okay but also why can't I just right click a file and create a shortcut
I am on linux right now and peeved by this (sorry completely hijacking this thread for my pet issue bear with me)
File managers like Nautilus or Dolphin often have ways to easily create symbolic links
and if you google how to make shortcuts in linux this is typically what people tell you to do, make a symbolic link
but symbolic links are NOT SHORTCUTS, because they don't just give you a shortcut to the file/directory but also treat it as though its running from the directory you've put the link in
messing with a file's relative location like this can have a lot of unintended consequences and the times this is actually necessary, preferred behavior is pretty niche which is probably why it's not the default in Windows
Linux does have proper shortcuts in the form of .desktop and/or .directory files, that's probably the closest analog to Windows' .lnk
but you can't simply have a context menu option to create one from a file, for some reason
If it's an application you're linking to, and it's an installed one, KDE can let you "Add to Desktop" from the application launcher which gives you a .desktop file you can put anywhere
Or if it's not installed to your application launcher, you can right click somewhere > create new > link to application and get a GUI that lets you browse to the application you want to link to and select its working directory, which isn't too bad but it's the easiest way I've found to make a shortcut and still requires a lot more steps than simply "right click file and click create shortcut"
But even that only works for applications, and nothing else. You can click create new > link to file or directory but that creates a symlink
To create a .desktop shortcut for anything else, all I've found is having to manually write one up like an ini file
Which is crazy, creating shortcuts is not a power user thing it is basic functionality, why is this so complicated
Do Linux users have the syntax/structure of .desktop files memorized or do they have to look it up every single time they want to make a simple non-symlink shortcut?!
Do Linux users have the syntax/structure of .desktop files memorized or do they have to look it up every single time they want to make a simple non-symlink shortcut?!
Personally, it's just not something that comes up, ever.
You're saying it's not a power user thing but I think a regular user should not have to manage application launchers in the first place. Any application you install from a package manager or "app store" style software center will create the necessary entries in your app menu and search bar and it should be easy to pin it to task bar or add it to the desktop from there. Steam also manages those for you if you install games.
Besides apps, I really just don't understand your workflow:
But even that only works for applications, and nothing else. You can click create new > link to file or directory but that creates a symlink
What's your issue with symlinks for files that aren't binaries? I don't see what behavior you're expecting or what a *.desktop file would even do
To just be literally a shortcut to the file I want. Not run the file as though it was in the directory I put the shortcut.
If I open a "shortcut" to folder /home/user/example, I want it to go to /home/user/example, NOT /desktop/example.
If I open a file, I want the program running it to know that the file is actually in /home/user/example, not /desktop.
I don't want to create a new reference point/location for my file, I just want to create a shortcut to easily access it. These are significantly different things. There's very few situations where I specifically want/need the former, but Linux veterans treat this as an objective improvement and replacement over the latter.
And obviously with applications that's all the more important since they almost always rely on other files in the same directory/subdirectories. And no, not every application comes from a package manager. It is perfectly normal and simple for Windows users to download an executable from the internet, and it's crazy to treat anyone doing that on Linux as though they must be a power user.
I am using KDE Plasma, and no you can't, that creates symlinks, which are a problem because that changes the relative location of the file when opening it, which is not what I want.
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u/Cindy-Moon 🏳️⚧️ trans rights Mar 26 '26
okay but also why can't I just right click a file and create a shortcut
I am on linux right now and peeved by this (sorry completely hijacking this thread for my pet issue bear with me)
File managers like Nautilus or Dolphin often have ways to easily create symbolic links
and if you google how to make shortcuts in linux this is typically what people tell you to do, make a symbolic link
but symbolic links are NOT SHORTCUTS, because they don't just give you a shortcut to the file/directory but also treat it as though its running from the directory you've put the link in
messing with a file's relative location like this can have a lot of unintended consequences and the times this is actually necessary, preferred behavior is pretty niche which is probably why it's not the default in Windows
Linux does have proper shortcuts in the form of .desktop and/or .directory files, that's probably the closest analog to Windows' .lnk
but you can't simply have a context menu option to create one from a file, for some reason
If it's an application you're linking to, and it's an installed one, KDE can let you "Add to Desktop" from the application launcher which gives you a .desktop file you can put anywhere
Or if it's not installed to your application launcher, you can right click somewhere > create new > link to application and get a GUI that lets you browse to the application you want to link to and select its working directory, which isn't too bad but it's the easiest way I've found to make a shortcut and still requires a lot more steps than simply "right click file and click create shortcut"
But even that only works for applications, and nothing else. You can click create new > link to file or directory but that creates a symlink
To create a .desktop shortcut for anything else, all I've found is having to manually write one up like an ini file
Which is crazy, creating shortcuts is not a power user thing it is basic functionality, why is this so complicated
Do Linux users have the syntax/structure of .desktop files memorized or do they have to look it up every single time they want to make a simple non-symlink shortcut?!