How to create a shortcut or launcher on a Linux desktop

If you use a program frequently in a Linux desktop system, you may want to create a "desktop shortcut" so that you can start it with just a click of a shortcut on your desktop. While many programs with graphical interfaces automatically create shortcuts on the desktop at installation time, there are some graphical interface programs or command-line programs that may require you to create shortcuts manually.

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to add desktop shortcuts to different Linux desktops . In fact, in addition to the author of these methods, a variety of desktop also has a more convenient way, you can comment on sharing their experience.

A desktop shortcut is represented by a. Desktop file that contains the app meta information (for example, the name of the app, the Start command, or the location of the icon). The desktop shortcut file is placed at /usr/share/applications or ~/.local/share/applications . The desktop shortcuts for the previous directory store are available to each user, and the latter directory contains shortcuts created only for specific users.

To create a desktop shortcut using the command line

To create a desktop shortcut for a specific program or command, you can create a. desktop file with any text editor and put it in /usr/share/applications or ~/.local/share/ Applications Place. A typical. Desktop file looks like this.

[Desktop Entry] encoding=utf-8version=1.0                                     #version of an app. Name[en_us]=yed                                 #name of an app. Genericname=gui Port Scanner                    #longer name of an app. Exec=java-jar/opt/yed-3.11.1/yed.jar          #command used to launch an app. Terminal=false                                  #whether An app requires to being run in a terminalicon[en_us]=/opt/yed-3.11.1/icons/yicon32.png   # Location of icon file. Type=application                                #typeCategories =application; Network; Security;        #categories in which this app should is listed.comment[en_us]=yed Graph Editor                 #comment which appears as a ToolTip.

In addition to manually creating. desktop files, there are different ways to create app shortcuts depending on the desktop environment your system uses, and the next tutorial I'll explain to you.

Create a shortcut under the GNOME desktop

In the GNOME desktop environment, you can easily create a desktop shortcut using Gnome-desktop-item-edit.

In this example, Gnome-desktop-item-edit will automatically create a desktop launcher file in the directory ~/.local/share/applications. If you want to customize the shortcut icon or other information, you can manually edit the. Desktop file.

If the Gnome-desktop-item-edit is not available on your system (for example, on Ubuntu), you can install it as follows:

Create a shortcut on the KDE desktop

Kickoff is the default Application Launcher for KDE desktop. You can add a new app launch shortcut directly in the kickoff.

First, right-click on the kickoff icon at the bottom left corner of your desktop and choose Menu "Edit App".

　　

Right-click on the appropriate category where you want to create the shortcut (for example, "Utilities"), tap the "new Entry" button at the top, and type the name of the app.

　　

Finally, fill in the meta-information you need to start the app with a shortcut.

　　

Create a shortcut on the XFCE desktop

If you are using the XFCE desktop, right-click in the blank of the desktop and select the "Create Launcher" button. Then fill in the shortcut details.

Create a shortcut on the Cinnamon desktop

If you are using Linux Mint's cinnamon desktop, you can create an app launcher by right-clicking in the left-hand corner of the desktop and selecting the menu "Create Launcher".

Create a shortcut on the LXDE desktop

On the LXDE desktop, you can just click on the mouse in the blank of the desktop and choose Create New shortcut.

　　

Via:http://xmodulo.com/2013/11/create-desktop-shortcut-launcher-linux.html

Translator: Linux-pdz Proofreading: Caroline

This article by LCTT original translation, Linux China honors launch

How to create a shortcut or launcher on a Linux desktop