Skip to content

Linux GUI apps not showing up in Start Menu #45

Open

Description

(Submitting this separately from #4 because I don't believe it to be the same issue as #4.)

Environment

Windows build number: 21365
Your Distribution version: Debian 11 (bullseye/sid) / Ubuntu 20.04
Your WSLg version: 1.0.17.1

Steps to reproduce

Unknown (should be automatic, I believe?).

I have been using GUI apps on the former distribution for some time before WSLg was released; the latter distribution was a fresh install. In neither case have the Linux GUI apps showed up in the Start menu, and I can confirm that in both cases definition files exist for them under /usr/share/applications.

WSL logs:

Expected behavior

Icons representing the Linux GUI apps should show up in a distro-specific folder, per this repo's README.

Actual behavior

No such icons appear.

Activity

  1. hideyukn88 commented on Apr 22, 2021

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Alistair Young (@cerebrate) , thanks for reporting, from the provided log, it's failing to add watch to /usr/local/share/applications with permission denied (while /usr/share/applications was succeeded), can you check the permission on /usr/local/share/applications ? thanks!

    [11:33:44.808] app_list_monitor_thread: inotify_add_watch(/usr/share/applications)
    [11:33:45.029] app_list_monitor_thread: inotify_add_watch(/usr/local/share/applications)
    [11:33:45.029] app_list_monitor_thread: inotify_add_watch failed: Permission denied

  2. cerebrate commented on Apr 22, 2021

    @cerebrate
    Author

    Aha! Yes, that seems to have been the issue. Permissions on /usr/local/share/applications had no "other" permissions, only user and group. Adding "o+rx" made the shortcuts appear.

  3. hideyukn88 commented on Apr 22, 2021

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Alistair Young (@cerebrate) , I'm curious how common those folders don't have "other" permission ? Is this something you have done for some reason ? or the distro you installed is pre-configured in that way ? (but at least it looks Ubuntu 20.04 doesn't come with that).

  4. cerebrate commented on Apr 23, 2021

    @cerebrate
    Author

    Looking at my test Ubuntu 20.04 distribution, it doesn't appear to come with a /usr/local/share/applications folder at all; same goes for my Alpine.

    I don't think it's anything I've done intentionally, at least with regard to that folder in particular. Not being sure precisely where and when that folder was created, I suppose it's possible that it might be related to my running with umask 007 (set in my .zprofile), a habit originally from shared Unix systems that I've kept up for years, maybe?

  5. abhishekchak52 commented on Oct 18, 2021

    @abhishekchak52

    I'm having the same issue. From my weston.log file, I can see that it can't find /usr/local/share/applications. But I have confirmed that this folder exists, and there are several .desktop folders inside it. The folder also has rx permission for others.

  6. hideyukn88 commented on Oct 18, 2021

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Abhishek Chakraborty (@abhishekchak52), by looking at your weston.log, those .desktop are for either terminal application or has "NoDisplay" property, thus no program links are created, have you tried like "Firefox"? thanks!

  7. abhishekchak52 commented on Oct 18, 2021

    @abhishekchak52

    Hideyuki Nagase (@hideyukn88) Thanks for responding so quickly.

    Those are not the apps I'm having trouble with. I have emacs installed which has .desktop files in /usr/local/share/applications, but in weston.log, these are the lines I see

    [16:23:18.069] app_list_monitor_thread: /usr/local/share/applications doesn't exist, skipping.
    [16:23:18.321] app list folder[1]: /usr/local/share/applications
    

    I don't understand the second line. Has it found the folder but can't read it? Permissions shouldn't be an issue here.

    I decided to try copying my emacs.desktop from /usr/local/share/applications to /usr/share/applications but it didn't create an entry. At the bottom of weston.log, I find the following lines:

    [18:24:11.941] app_list_monitor_thread: file created/updated (emacs.desktop)
    [18:24:11.960] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/emacs.desktop
    [18:24:11.960]     Name[en_US]:Emacs (Ubuntu)
    [18:24:11.960]     Exec:emacs 
    [18:24:11.960]     TryExec:(null)
    [18:24:11.960]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [18:24:11.960]     Icon name:emacs
    [18:24:11.960]     Icon file:(null)
    [18:24:11.960] app list entry updated: Key:emacs, Name:Emacs (Ubuntu)
    [18:24:11.960] app_list_monitor_thread: file created/updated (emacs.desktop)
    [18:24:11.960] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/emacs.desktop
    [18:24:11.960]     Name[en_US]:Emacs (Ubuntu)
    [18:24:11.960]     Exec:emacs 
    [18:24:11.960]     TryExec:(null)
    [18:24:11.960]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [18:24:11.960]     Icon name:emacs
    [18:24:11.960]     Icon file:(null)
    [18:24:11.960] app list entry updated: Key:emacs, Name:Emacs (Ubuntu)
    [18:24:11.960] free_app_entry(): Emacs (Ubuntu): /usr/share/applications/emacs.desktop
    [18:57:39.778] app_list_monitor_thread: file created/updated (firefox.desktop)
    [18:57:39.778] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop
    [18:57:39.778]     Name[en_US]:Firefox Web Browser (Ubuntu)
    [18:57:39.778]     Exec:firefox 
    [18:57:39.778]     TryExec:(null)
    [18:57:39.778]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [18:57:39.778]     Icon name:firefox
    [18:57:39.778]     Icon file:(null)
    [18:57:39.778] app list entry updated: Key:firefox, Name:Firefox Web Browser (Ubuntu)
    

