Is there an easy way to rearrange or move the icons in the Unity launcher?

Question

It looks like the only time that you can choose where an icon goes on the unity launcher, is when you add it. Is there a way to rearrange the order of an icon after it has been added?

Possible workaround: I made the icons smaller so they all fitted on my screen. — Rinzwind, May 06 '12 at 09:58

score 295 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 31 '12 at 21:18

295

Click and hold the application's launcher icon, and then drag it up or down.

enter image description here

edited Jan 31 '12 at 21:18

Jorge Castro

71,754

answered May 03 '11 at 21:22

Novatillasku

3,124

@Jorge Castro Works fine but after a reboot it's back as it was..... Everything is shown in the order that they were installed with the most recently installed at the bottom. I can permanently move things to the bottom by uninstalling them and then reinstalling, but this is a pain. Am I missing something? Do I have to do this as root? If so, how? (I'm using 12.04LTS) – Scooby-2 Jan 11 '13 at 20:10
No you don't have to do this as root, there's probably another cause, please ask it as a new question, thanks! – Jorge Castro Jan 11 '13 at 20:15
On 12.10, I had to start the application first to be able to move the icon... – Martin T. Dec 19 '13 at 08:57
10

What tool did you use to make the animation? – Tulains Córdova Mar 19 '15 at 16:34
1

I want to know too how that cool gif was recorded . @Novatillasku! Enlighten us! :D – Alfro May 21 '15 at 15:09
@user1598390 looks like byzanz-record https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CreatingScreencasts – arielCo Feb 15 '16 at 02:11
Anyone else having this not work in 19.04? No matter how long I hold a click, the icon doesn't "pop out" ready for rearranging like it used to do in the past. – EoghanM Jun 14 '19 at 11:26

Basharat Sialvi · Answer 2 · 2012-05-06T09:54:54.607

33

How to rearrange icons in Unity Launcher?

Just drag the icon out of the Launcher.

enter image description here

And then just drop it back in the Launcher anywhere you want.

enter image description here

edited May 06 '12 at 09:54

answered May 06 '12 at 09:35

Basharat Sialvi

24,046
8
62
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3

No joy! Cannot drag icons anywhere. – Susan May 06 '12 at 17:45
3

This does not work for me, same as @Susan – Lubo Antonov Aug 01 '13 at 12:55
1

On 12.10, I had to start the application first to be able to move the icon... – Martin T. Dec 19 '13 at 08:57
2

As said elsewhere, when you click the icon, you first have to hold the mouse button down before you move the icon. After a second you'll be able to move it. – timetofly May 24 '14 at 00:51
@Blossoming_Flower In 16.04 you don't, just dragging it out work as well. – Dinei Apr 27 '17 at 14:39

score 14 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 23 '11 at 05:27

In Ubuntu 11.10, dragging to the right didn't work for me. When I click an icon and hold the mouse button down for one second without moving the mouse, the icon drops down a few pixels. After that, I can drag it up or down the list to change its position.

score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 31 '12 at 15:33

5

You do not need to ctrl-click in Unity 2D; just click the item and hold it for a second without moving the mouse, and then the icon will detach and now it can be dragged to a new position and left there by releasing the mouse button. Note that the icon will automatically push down some other icons when detached in the desired position.

edited Jul 31 '12 at 15:33

answered Jul 31 '12 at 14:32

lampwarez

51

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered May 03 '11 at 20:28

5

You will need to drag the icons out of the launcher (right direction) and then place them wherever you want them to be positioned.

answered May 03 '11 at 20:28

JLinden

990

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered May 05 '11 at 17:44

4

You can also control-drag the icons in the launcher straight up or down instead of dragging out and then back in.

answered May 05 '11 at 17:44

John McChesney-Young

41

Maybe it used to work but not for me on 14.04 LTS. – Olson.dev Jul 14 '14 at 15:19

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 05 '18 at 10:05

When you have a lot of icons on your launcher, it might be a good idea to not only rearrange these, but also use the Unity Launcher Folders Application. It is third party software, but very easy to use and install. That way you can not only rearrange your icons on the launcher, but also create folders in which you keep different kinds of sofware categories such as browsers, office related programs, games, paint and draw and video for instance. This application helped me a lot. For the rest, I agree with all the users before me: just drag it up or down!

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered May 03 '11 at 20:30

Yes. Click and hold a launcher. Pull it out to the right so it detaches. Drag it up and down and watch the little marker in between the other launchers. When you let go it will insert where that marker is.

Launchers have to stay within their 'group': the workspaces, files and folders and applications are one group (they have letters when you hold super) and the other icons are also 1 group (those have a digit when you hold super).

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 15 '16 at 17:40

0

Click and hold a launcher icon for a couple seconds then drag it just up or down. Don't pull it out from line. It works in my Ubuntu 14.04

answered Jun 15 '16 at 17:40

glaznick

1

Is there an easy way to rearrange or move the icons in the Unity launcher?

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