293

In older versions it was easy to create a launcher on my desktop. All I had to do is right click on my desktop and select the "create launcher" option.

How can I create such launchers now?

3
  • Have a look at Xubuntu: Xfce has very elegant support for this through the menu editor.
    – 魔大农
    Nov 13, 2015 at 20:01
  • I had to start Tweak tool, enable Desktop Icons, then doubleclick the Home icon on desktop, then drag the folder to desktop, holding ALT key while dropping (not before). Other methods would not work until Ienabled icons on desktop :)
    – Spikolynn
    Feb 6, 2017 at 22:09
  • I know there's already lots of pretty good answers, but here's my preferred method, with a detailed example using the Arduino IDE v1.8.5: askubuntu.com/a/1014261/327339 Mar 12, 2018 at 18:54

22 Answers 22

223

Note: gnome-desktop-item-edit was removed from gnome-panel in 19.10 (see gnome-desktop-item-edit: command not found on Ubuntu 19.10 and later even with the 'gnome-panel' package installed). So, this answer is unlikely to work for 19.10 and later.

The old GUI dialog is still available if you still want to use this:

Using ALT+F2 type

gnome-desktop-item-edit --create-new ~/Desktop

This will launch the old GUI Dialog and create a launcher on your Desktop:

enter image description here

Prerequisites

gnome-desktop-item-edit is installed automatically if you have installed gnome-shell/gnome-fallback. It is also installed automatically if you have previously installed gnome-tweak-tool.

Alternatively, you can install the old gnome-panel without much of the bulk:

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnome-panel

You can later move the MyLauncher.Desktop file from ~/Desktop to ~/.local/share/applications/ to make it appear in all applications dashboards, or to /usr/local/share/applications to make it available to all users (Thanks to @JonBently's comment).

EDIT: ubuntu 22.04+ the app is called gnome-tweaks ..... 28-07-2022

18
  • 79
    While this is a fantastic answer, it is really sad that Ubuntu has made it this difficult.
    – djangofan
    Jan 30, 2012 at 17:36
  • 18
    What if you created a launcher, that launched "create launcher" would putting gnome-desktop-item-edit --create-new ~/Desktop into the command section work to do this, then you would have a desktop icon to create launchers.
    – Mateo
    Apr 28, 2012 at 4:08
  • 2
    This doesn't work on Ubuntu 14.04: ALT+F2 opens the Launchbar Starter in Unity! But the solution by @virpara below works: How can I create launchers on my desktop?
    – rubo77
    Jun 19, 2014 at 23:09
  • 18
    Worth adding that a good place for these is in ~/.local/share/applications/ - then they turn up in the dash. Sep 19, 2014 at 10:25
  • 12
    I don't understand why it should be that hard ?
    – Adelin
    May 28, 2016 at 12:08
152

You can do it manually. Make a new text-file named something.desktop and write this in there:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=command to run here
Name=visible name here
Comment=comment here
Icon=icon path here

Don't forget to make the file executable (chmod +x something.desktop)

OR click right mouse button on that label and select 'Allow launching' (Tested in Ubuntu 19.04).

10
  • 7
    Thanks for your answer. Where do i need to place the file, i can place it in the .local/share/applications folder and drag and drop it into the launcher panel but that's not what i want. I want to have them on my desktop instead of the launcher panel.
    – tinuz
    Oct 4, 2011 at 14:33
  • 2
    Than put it onto your Desktop! You can place it everywhere you want.
    – fnkr
    Oct 4, 2011 at 18:02
  • 22
    This is a major pain. You need to edit a text file to create a shortcut? Why do we make it way more difficult than on Windows? And how do you come up with an "Icon path here" when you have an executable? Good luck extracting icons from that - a whole 'nother quest. It's amazing how difficult this simplest of tasks is on Ubuntu! Jan 24, 2018 at 8:25
  • 2
    Is #!/usr/bin/env xdg-open shebang really necessary? I don't see it used in other answers. Jun 6, 2019 at 2:05
  • 1
    It doesn't work on Ubuntu 19.10. I get the error gdbus.error: ...unknown xorg.xfce.panel was not provided by any .service files
    – rubo77
    Feb 20, 2020 at 10:32
49

There is cooler way: Arronax


![arronax][1]

Original picture taken from iloveubuntu.net which currently inaccessible

To install, type open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T and write:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diesch/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install arronax
nautilus -q

This is cooler because it has drag&drop and more functions with a GUI.

