How to Create a .Desktop File for Your Application in Linux

A .desktop file is simply a shortcut that is used to launch applications in Linux. Without the .desktop file, your application won’t show up in the Applications menu and can’t be launched with third-party launchers such as Ulauncher and Albert.

Most applications, when installed, will create the .desktop files automatically and place themselves in the “Application” menu for quick access. However, if you compile a program from source or download an app in archive format, this may not be the case, and you may have to open the terminal to execute the binary every time you want to use it. Obviously, this can become a very tedious and troublesome step. This tutorial shows how you can create a .desktop file for any application you use that can be launched from the “Application” menu.

Also read: Top 6 Linux Desktop Environments of 2024

How to Create Desktop Launchers

A .desktop file is a simple text file that holds information about a program. It is usually placed in “~/.local/share/applications” or “/usr/share/applications/,” depending on whether you want the launcher to be accessible for your local account onlly or for everyone. If you navigate to either directory in your File Manager, you will see quite a few .desktop files that correspond with the installed apps on your computer.

For demonstration purposes, we are creating a .desktop file for Super Tux Kart, a kart racing game we like to play sometimes. A version is available in the Ubuntu repos, but this is often behind the latest stable version.

The only way to get the latest and greatest release is by downloading a tar archive, extracting it and executing a file which will launch the game.

Also read: How to Delete a Directory in Linux

You can follow along with whichever program you want to create a launcher for, and it should work the same way.

Note: the following steps assume you have the archive for the program you want to create a launcher for in your “Downloads” folder.

1. Navigate to the directory where the archive is stored, right-click it and select “Extract here.”

2. Once the extraction is complete, change to the newly created folder and find the executable.
3. Right-click it and select “Run as a Program” to launch the program just to ensure it is working.

4. In some cases, you won’t see the “Run” option in the menu, often because the executable is a .text file. You can get around this by executing it via the terminal.

5. If you’ve confirmed that the application works when you launch it, you can exit it.
6. Launch your text editor and paste the following into the empty text file:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=/path/to/executable
Name=Name of Application
Icon=/path/to/icon

Note: You’ll need to change the “Exec” field to the path to the executable and “Name” field to the name of the application. Most programs provide an icon somewhere in the archive, so don’t forget to include that as well. In our case, the launcher file for Super Tux Kart looks like the following image.

7. Save the file in the “~/.local/share/applications” folder as “application-name.desktop”. The “.local” folder is a hidden folder in your “Home” directory and “Show Hidden Files” mode will have to be enabled for you to view it. If you want it to be globally accessible, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo mv ~/.local/share/applications/<application-name.desktop> /usr/share/applications/

Note: don’t forget to change <application-name.desktop> to the actual name of the .desktop file.

8. Once done, open the “Applications” menu on your desktop to find the .desktop app.

The method described here should work on all mainstream Linux-based operating systems. Here’s another screenshot showing Super Tux Kart in Xubuntu’s application launcher (XFCE).

Also read: How to Fix the “No Installation Candidate” Problem in Ubuntu

How to Copy .Desktop Files

As discussed above, you can obtain a .desktop file from a program that you have installed through a repository. This is helpful if you want to create a custom .desktop file as a way of fixing a broken package in Ubuntu.

For the most part, each Linux distribution is largely similar in its structure, so while this section will heavily focus on Ubuntu 22.04, you can still use these instructions in your favorite desktop environment.

1. To start, open a File Manager from your desktop. In this case, we are opening Nautilus, as it is the default for Ubuntu.

2. Press the “Other Locations” entry in Nautilus’s left side bar.

• This brings up a list of all the system locations in your machine. Press “Computer.”

4. Go to “/usr/share/applications.” This directory contains the .desktop files that your desktop manager uses to create its Application Menu.

5. Copy the application you want to create a shortcut to. For instance, right-click on “firefox-esr.desktop” and select “Copy.”

6. Go back to your desktop and place the .desktop file by right-clicking and selecting “Paste.”

7. Right-click on your .desktop file and select “Allow Launching.” Doing this will set the permission bits so that your desktop environment can use this file to launch your program.

Also read: How to View WebP Images on Linux

How to Create .Desktop Files With a Third-Party Program

Aside from editing and copying .desktop files, it is also possible to create shortcuts in Linux through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) program. This is useful if you are not comfortable with editing configuration files.

Unlike the previous methods, this will require you to install a program like Arronax, which may not be present in your distribution’s repository. Despite that, it is still possible to use it by obtaining a copy from the developer’s website. To install the GUI in Ubuntu, follow the below instructions.

1. Add a third-party repository by running the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diesche/stable

2. Iinstall the GUI program by running the following command:

sudo apt install arronax

3. On the other hand, if you are installing it through a tarball, you need to unpack the archive using tar:

tar xvzf /home/$USER/Downloads/arronax-0.8.1.tar.gz

4. Run Arronax by either running the command below or typing “arronax” while in the Application Menu. This will bring up a window where you can create and save .desktop files.

./setup.py && ./run.py

5. To create your first shortcut using Arronax, click the “New” icon in Arronax’s Menu Bar to create a template that you can use for your shortcut.
6. Provide the shortcut’s name and a file path to your program. For example, we are creating a .desktop file for Firefox by typing “Firefox” in the “Title” field and /bin/firefox-esr in the “Command” field.

7. Press the green arrow in Arronax’s Menu Bar to save the shortcut.

8. In this example, we’re saving it as “Firefox.desktop” in our desktop directory.

8. Right-click this .desktop file and select “Allow Launching” to set the permission bits for it, as shown above.

Also read: How to Set Up Bluetooth in Linux

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Image credit: Charles-Adrien Fournier via Unsplash All screenshots by Ramces Red.

Ramces Red - Staff Writer

Ramces is a technology writer that lived with computers all his life. A prolific reader and a student of Anthropology, he is an eccentric character that writes articles about Linux and anything *nix.