Desktop files are intended as shortcuts to applications. They are plain text files ending in the .desktop extension and following a standard format. Here is a simple example of a desktop file to launch Dolphin, the KDE file manager:
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Dolphin
GenericName=File Manager
Type=Application
Exec=dolphin
Icon=dolphin.png
Category=System;
xdg-open is a program that will open a file in the preferred application.

In the above example we have only several fields, but they are enough to contain everything needed to know about the program:
  • The Name field specifies the name of the application
  • The GenericName field specifies a description of the application
  • The Type field specifies the type of the application
  • The Exec field specifies the executable program or script to be launched when running the desktop file
  • The Icon field specifies the icon to be used by the desktop file
Example of editing a desktop file:

Usually desktop environments will recognize a desktop file and display its name from the Name section instead of the filename which could be something like launch-dolphin.desktop.

All you have to do is create such a desktop file using a text editor like Gedit or Nano, and also make sure to give execute permissions to your desktop file, e.g. chmod 755 launch-dolphin.desktop, so the program xdg-open will be ran automatically. You can then drag and drop your desktop files on the desktop or to a panel.

Here is an example for running an application in System Tray using the AllTray program, using the command alltray dolphin:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Dolphin (SysTray)
GenericName=File Manager
Type=Application
Exec=alltray dolphin
Icon=dolphin.png
Category=System;

AllTray is an application docker and it will integrate any graphical application in the system tray. For terminal applications, follow the next example.

Or, for example to run a terminal application, using alltray konsole -e irssi, which will launch Konsole and start up the IRC client Irssi inside it:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Irssi
GenericName=File Manager
Type=Application
Exec=alltray konsole -e irssi
Icon=xterm.png
Category=Internet;

Creating a Desktop File in KDE

Right-click in a directory and choose Create New->Link to Application...:
In the General tab, choose the name of your shortcut and then click the icon button to choose an icon for your launcher:
In the Application tab, fill in the Name, Description and Command fields:

That is all. If you right-click your desktop file now and open it with a text editor, it should look something like this, pretty much the same as creating it manually:

By Craciun Dan on March 07, 2014 | Updated: March 07, 2014 | v0.2.0 r1
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