More about Arronax on ubuntugeek.com.

6
  • This a a very neat tool. See the authors site florian-diesch.de/software/arronax Sep 23, 2014 at 9:04
  • 1
    Now alacarte is broken, this is the way. It doesn't show you all your launchers like alacarte did, but it lets you set more settings on them...
    – user77164
    Feb 9, 2015 at 6:35
  • This is really nice, and it's not just for Unity. Works well on MATE too ! Jun 16, 2016 at 17:40
  • THANK YOU! reported a few errors on install (Ubuntu 16), but it worked perfectly! Shows the correct icon in the launcher, too!
    – dwn
    Sep 18, 2016 at 15:41
  • 3
    Use sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diesch/stable instead now Jun 24, 2020 at 13:46
39
  1. Create the .desktop file in /usr/share/applications/

    gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/give-any-name.desktop
    
  2. Paste the following text

    [Desktop Entry]
    Type=Application
    Terminal=false
    Icon=/path/to/icon/icon.png
    Name=give-name-here
    Exec=/path/to/file/executable
    Categories=Utility;
    

Give to Name the name you want.

As for Icon and Exec, use either a full path or a "system" name. For example, the VLC video player icon is either /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/vlc.png or simply vlc (without the .png extension).

For Categories, consult the XDG Standards list.

0
38

No longer works in latest version, desktop icons were completely removed.

This Is a solution to get it back on the right click menu In Gnome and Unity,

1- Install gnome-tweak-tool Install gnome-tweak-tool, if you don't already have it, In terminal paste-

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

2- Then type the following to launch it

gnome-tweak-tool

Or use the key shortcut Alt+F2 type gnome-tweak-tool then click "Run"

3- Navigate to the "Desktop" tab on the left pictured - And turn ON
"Have file manager handle the desktop"

enter image description here

4-Source for this part: 1 Now we are going to create a Script to put on the right click menu -

Open gedit either by terminal or Alt+F2, Paste the code

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/Desktop/ --create-new

put only this into the new text document and then save it as "Create New Launcher" no extension needed (you may need to use .sh as extension ex "Create New Launcher.sh", if you can't make it executable in the next step).

5- Now we need to make the file executable, Right click on the file go to > Properties > click Permissions tab > look for "Execute" and check "Allow executing file as program" then close out.

6- Open the file browser, go to > View > Show Hidden Files, now navigate to you home folder, and Place the file in ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts . Shown below -

enter image description here

7- Now we have Create new launcher on the right click menu! Right click on your desktop and go to > Scripts > Create New Launcher Then fill in the comand information for the application you want,
Shown below- enter image description here

If you forget what the app's launch command is click "Browse" then navigate to File System > usr > bin which is /usr/bin , these are the applications on your system, most should automatacally find the icon after you click "Open" , although they won't show up before.

If It dosn't show the icon when you get back to the "Create Launcher" box you can drag a icon in by finding the icon in /usr/share/icons . There are default icons in the various theme folders or specific icons in the /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps or /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps, or if later you want to put an icon in you can right click > properties to drag and drop the icon in.

(This part only for gnome, alt+f2 is diffrent in unity) Another way to list known applications is to hit Alt+F2 and click on the app under "Show list of known applications", you can then copy the command text for that program to paste in to
Create New Launcher.

enter image description here

All this will make it extremely easier to make custom launchers, and once setup you can make them without the terminal.

