Ubuntu create desktop launchers or shortcut

In Ubuntu there is no direct way to create shortcut for an application, but it can be done few steps. Below I am explaining the two method which can used to create shortcut for an application.

Method 1

    Using this method you may need to install gnome-panel , run the below command to install it

  $ sudo apt install gnome-panel

Then Create launcher by running

  $ gnome-desktop-item-edit --create-new ~/Desktop

    The above command will popup the GUI where you will be able to give all the details for the Application. Click OK after filling all the details and it will generate the shortcut on Desktop.

    Alternately you can create the shortcut in ~/.local/share/applications/ to make it appear in applications dashboards, or in /usr/local/share/applications path to get access to all users. Replace ~/Desktop in above command with corresponding path.

Method 2

    In another way without installing gnome-panel, you can simply create a text file with .desktop extension and add following content to the file

MyApp.desktop

  #!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
  [Desktop Entry]
  Version=1.0
  Type=Application
  Terminal=false
  Exec=Application path or command to run
  Name=Application name
  Comment=Comment
  Icon=path to the icon

Then save the file and close it. And make it executable by running

  $ chmod 777 MyApp.desktop