XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1) xdg-desktop-icon Manual XDG-DESKTOP-ICON(1) .SH "NAME" xdg-desktop-icon - command line tool for (un)installing icons to the desktop .SH "SYNOPSIS" .HP 408u **xdg-desktop-icon** install \[**--novendor**] *FILE* .HP 408u **xdg-desktop-icon** uninstall *FILE* .HP 408u **xdg-desktop-icon** { | **--help** | **--manual** | **--version** } .SH "DESCRIPTION" .PP The xdg-desktop-icon program can be used to install an application launcher or other file on the desktop of the current user. .PP An application launcher is represented by a \*.desktop file. Desktop files are defined by the freedesktop.org Desktop Entry Specification. The most important aspects of \*.desktop files are summarized below. .SH "COMMANDS" .PP install Installs *FILE* to the desktop of the current user. *FILE* can be a \*.desktop file or any other type of file. .RE .PP uninstall Removes *FILE* from the desktop of the current user. .RE .SH "OPTIONS" .PP **--novendor** Normally, xdg-desktop-icon checks to ensure that a \*.desktop file to be installed has a vendor prefix. This option can be used to disable that check. A vendor prefix consists of alpha characters (\[a-zA-Z]) and is terminated with a dash ("-"). Companies and organizations are encouraged to use a word or phrase, preferably the organizations name, for which they hold a trademark as their vendor prefix. The purpose of the vendor prefix is to prevent name conflicts. .RE .PP **--help** Show command synopsis. .RE .PP **--manual** Show this manual page. .RE .PP **--version** Show the xdg-utils version information. .RE .SH "DESKTOP FILES" .PP An application launcher can be added to the desktop by installing a \*.desktop file. A \*.desktop file consists of a *\[Desktop Entry]* header followed by several *Key*=*Value* lines. .PP A \*.desktop file can provide a name and description for an application in several different languages. This is done by adding a language code as used by LC\_MESSAGES in square brackets behind the *Key*. This way one can specify different values for the same *Key* depending on the currently selected language. .PP The following keys are often used: .PP Type=Application This is a mandatory field that indicates that the \*.desktop file describes an application launcher. .RE .PP Name=*Application Name* The name of the application. For example *Mozilla* .RE .PP GenericName=*Generic Name* A generic description of the application. For example *Web Browser* .RE .PP Comment=*Comment* Optional field to specify a tooltip for the application. For example *Visit websites on the Internet* .RE .PP Icon=*Icon File* The icon to use for the application. This can either be an absolute path to an image file or an icon-name. If an icon-name is provided an image lookup by name is done in the user's current icon theme. The **xdg-icon-resource** command can be used to install image files into icon themes. The advantage of using an icon-name instead of an absolute path is that with an icon-name the application icon can be provided in several different sizes as well as in several differently themed styles. .RE .PP Exec=*Command Line* The command line to start the application. If the application can open files the %f placeholder should be specified. When a file is dropped on the application launcher the %f is replaced with the file path of the dropped file. If multiple files can be specified on the command line the %F placeholder should be used instead of %f. If the application is able to open URLs in addition to local files then %u or %U can be used instead of %f or %F. .RE .PP For a complete overview of the \*.desktop file format please visit **http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/desktop-entry-spec** .SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES" .PP xdg-desktop-icon honours the following environment variables: .PP XDG\_UTILS\_DEBUG\_LEVEL Setting this environment variable to a non-zero numerical value makes xdg-desktop-icon do more verbose reporting on stderr. Setting a higher value increases the verbosity. .RE .SH "EXIT CODES" .PP An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned: .PP **1** Error in command line syntax. .RE .PP **2** One of the files passed on the command line did not exist. .RE .PP **3** A required tool could not be found. .RE .PP **4** The action failed. .RE .PP **5** No permission to read one of the files passed on the command line. .RE .SH "SEE ALSO" .PP [**xdg-icon-resource**(1)](/man/os/xdg-utils/xdg-icon-resource.1) .SH "EXAMPLES" .PP The company ShinyThings Inc. has developed an application named "WebMirror" and would like to add a launcher for for on the desktop. The company will use "shinythings" as its vendor id. In order to add the application to the desktop there needs to be a .desktop file for the application: ``` shinythings-webmirror.desktop: [Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF-8 Type=Application Exec=webmirror Icon=shinythings-webmirror Name=WebMirror Name[nl]=WebSpiegel ``` .PP Now the xdg-desktop-icon tool can be used to add the webmirror.desktop file to the desktop: ``` xdg-desktop-icon install ./shinythings-webmirror.desktop ``` .PP To add a README file to the desktop as well, the following command can be used: ``` xdg-desktop-icon install ./shinythings-README ``` # [AUTHORS](#AUTHORS) **Kevin Krammer** Author. **Jeremy White** Author. # [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT) Copyright © 2006 04/02/2026 xdg-utils 1.0 --- Document: xdg-desktop-icon(1) from xdg-utils 1.2.1-r8 (Chainguard OS) Source: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xdg/xdg-utils