How to add an application/script to ubuntu 21.04 launch bar?

Question

Let's add some fresh knowledge to the forum now Ubuntu 21.04 is out =). My question today is simple; what is the most elegant way to create launch bar shortcuts (e.g. to folders, applications or documents) in Ubuntu 21.04?

I tried to create a .desktop file which looks like this:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Exec=/home/azhirkov/apps/idea-IC-211.6693.111/idea.sh
Name=Idea CE
Comment=Idea CE
Icon=/home/azhirkov/apps/idea-IC-211.6693.111/idea.svg

in /usr/share/applications but it made no effect.

I even tried solutions like gio set idea.desktop metadata::trusted yes but again it made no effect, I still can't find an Idea launcher in desktop search nor it appears on launchbar

Does this answer your question? [How can I create launchers on my desktop?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/64222/how-can-i-create-launchers-on-my-desktop) — pLumo, Apr 28 '21 at 08:36
@pLumo it is executable -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 199 Apr 28 11:25 idea.desktop — Artem Zhirkov, Apr 28 '21 at 08:37
I generally use `alacarte` tool which always worked fine. But this questions has dozens of answers, you should try some of them... 21.04 should be no different here. — pLumo, Apr 28 '21 at 08:37
The link you provided does not answer my question, because the selected question provides the solution for ubuntu versions prior to `19.10`, while I clearly stated that this question is for `21.04` where `gnome-desktop-item-edit` is not present — Artem Zhirkov, Apr 28 '21 at 08:40

vanadium · Answer 1 · 2021-05-30T08:56:04.417

3

In order to include your custom launcher on the Ubuntu 21.04 launch bar, put your .desktop file in the folder ~/.local/share/applications in your home folder. Then, it will quickly appear in the Application Overview. Drag the icon from the Application Overview to the Ubuntu 21.04 launch bar, a.k.a. the Dock, and you are all set!

Make sure your .desktop file is valid. If it does not point to a valid executable file, the icon will not be included in the application overview.

edited May 30 '21 at 08:56

answered Apr 28 '21 at 16:21

vanadium

82,909
6
116
186

This is not working for me :( Stuff is not getting picked up in `.local/share/applications`? – CpILL May 29 '21 at 20:37
`.desktop` file must be valid (and also not contain instructions *not* to include). Eventually log out then back in. – vanadium May 30 '21 at 08:58
`chmod +x` on the *.desktop file, and setting absolute paths in Exec / TryExec solved it for me! – MattBianco Aug 27 '21 at 08:03
Had to right-click and chose "Allow Launching" first – MattBianco Sep 22 '21 at 13:42
Not needed for it to work in the Application overview – vanadium Sep 22 '21 at 14:05

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 26 '21 at 05:06

1

A very convenient solution is to use alacarte:

sudo apt-get install alacarte

That's a graphical user interface to configure various menues, one of which is the launch bar. (Or at least the respective programs can be found in the search, when hitting on these 9 squares at the bottom of the launch bar -- when you find them there you can right-click and sat "add to favorites".)

answered Aug 26 '21 at 05:06

Prof.Chaos

446
1
4
13

Very simple solution, which also works. – cem Nov 30 '21 at 10:25

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 26 '22 at 09:36

I manually started /home/<user>/seamonkey/seamonkey %u and it came up ok.

When I right-clicked on the icon in the launcher, it did not have a menu entry saying "add to favorites" so it would be available on the launcher the next time I needed to start it up.

Then I copied the above .desktop file and edited it, and saved to .local/share/applications folder (name of seamonkey.desktop. (see below) Then when I manually started seamonkey up again, then right-click the launcher seamonkey icon, the option to save to favorites was there.

This .desktop worked for me:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Exec=/home/<user>/SeaMonkey2/seamonkey %u
Name=SeaMonkey2
Comment=SeaMonkey2
Icon=/home/<user>/SeaMonkey2/chrome/icons/default/default.png

Problem solved.

How to add an application/script to ubuntu 21.04 launch bar?

3 Answers3