GNOME Desktop – How to Remove Trash Icon

Removing the Trash icon from desktop

Up to Ubuntu 18.10

Launch Terminal and run

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop trash-icon-visible false

You may alternatively use GUI tools like dconf-Editor or (GNOME) Tweaks (see this for reference).

Ubuntu 19.04 and later

Disable the trash icon option from Extensions > Desktop Icon in Tweaks:
Alternatively, run the following command

gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.desktop-icons show-trash false

Adding a Trash icon to the Ubuntu dock

Up to Ubuntu 19.04

Follow the steps below.

1. First install the trash-cli package by running

   sudo apt install trash-cli
   

2. Create a .desktop file (say trash-in-dock.desktop) in your ~/.local/share/applications/ directory.

3. Open the file with a text editor and add the following lines

   [Desktop Entry]
   Comment=Trash icon for Ubuntu dock
   Terminal=false
   Name=Trash for Dock
   Exec=nautilus trash:///
   Type=Application
   Icon=user-trash
   NoDisplay=false
   Actions=empty-trash;
   
   [Desktop Action empty-trash]
   Name=Empty Trash
   Exec=trash-empty
   

4. Save the file and re-login if needed.

5. Click "Activities" or press Super and search for Trash for Dock. It should appear in the results.

6. Right click the icon and select "Add to Favourites".

What you will get

1. A Trash icon in your dock, clicking which will open the Trash folder.

2. Right clicking the Trash icon in the dock will show an "Empty Trash" option which should work as intended.
   

What you won't get

1. The Trash icon in the dock would be like other app icons, it won't be conveniently placed at the bottom like in Unity Launcher.

2. The Trash icon in the dock would be a 'static' one, i.e. won't show two different icons depending on whether the Trash is empty or not.

Ubuntu 19.10 and later

Simply run the following command

gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock show-trash true

when the trash icon is changed by right clicking it, Properties and clicking on icon,

the path of this newly selected icon will be saved in ~/.config/nautilus/desktop-metadata

when the icon was not changed, some of the content in this file is

[trash]
nautilus-icon-position-timestamp=1551022571
nautilus-icon-position=56,146
icon-scale=1

for example:

I have changed the trash-icon by right clicking... then the content of above mentioned file changed to

[trash]
nautilus-icon-position-timestamp=1551022571
nautilus-icon-position=56,146
icon-scale=1
custom-icon=file:///home/pratap/Pictures/Screenshot%20from%202019-02-24%2021-09-32.png

to revert the changes.. the below line need to be deleted from the file ~/.config/nautilus/desktop-metadata

custom-icon=file:///home/pratap/Pictures/Screenshot%20from%202019-02-24%2021-09-32.png

to delete the line and save the changes..run the below command, edit and save the file.

sudo -H gedit ~/.config/nautilus/desktop-metadata

Now logout and login to see the change..