basic overview to GNU/Linux gui menus & *.desktop files

Note: I often have links set to open in a new tab & try to indicate that using the mouse hover popup.

So you install a program with a GUI but there is no menu item or you'd like a custom entry for a program in the menu...
This is applicable for GNU/Linux desktop environments that utilize Desktop entries (.desktop) with freedesktop.org interoperability specifications

Desktop entries (.desktop) are used to create menu entries for programs, associating icons for a program's menu entry item, & include sub-menu (context menu) entry capabilities (i.e., a web browser's option to "Open in new private window").

Typically the files are in /usr/share/applications for all users & ~/.local/share/applications for an individual user.
( ~/ is /home/<username>/ & .local/ is a hidden directory )

If the icons that are referenced in the files are in the respective directories of /usr/share/icons (or /usr/share/pixmaps ?) or /home/<username>/.local/share/icons then only the icon name is necessary (as opposed to the entire direct path to the icon). More info on icons here: Is there a home directory location for overriding icons? - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange

Copy an existing .desktop to the user home for a template & open to edit in text editor:


(another note: I create the symlinks of ~/.icons & ~/.fonts & ~/.themes to the corresponding directories in ~/.local/share/ ) Anyway...


Desktop entries (.desktop)'s are also used in the autostart directories of /etc/xdg/autostart & /home/<username>/.config/autostart
A note here: when an autostart entry is made (manually or otherwise) in the "Session Settings" of a typical desktop environment's user interface (and the DE utilizes the user's autostart directory), if you uncheck the selection to enable the entry to autostart then it can (will?) add the "Hidden=true" line to the .desktop entry and the file may be invisible in file managers even when "show hidden" is enabled. The files can be listed in a terminal, though.

Desktop entries (.desktop)'s are used in /usr/share/xsessions/ for session (desktop environment) login options, too.

On command line the files can be executed with "gtk-launch"

gtk-launch firefox.desktop

They can also be used to set a specific custom theme for a GTK+ program:

Exec=env GTK_THEME=Adwaita gimp

Other misc info:

Back to Top