Ubuntu – How to completely separate desktop enviroments

desktop-environments

How could I completely separate desktop environments from each other? For example if I install Cinnamon and MATE, both desktop environments' applications show in the main menu, and the launchers list them too, even if they are useless in the actual DE.
So in the end everything just messes up when there are more than one DE installed.

Is there any method to separate them more?

Best Answer

You can do it the «hard way».

1.- Open your DE. For instance, Cinnamon.

2.- Check every installed application in the menu and write down those you don't want to appear.

3.- Open your File Manager (Nautilus or Nemo)

4.- Go to /usr/share/applications (also check .local/share/applications in your home folder) and identify the file name of the applications you don't want to appear under your present DE

5.- Open a terminal and type

cd /usr/share/applications

6.- For each application, type

sudo nano [nameoftheprogram].desktop

For instance:

sudo nano yelp.desktop

7.- Find this line

OnlyShowIn=

and delete the DE you don't want. If there isn't this line, add it and add also the DE.

enter image description here

8.- Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 for each program.

N.B. This how-to will only help you with the mixing of programs in the menu.

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