Command-Line – How to Find Out the Terminal Command of an Application

command lineunity

I want to use some applications shown on the Unity Launcher in a terminal, but I need to know the appropriate command to run them. How can I achieve that?

Best Answer

Most default applications will have a .desktop file located in /usr/share/applications.

To find out about the corresponding terminal command that will be run when launching one of these applications open the file browser Nautilus and right click on the application's icon to select Properties in the context menu. This will give you all details you need (shown here for System Settings that will run gnome-control-center -overview)

application launcher properties view