether the given finitely presented group is residually finite with MAGMA or GAP? The Categories entry may be used by Linux or GNOME to group similar or related applications in menus. How to Fix cannot open shared object file Error in Ubuntu, How to Set JAVA_HOME Variable Path on Ubuntu, Ubuntu 22.04 Released Download DVD ISO Images, How to Create Your Own Mail Server Using Modoboa in Ubuntu, How to Install RustDesk Remote Desktop Software in Ubuntu, Multipass Run Ubuntu VMs on Demand for Any Linux System, How to Install AnyDesk Remote Desktop in Ubuntu, How to Install Redis on Ubuntu 20.04/22.04, How to Install OpenJDK 17 on Ubuntu 20.04/22.04.
To do so the terminal command will be , Below is the terminal shell depiction after executing the command . Release the mouse button. On Windows, many application installers prompt the user to add a shortcut to the application on the desktop. Most users prefer to put shortcuts to various applications on the desktop to launch applications quickly. A .desktop file is a text file with settings it in. Linux is always tricky to use. So there you have it. After that, you will notice that the icon of the application will be visible on the desktop, and you will be able to launch the application using the shortcut. You might also have to allow launching for an existing .desktop file after upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04. 
The icon will look different in Ubuntu 19.10. Site design / logo 2022 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. The last three lines are supplementary data regarding the application. Click on that to launch Tweaks. You can choose whether you wish to have shortcuts to your home directory, the trash can, network servers, and mounted volumes shown on the desktop. Locate and copy the .desktop file of the desired application. We can use the following command , ln -s