4
  • Thank you for taking the time to write this up! I completed the steps and it's great to be able to make launchers so easily now. Jun 3, 2013 at 15:38
  • 8
    This is ridiculously complicated ... Sep 4, 2016 at 20:15
  • What could be the reason that tweaker not working? I enabled desktop icons on Gnome 3.28.1 but they did not appear.
    – Suncatcher
    May 6, 2018 at 11:35
  • Desktop icon support was completely removed In new versions.
    – Mateo
    May 8, 2018 at 20:40
12

An easier way to create a launcher for a program:

If you can find the program in your dash, just click and drag the icon for the program in your dash onto your desktop or wherever else you would like it. :)

2
  • 1
    Does not work form me (error message) in Ubuntu 14.04
    – BurninLeo
    Feb 5, 2015 at 9:42
  • You may have to use the middle mouse button. This creates a symbolic link to the .desktop file. It still won't work unless the .desktop file is executable. Jul 21, 2017 at 16:51
12

In 14.04 / 15.10 / 16.04 /17.04 / 17.10 To create a shortcut on the desktop to an existing application: the simplest solution (not found in the other answers as far as I can see) is to copy the application's desktop file to the Desktop: go to /usr/share/applications,right click on the application's desktop file >copy, go to your desktop, right click >paste. Don't forget to make it executable, its correct icon will appear after you made it executable.

Simply drag and drop the icon from Dash on to the Desktop does not work in 14.04.

3
  • 1
    This worked for me in 14.04: xdg-desktop-icon install /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop Jul 25, 2014 at 16:48
  • There is no Paste on RMB on my Gnome 3.28.1
    – Suncatcher
    May 6, 2018 at 10:03
  • @Suncatcher That is because 3.28 has no support for desktop icons at all anymore... May 6, 2018 at 10:20
11

Make a file called something.desktop, open it in gedit and type:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Launcher Name
Comment=Launcher Comment
Exec=Command to Execute
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=Path to Icon

Put this is /usr/share/applications and when you run it right click the app in the Unity Launcher and tick "Keep in launcher" (if you want it in the Unity Launcher), or just put it on your desktop if you want a Desktop launcher.

Put this file in ~/.local/share/applications if you want to apply this to your user.

Jurriaan has made a graphical python app to do all this for you, it can be downloaded here: http://jurschreuder.nl/UnityLaunchCreator.tar.gz

6

How to create both a Desktop shortcut AND a Unity Dash / Gnome dock ("start menu") icon option using one .desktop file and two symlinks

(Tested in Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04, 18.04, and 20.04).

In this example we will make a launcher for Arduino v1.8.5. The executables were previously extracted into this folder: "~/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5". The main executable file to launch the application is stored at "~/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5/arduino".

Follow my example below, updating all steps as necessary for your application, including modifying the .desktop file contents as required.

My strategy will be to create a single .desktop file to act as the "master" launcher for the program, then we will create two symbolic links (symlinks) to this file to allow us to launch the program (1) via an icon on your Desktop, and (2) using the Unity or Gnome Application launcher search menu.

Q: Why do it this way?
A: Well, it allows you to only have to edit a single .desktop file to make changes to the shortcuts in both places at once.

Q: Why not just do the .desktop file directly on the Desktop and then make a single symlink for the Unity/Gnome application launcher?
A: because this way the .desktop file sits safely in a different folder where you and your kids won't accidentally delete it from the Desktop, so you know it won't get accidentally modified or deleted.

STEPS:

1. Make a launcher (.desktop file), using a text editor of your choice, editing it as required. Store it in "~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop".

Here are the commands, with me using the "leafpad" GUI text editor:

mkdir ~/Desktop_launchers
sudo apt update && apt install leafpad
cd ~/Desktop_launchers
leafpad Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Copy and paste the following into the "Arduino_1_8_5.desktop" file you just created.

  • Note that my home ("~") directory is "/home/gabriels". Modify it below for your username.
  • Also note that for Exec paths with spaces, you must use the single quotes (') around the path name below, or else you will get an "error launching the application" when you click on the run link.
  • For the Icon path, however, even if it has spaces in the path, you must not use the single quotes around the path or else the icon won't properly show up on the link.

Arduino_1_8_5.desktop file contents:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Arduino 1.8.5
Comment=
Exec=/home/gabriels/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5/arduino
Icon=/home/gabriels/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5/lib/arduino.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true

Save and exit.

