Xfce Forum

AABB

Member

Registered: 2025-12-30

Posts: 4

why cant I add to xfce4 panel an application having a .desktop file

The .desktop file is clearly defined in /usr/share/applications, yet when I rt-click on panel one, then select Panel > Add New Items  my desired app is not listed.
....And when I use the search box,  nothing is returned.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,421

Re: why cant I add to xfce4 panel an application having a .desktop file

Panel > New items is to add xfce4 panel plugins to the panel. If you have an application .desktop file, add a launcher first and then configure the launcher to launch your app. Or if you are using whiskermenu and it shows up in the menu, just right-click and select the option to add it to the panel.

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peter.48

Member

From: France, sud-ouest

Registered: 2017-01-31

Posts: 163

Re: why cant I add to xfce4 panel an application having a .desktop file

Check your .desktop file to see if there is a line like: "OnlyShowIn=GNOME;" or "NotShowIn=KDE;" etc.

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The main defect of the linuxers is lack of memory - they don't remember how their knowledge was when they started with the linux