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Just wondering how do I add desktop shortcuts in Ubuntu. I know I cannot right click and add (like Windows or Linux Mint).

Thanks in advance

New_to_Ubuntu
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3 Answers3

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"Make Link" is what you are looking for. Right-click on file/folder from nautilus and click on 'Make Link'. Which will creates symbolic links then you can move link to desktop.

Nautilus:

enter image description here

Thunar file-manager has inbuilt such facilities:-

To install thunar type following command: (make sure enable main repository and sudo apt-get update):

sudo apt-get install thunar

enter image description here

Using command-line(terminal):

You can create symbolic link using ln command as follows:

ln -s "<Source>" "<Target>"

Example:

ln -s /media/pandya/Ext4/14.04_Trusty-Tahr/Pkgs  ~/Desktop

where /media/pandya/Ext4/14.04_Trusty-Tahr/Pkgs is source and ~/Desktop is target

Visit man ls for more details.

For creating launcher install sudo apt-get install gnome-panel and refer to: This Q/A.

Community
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Pandya
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Answer could be found here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles

Open your favourite text editor, like Gedit or nano, and type in (copy and paste):

[Desktop Entry]
Version=x.y
Name=ProgramName
Comment=This is my comment
Exec=/home/alex/Documents/exec.sh
Icon=/home/alex/Pictures/icon.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Utility;Application;

Ofcourse, edit the entries to match your program.

Dan Johansen
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Go to the folder /usr/share/applications and find the program you want. Then right click on it and copy. Now go to your home folder and open up the folder Desktop. Right click and then select paste.

Turtle Bum
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  • Oh my, that was quick. Thanks so much!!!!! Have a good day – New_to_Ubuntu Aug 13 '14 at 12:06
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    This is not really a desktop shortcut. This will be another instance of the program. – Dan Johansen Aug 13 '14 at 12:11
  • @DanJohansen Just for the record; your comment is totally incorrect. Files in /usr/share/applications are .desktop files. They won't work however as a starter on your desktop unless they are made executable (most of them are not in /usr/share/applications) – Jacob Vlijm Aug 13 '14 at 21:40
  • @JacobVlijm ah sorry. Got it confused with the regular applications folder. :) – Dan Johansen Aug 18 '14 at 06:17