2. Make it executable.

Note: this step is important! You must do this BEFORE creating the symbolic link in the next step below or else the symbolic link you're about to create won't work properly as a shortcut to launch the program from your Desktop.

chmod +x Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

3. Make a symbolic link to your above .desktop launcher on the Desktop so you can launch it from there:

Command Format: ln -s /path/to/file /path/to/symlink_to_make

ln -s ~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop ~/Desktop/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Note that ending your symlink with ".desktop" is mandatory or else it won't display or work properly as a Desktop shortcut.

4. Make a symbolic link to it on the Unity/Gnome Applications menu so you can launch it from there too:

sudo ln -s ~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop /usr/share/applications/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Notes:

  • Ubuntu Unity/Gnome application .desktop files are stored in: "/usr/share/applications"
  • Side note to add to your general knowledge: the .desktop files in the applications directory, unlike on the Desktop, don't need to be marked executable to work.

5. Done!

  • Now if you ever need to update the desktop file, update it directly in only one place: "~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop", and the changes will automatically be recognized by the symlinks on the Desktop and in "/usr/share/applications".
  • If the Desktop icon doesn't update after changing it, click on the Desktop then hit either F5 or Ctrl + R to refresh the Desktop icons.
  • To remove the shortcuts simply delete the symlinks from the Desktop and from "/usr/share/applications" as follows:
  • rm ~/Desktop/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop
  • sudo rm /usr/share/applications/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Screenshots:

My Desktop with the newly-created shortcut:

enter image description here

The Unity Launcher menu with the newly-created shortcut:

enter image description here

Additional Reading:

For additional knowledge and alternate techniques, see the Official Ubuntu Documentation on "UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles" here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles

See Also:

  1. My eRCaGuy_dotfiles project, including my sample Desktop_launchers with desktop_file_install.sh and desktop_file_uninstall.sh scripts.
4

Considering previous answer by Scaine , the gnome-panel way installs dependencies, but at the very bottom of things - we don't really need those, we just need to have .desktop files created. Thus , I've put a small script that does exactly that, the graphical way, creating a named .desktop file in the ~/Desktop folder, readily available for use and pinning to the Unity launcher. Not the best scripting here, but does the job.

This can be saved as file named makeLauncher.sh , change permissions from Right Click -> Properties -> Permissions -> Allow executing file as program, and it's ready to go.

#!/bin/bash

FORM=$(zenity --forms \ --title="Simple shortcut maker" --text="Create new .desktop file" \
        --add-entry="Program Name" \
        --add-entry="Command or path to file" \
        --add-entry="Terminal app(true/false)" \
        --add-entry="Icon (path)") 

[ $? == 0 ] || exit 1

awk -F'|' -v home="$HOME" '{ 
    FILE = home"/Desktop/"$1".desktop"
        print "[Desktop Entry]" >> FILE
        print "Type=Application" >> FILE
        print "Name="$1 >> FILE
        print "Exec="$2 >> FILE
        print "Terminal="$3 >> FILE
        if ($4 !~ /^[ ]*$/)
            print "Icon="$4 >> FILE ;
    system("chmod 755 " FILE);

}' <<< "$FORM"

And here's how it looks

enter image description here

Side note: sadly, zenity's form field doesn't have checkbox for a forms widget, so the true/false for Terminal app option has to be typed. I am considering rewriting this script in PyQt.

5
  • 1
    Suggestions: Terminal app should be a checkbox - it would make the code a bit more complex, but easier for the user. Icon could be optionally a file picker.
    – muru
    Feb 6, 2016 at 7:31
  • @muru good suggestion - I'll work on it. Feb 6, 2016 at 7:34
  • I have added the script to a Nautilus action but it creates the launcher only on the desktop. Is there a way to create the launcher inside the folder where the script is executed (with that action)?
    – user47206
    Mar 24, 2017 at 14:29
  • 1
    @cipricus well, yes, possible: the script writes to FILE = home"/Desktop/"$1".desktop" , where home is defined as variable to the awk command in -v home="$HOME" part. What you can do, is remove all references to FILE from the awk command, and redirect the command itself to a specific filename you want to create via > somefile.desktop. It's not too difficult , just need to rewrite that specific part. Please remind me in couple of days. I will try to update this answer tomorrow, but i might forget. Mar 25, 2017 at 11:23
  • Thanks! - I came up with this more simplistic answer (Add 'Create launcher' to Nautilus context menu (without gnome-desktop-item-edit)) but I think yours might be nicer.
    – user47206
    Mar 25, 2017 at 11:33
3

