Whilst trying to fix a bug that gave me two occurrences of the 'Files' shortcut on the dash, one of which would never go away without a reboot, I navigated to /usr/share/applications/ and deleted all three desktop configuration files titled 'Files'. It turns out that none of these three were identical. One was 'org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop', another was 'nautilus-folder-handler.desktop', and the last was 'nautilus.desktop'. I've got no idea which of these were important, but now that they're gone it's broken a few things. How can I get them back?
Ubuntu – Deleted all three ‘Files’ .desktop files in /usr/share/applications/ – how to get them back
18.04gnomenautilus
Related Solutions
The reply by @green7 is OK if you like the terminal.
However, this can be done directly from Nautilus, although it requires a script.
- I have written the script for you. I don't know how to attach a script to this answer, so please download it from my file area.
- Save this file to the following folder:
~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts
This means the foldernautilus-scriptswithin.gnome2inside your home folder. Note the.in front of.gnome2; this means it is a hidden file, and you need to press Ctrl+H within Nautilus to be able to see it. If thenautilus-scriptsfolder doesn't exist, create it. - Once you have saved the script there, you need to make it executable. Right-click the file in Nautilus, select Properties > Permissions > Allow executing file as program > Close.
- Finally, you have to close Nautilus and re-open it (you may have to log out and in again, although I don't think you do).
Now, to use the script, use Nautilus to find those desktop files again. Select one or more of them > right-click > Scripts > Show .desktop name.
An example is shown below.
.
Desktop Entries are either created by the applications or by the user as per his convenience. Not all Desktop Entries refer to application. Remember it might happen a user has created a script and to run that he used a Desktop Entry. So not all desktop entry refer to application. It is also to be noted that not all Desktop Entries are in /usr/share/applications.
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are these all my applications installed in the system?
Most probably yes if all these are created by system/application itself. Desktop entries are created at the time of installation of a software (if software knows how to create that like Google Chrome does but Netbeans doesn't).
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deleting icon in below pics, means uninstalling it from the system permanently?
Not really. You are just deleting a way (shortcut) to launch a specific application not an application which will still exist after the
.desktopfile is deleted. -
how to know which icon is the actual application that i have to keep
You need to open duplicate desktop entries through a text editor and determine which functionality it offers or for what purpose it is there. Multiple desktop entries must have created multiple shortcuts in app drawer but out of those multiple desktop entries only 1 is visible and every other will be hidden due to
NoDisplay=truein their description. That's why only 1 is visible in app drawer. It may also contain a lineOnlyShownInorNotShowInto show or hide in specific DE.You can learn more about it at Desktop Entry Specification -
how to know the name of application that can be remove via command line
For this refer N0rbert's answer
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if i want Audacious, MPV player, Dconf, Files, Cheese, InputMethod, Keyboard, Gparted, Displays, Dock, Disks, Calendar only then i want to see only 12 icons in this folder.
No. Some entries like that of Bluetooth are defined by the system and it needs that to properly display it while using a search.
Best Answer
You could reinstall nautilus package with
This will give you back the
/usr/share/applications/org.gnome.Nautilus.desktopfile. I don't know where the others come from.Try to look for them with
apt-fileand
Of course, you need apt-file installed.
sudo apt install apt-file