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In the File Manager (Xubuntu 12.04), I can see some default folders which I don't need (like Videos, Music, ...). Is it safe to remove them or might programs not work properly afterwards (like on Mac OS X where I tried that once)?

I found this thread on Ubuntu Forums How to permanently delete folders "Music, Videos, Documents,...." (through Nautilus) . Is this the way one should remove these folders?

Zanna
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Marius Hofert
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1 Answers1

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Yes. See post #7 in your link.

Backup the config file (optional):

cp ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs.bak

Edit the file by commenting out unnecessary entries:

vim ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs

Run update command:

xdg-user-dirs-update

DO NOT REMOVE XDG_DESKTOP_DIR

Paweł Prażak
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Richard
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    This does not do what OP asked. xdg-user-dirs-update will simply update ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs (and might, in particular, override some of OP's modifications from before), not create/rename/remove any directories as the above instructions suggest. See man xdg-user-dirs-update for information on what it does exactly. The actual answer should be: Simply remove the folder. (Running xdg-user-dirs-update is not necessary as it will be run upon the next user login, anyway, see ~/.config/user-dirs.conf.) – balu Jan 12 '18 at 00:48
  • Doesn't work -- even if you don't run the update command, it gets updated upon the next reboot. There must be a more fundamental file in which these directory names are kept. – Abhimanyu Pallavi Sudhir Jun 25 '18 at 05:32
  • See here for a working solution. If you also want to remove the folders from the home directory, edit user-dirs.defaults, or make a copy of it in .config and edit there (for your local user). – Abhimanyu Pallavi Sudhir Jun 25 '18 at 06:08