Pontus Öwre

Dedicated and diverse software engineer with 15+ years professional experience. Passionate about software security, test driven development and DevOps with interest in getting things done.

How to create a desktop shortcut for an AppImage

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AppImage is a self-contained and compressed executable format for Linux. It allows developers to distribute their applications in a single file that can run on any Linux distribution without the need for installation.

However, running an AppImage from the terminal every time you want to use it can be cumbersome. Fortunately, you can create a desktop shortcut for your favorite AppImages in Linux. Here’s how to do it:

Create a .desktop file that describes the AppImage and how it should be launched. The .desktop file should be placed in the appropriate directory to be recognized by your desktop environment. Using Linux Mint with Cinnamon, the .desktop files are stored in ~/.local/share/applications/.

A .desktop file for Joplin AppImage would look like this:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Joplin
Exec=/home/user/Apps/joplin.AppImage
Comment=Joplin text editor
Terminal=false
Icon=joplin-desktop
Type=Application
Categories=Office;Accessories

Happy AppImaging!