I have developed a little command line program for launchers creation. Example:

iconize -n "Sublime Text" -p /home/marco/Desktop/sublime/sublime -i /home/marco/Desktop/sublime/Icon/256x256/sublime_text.png

It will create a corresponding desktop entry inside ~/.local/share/applications:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Sublime Text
Exec=/home/marco/Scrivania/sublime/sublime %U
Icon=/home/marco/Scrivania/sublime/Icon/256x256/sublime_text.png

You can then move it to your desktop like this:

mv ~/.local/share/applications/sublime-text.desktop ~/Desktop

More powerful alternatives are Alacarte and MenuLibre (they have more functions and a graphical user interface).

1
  • the link to the script is dead
    – user47206
    Mar 24, 2017 at 14:28
2

please be aware of this wiki page I've made, because I've noticed that questions on desktop and unity launchers are very often :) https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles

1
  • 3
    Please add a summary or steps for what the user can do, just a link is not very helpful.
    – Mateo
    May 19, 2012 at 0:22
2

This can be easily be achieved using nautilus-action & gnome-desktop-item-edit.

STEPS:

  • Install nautilus-action by running following command in terminal:

    sudo apt-get install nautilus-action
    
  • Launch Nautilus-Actions and create a new action.

  • Under the Action tab, check on "Display item in location context menu", then in Context label, enter this: Create Launcher.

nautilus-action-create-launcher1

  • Open now the Command tab and enter the following details:

    Label: Create Launcher

    Path: gnome-desktop-item-edit

    Parameters: --create-new %f

    Working directory: Click Browse and select your Desktop folder.

    enter image description here

  • Leave rest of the tabs as it is.Save now your command and exit:

    enter image description here

  • Restart Nautilus:

    nautilus -q
    
  • You can add shortcuts from the context menu by selecting Create Launcher

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

The shortcut is added in your current directory you right-click on

DONE!

3
  • Minor correction, please correct the first command to read "nautilus-actions" not "nautilus-action". Nov 25, 2015 at 1:58
  • Tried this under Ubuntu 18.04.1 but get $ sudo apt-get install nautilus-actions Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Package nautilus-actions is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source E: Package 'nautilus-actions' has no installation candidate
    – brewmanz
    Jan 13, 2019 at 6:54
  • nautilus-action has been replaced with filemanger-actions. But it isn't in the repo, use ppa from the bug report: bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1768597 Jan 14, 2019 at 6:04
2

Use gnome-shell extension:

I found the Add to Desktop GNOME Shell extension that gives a far easier and quicker way to create shortcuts, it works perfectly for me.

NOTE: Tested on Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04

This extension adds a new line in the app context menu of the 'Show Applications' section, this new line ('Add to Desktop') if clicked automatically creates the shortcut on the desktop.

Using Show Applications is very handy because all the apps are already listed there, you can stop searching for your app in multiple directories.

1

Install "Create Launcher" from the Ubuntu Software Center. You can search this name to find it there. See also: Link - Ubuntu apps directory

1

I've noticed that both gnome-panel and gnome-tweak-tool need a load of dependencies, even with --no-recommends.

The method I've used so far is to choose an arbitrary icon from the Dash, such as Firefox, and drag it to the desktop. You can't drag a icon from the Launcher, it doesn't let you. So it has to be the Dash, so press the Super (or Windows) key on your keyboard to launch the Dash, make sure it's not fullscreen (toggle it with the button at the top-left), then drag any icon at all onto your desktop.

Then right-click on the new desktop icon and change the path, description, icon (and comment if you like). Then drag this new launcher to somewhere like /home/yourname/Misc/Apps and finally, from there, drag it to the Launcher.

Note : If you drag the file from the Desktop to the Launcher directly, then delete the Desktop file, the Launcher entry will stop working, even though it looks fine. I assume it makes some kind of shortcut to the original which you've just deleted.

