Create .desktop files on arch linux

November 22,2022
Tagged Linux

If you manually downloaded an application that was not setup by pacman or any other automated setup process, then you will need to create a .desktop file. Else,
ROFI or any other similar software will not be able to find / list your software.

These .desktop files get stored in different locations. Most of them are under:

/usr/share/applications

There you can create a new file for each desktop entry. Example below:

[Desktop Entry]

# The type as listed above
Type=Application

# The version of the desktop entry specification to which this file complies
Version=1.0

# The name of the application
Name=logseq

# A comment which can/will be used as a tooltip
Comment=A privacy-first, open-source knowledge base

# The path to the folder in which the executable is run
Path=/home/user/Software

# The executable of the application, possibly with arguments.
Exec=./logseq.AppImage

# The name of the icon that will be used to display this entry
# Icon=logseq

# Describes whether this application needs to be run in a terminal or not
Terminal=false

# Describes the categories in which this entry should be shown
# Categories=Knowledge base;