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How can I add a custom launcher to favourites in gnome 3.8. I would like to put a laucher for wow

2 Answers 2

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There are two simple methods:

  • Just dragging the application icon to from the list of applications to the left should create the favorite.
  • Right clicking any application icon and hit "Add to favorites"

This is more complicated, thus should only be used if you want something done form the terminal:

dconf read /org/gnome/shell/favorite-apps

Will return:

['firefox.desktop', 'chromium-browser.desktop', 'evolution.desktop', 'empathy.desktop', 'rhythmbox.desktop', 'shotwell.desktop', 'libreoffice-writer.desktop', 'nautilus.desktop', 'yelp.desktop']

Here, you have to treat it as an array, so you must know the name of the application .desktop file, ie. gparted.desktop for Gparted. Copy the same output and add the one you want.

dconf write /org/gnome/shell/favorite-apps "['firefox.desktop', 'gparted.desktop', 'chromium-browser.desktop', 'evolution.desktop', 'empathy.desktop', 'rhythmbox.desktop', 'shotwell.desktop', 'libreoffice-writer.desktop', 'nautilus.desktop', 'yelp.desktop']"

This will add Gparted as second element of my favorites. Please be mindful of the syntax that has to be ['application.desktop', 'application.desktop'] with comma and space between each item, and each item between single quotes.

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    I'd add that if you are creating your own *.desktop file, you need to put it under ~/.local/share/applications for the favorites to include. Dec 1, 2016 at 20:45
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    My .desktop are in ~/.local/share/applications but it doesn't help
    – Laurent
    Jul 30, 2018 at 20:21
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    What puzzles me is that eight years later (2021)... we're still creating cryptic configuration files in a hidden folder and use terminal commands to create a simple shortcut. That's... a remarkable UX! (Sarcasm intended.) Nov 16, 2021 at 13:39
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    @SePröbläm you don't need to do so, the first two solutions (drag-n-drop and right click) are equivalent to what users expect on any other system.
    – Braiam
    Nov 16, 2021 at 16:49
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    @Braiam, Unfortunately the first two solutions don't work if it's a downloaded file somewhere in your user directory. Just drag&dropping it from "Files" onto the bar on the left didn't work.... Got it working, thanks to your detailed explanation, but was surprised how cumbersome that was. Nov 17, 2021 at 13:09
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Sombody is deprecating conf files apparently :-) I use the following to edit an existing launcher (you first have to create it somehow using drag-and-drop):

dconf read /org/gnome/shell/favorite-apps

That gets the list of launchers, and then (using the right myapp from the returned list):

updatedb; locate myapp.desktop

That returns something like:

/usr/share/applications/myapp.desktop

Then just edit this file.

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