4
  • This doesn't work (any more?) in Ubuntu 13.04. Dragging a Launcher icon from the Dash does nothing. It just "goes back" to the Launcher. I think this used to work in previous Ubuntu versions. I don't know why they keep removing useful features.
    – matteo
    Oct 25, 2013 at 17:20
  • Yeah, you can't drag from the launcher, you must drag from the Dash - so press your Super key, to bring up Dash, then any icon will do. You'll also have to NOT have the Dash full screen (there's a size toggle at the top-left) so that you can see the Desktop to drag your icon to. Still works in 13.04. I haven't tried this in 13.10 yet though.
    – Scaine
    Oct 28, 2013 at 20:57
  • Oh I see, I thought you were talking about the launcher, because I confuse the names and the dash covered the whole screen on the machine I tried it on, so I couldn't drag anything from the dash. But I'm not sure it was fullscreen, I think it's that the screen is too small and the non-fullscreen dash fills it all. What can one do in such a case? It doesn't seem like you can resize the dash
    – matteo
    Oct 29, 2013 at 9:21
  • 1
    Hi Matteo - sorry I didn't see this earlier. But I can't help anyway! You can't resize the Dash as such, but there is a toggle button at the top-left of the screen which should toggle between fullscreen and "netbook" mode which takes up a proportion of the screen. Perhaps that proportion has a minimum which is still too big for your screen? I'm not sure. Worth searching on this site, I suppose?
    – Scaine
    Nov 5, 2013 at 20:24
1

On Ubuntu 20.04, this can be done without installing any (third-party) extension, although you need some manual work.

Go to /usr/share/applications, copy the desktop file of the application which you want to add, to your home's Desktop folder (~/Desktop). You will find the file added to the desktop. Then, right-click on the file and click on Allow launching. After that, you can double-click on the icon to launch the application.

enter image description here

1

Go to : /usr/share/applications

And do : sudo gedit

In the notepad paste :

#!/usr/share/applications your-application
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=true/false*based on the appearance you want to make*
Exec=*the command*
Name=name-of-your-application
Comment=some-comment
Icon=some-icon

Save it as your-application, for example codium.desktop or any style that is normal as in /usr/share/applications.

Save it, and you're good to go. Tested

0

These launchers have one problem: you can't use them from the web browser, for example to attach archives to email messages or to upload files to sites like http://2shared.com/

There is an easy solution:

  1. Open a terminal window
  2. Run ln -s /destination/directory ~/Desktop/nameofshortcut

for example: ln -s /data/music ~/Desktop/good_music

This way an icon appears at the desktop, with the image of a folder with an arrow below it, that represents a shortcut, instead of the spring or rocket of the launchers.

0
0

In 14.04, you can right-click on the executable and choose Make Link, then you can drag and drop that link onto your desktop.

To attach this program to your launcher, simply start the program and then while it's running, right-click the icon on your launcher bar and choose Lock to Launcher.

Note: adding programs to your launcher bar in this way does not work with WINE applications, however you can still add WINE apps to your desktop this way.

0

For Ubuntu 19.10 and later :

You can add a desktop file into your <home_directory>/.local/share/applications folder. Just add a file like below -

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon=/path/to/icon/icon.png
Name=Name of the application
Exec=/path/to/file/executable
1
  • Question is about creating .desktop launchers on the desktop, also creating by hand (editing with a text-editor) is already covered in a different answer.
    – pomsky
    Mar 15, 2020 at 14:52
-1
  1. Start the terminal application. (Hotkey: Ctrl+Alt+T)
  2. Use the command sudo nautilus to launch the file manager as super user (admin level of your account). (*)
  3. Browse Computer > usr > share > applications and scroll down to the application you want to use.
  4. Drag from the Nautilus file manager window to the desktop. (Make sure the nautilus window is not maximized.)
  5. Close Nautilus and exit from the terminal.
  6. Drag the new launcher around the desktop to the place you want it.

(*) You will get an error if you just try to drag/drop with Nautilus as a normal level user. That error was what made me figure out the six steps listed here. It's another example of "failure" being a step on the path to success.

1
  • 1
    Starting Nautilus as super user is entirely unnecessary. Just press and hold Ctrl+Shift while releasing the mouse button on the file to create a short cut to after dragging it to its destination (step 4). Sep 28, 2014 at 18:19

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