Create Desktop Shortcuts Using The Terminal on Ubuntu

Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution based on Debian. Linux is always tricky to use. We can easily create a Desktop shortcut for our files, folders, and installed software easily on Windows or Mac but on Ubuntu, it needs some work. In this article, we are going to discuss how to create a desktop shortcut for an installed application and files on Ubuntu.

Desktop Shortcut for Installed Application

To create a desktop shortcut for the installed application, first, we need to open the terminal. To do so, we can use the following keyboard shortcut –

Ctrl + Alt + T

Next, we will navigate to /usr/share/applications directory. To do so the terminal command will be –

cd /usr/share/applications

Below is the terminal shell depiction after executing the command –

Now we need to use the filename .desktop file of that application, we want to create a desktop shortcut.

The basic syntax will be –

cp <filename> /home/<username>/Desktop

Let’s suppose we, want to create a Desktop shortcut for the Zoom application. Then we will use the following command –

cp Zoom.desktop /home/satyajit/Desktop

Below is the terminal shell depiction after executing the command –

Now, the last step is to change the required permissions, so that the file can launch the specific application. Navigate to the desktop and right-click over the icon and select “Allow Launching” 

After that, you will notice that the icon of the application will be visible on the desktop, and you will be able to launch the application using the shortcut.

Desktop Shortcut for Files

To create a desktop shortcut for any type of file. We can use the following command –

ln -s <full path to file> /home/<username>/Desktop

For our example, we want to create a shortcut for a file that is available in the Documents folder and its name is myfile.pdf. 

Example:

ln -s /home/satyajit/Documents/myfile.pdf /home/satyajit/Desktop

Below is the terminal shell depiction after executing the command –