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I'd like to know which folder the Unity Launcher .desktop files are stored in, as they're not anymore in /.gconf/desktop and I need to add a custom application to the launcher bar (adding it in /usr/share/applications doesn't seem to be enough).

Where are the Unity Launcher .desktop files?

Flyk
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Tigull
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6 Answers6

202

Globally in 

/usr/share/applications

Locally in 

~/.local/share/applications

If you want to add a custom launcher, create it in ~/.local/share/applications, make it executable, drag and drop it on the launcher*, and finally pin it (right-click on the launcher item → Keep In Launcher).

* Opening it using Nautilus doesn't seem to do the trick.

muru
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htorque
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  • Actually, this way the custom icon is not shown but the application icon is instead. Any ideas on how to fix that? I also tried adding the .desktop through gconf-editor but I haven't found the Unity entry. – Tigull May 07 '11 at 08:24
  • You are right, that's probably a bug. Instead you can just drag and drop the .desktop file onto the launcher. To find the favorites list, install the dconf-tools package and run dconf-editor. The list is stored under desktop → unity → launcher. – htorque May 07 '11 at 08:32
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    You can manually specify the icon to use by adding the following line to the desktop file: Icon=/absolute/path/to/image.png – Dunes May 19 '15 at 12:19
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    Just a note that those using snaps may find them in /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/xyz.desktop – Jon Aug 03 '18 at 09:38
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Unity 2D looks for .desktop files in the /usr/share/applications directory. This can be found by using the following in the Terminal:

locate firefox.desktop

For me it worked by adding one of the launchers that was already there (eg. gimp.desktop) using the following in the Terminal

gconf-editor

to add an entry to the favorites list under desktop/unity-2d/launcher.

enzotib
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andersand
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7

This question was posted almost 9 years ago, but it still appears on top of searches on this topic. For completeness, since Snaps are now a thing, there are at least 4 locations:

Globally:

/usr/share/applications

/usr/local/share/applications/ (less common)

Locally:

~/.local/share/applications

Snaps:

/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications
user2066480
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    That's the correct answer today. At my side a snap was the culprit I wanted to override, and - of course - I grepped EVERYTHING but /var for it (everything of snaps are located in /snap, right? Nope, apparently it infects all drives!) – Tino May 02 '21 at 07:36
6

cd ~/.local/share/applications is the 1st place that is look in.

Examples from my directory that I used to add quicklists:

~/.local/share/applications$ ls
banshee.desktop           gnome-terminal.desktop
chromium-browser.desktop  mimeapps.list
firefox.desktop           nautilus-home.desktop
gedit.desktop             ubuntu-software-center.desktop
Rinzwind
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4

Besides globally in /usr/share/applications, locally in ~/.local/share/applications, it also has in /usr/local/share/applications/. It has similar effects as globally. Some applications choose to put their desktop file in this folder.

beahacker
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3

I actually found a fix myself! It is necessary to create an entry in alacarte. To customise the icon you must manually edit the icon again from alacarte.

Tigull
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  • That doesn't sound like the right solution, but more a workaround for a bug in either the launcher or the original .desktop file. – JanC Jun 09 '11 at 10:37