    This is after I installed firefox as you suggested, but nothing popped up for that either.

  8. hideyukn88 commented on Oct 19, 2021

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Abhishek Chakraborty (@abhishekchak52), I'm not seeing that issue. Would you please update to the latest WSLg? It looks yours is too old version. Thanks!

    Your WSLg version: 1.0.17.1

    image

  9. abhishekchak52 commented on Oct 19, 2021

    @abhishekchak52

    Hideyuki Nagase (@hideyukn88) Yeah, I think something else might be the issue. wsl.exe --version gives me

    WSL version: 0.47.1.0
    Kernel version: 5.10.60.1
    WSLg version: 1.0.29
    Windows version: 10.0.22000.282
    

    There might be an issue elsewhere because now weston.log says it added an entry, but I still can't see it in Start.

    Thank you for your help

  10. hideyukn88 commented on Oct 19, 2021

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Abhishek Chakraborty (@abhishekchak52), it looks you have lifted version of WSL from Store, right? The problem seems below which indicates Emacs is removed from tracking list. Btw, do you see Firefox in the Menu?

    [18:24:11.960] app list entry updated: Key:emacs, Name:Emacs (Ubuntu)
    [18:24:11.960] free_app_entry(): Emacs (Ubuntu): /usr/share/applications/emacs.desktop

  11. abhishekchak52 commented on Oct 19, 2021

    @abhishekchak52

    Hideyuki Nagase (@hideyukn88) No I can't see firefox either. Is there any way I can remove WSL completely and then reinstall everything?

  12. hideyukn88 commented on Oct 19, 2021

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Abhishek Chakraborty (@abhishekchak52), please do below.

    0: At cmd.exe, "wsl --shutdown".
    1: Settings App -> Apps & Features -> Uninstall "Windows Subsystem for Linux WSLg Preview".
    2: At same Apps & Features -> Uninstall "Windows Subsystem for Linux".
    2: Start Menu -> Find "Windows Subsystem for Linux Preview" -> Right click -> Uninstall.

    Then reinstall WSL from Store app. Please let me know how it goes. If problem persist, please share weston.log again, thanks!

  13. abhishekchak52 commented on Oct 19, 2021

    @abhishekchak52

    Hideyuki Nagase (@hideyukn88) I went a bit further and did what you asked + turning off/on the optional feature for WSL, and now it seems to work. Thank you so much for helping me out!

  14. 9 remaining items

  15. Paranoid-Dev commented on Feb 16, 2023

    @Paranoid-Dev

    In my case, the distro I was using didn't have /usr/local/share/applications, it was using /usr/share/applications/. So I just created a symlink and after a windows reboot, everything works as it should

    ln -s /usr/share/applications/ /usr/local/share/
    
  16. hideyukn88 commented on Feb 16, 2023

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    In my case, the distro I was using didn't have /usr/local/share/applications, it was using /usr/share/applications/. So I just created a symlink and after a windows reboot, everything works as it should

    ln -s /usr/share/applications/ /usr/local/share/
    

    Paranoid Developer (@Paranoid-Dev), I think that folder should be monitored, please let us know if it still doesn't work, thanks!

    https://github.com/microsoft/weston-mirror/blob/7fd9ba2f35b6171ddaedc5990432d6de10695008/rdprail-shell/app-list.c#L857

  17. ctosagme commented on Feb 27, 2023

    @ctosagme

    I'm having the same issue here i followed the instruction and it work it show all gui application but when i click the application it won't load/open

  18. hideyukn88 commented on Feb 27, 2023

    @hideyukn88
    Contributor

    Duncan Carpiso (@ctosagme), do you mean none of application showed up in Start Menu start up? We are aware of certain applications, such as sublime text, doesn't startup, but most of application should work, would you please give us a few examples of applications doesn't start up? thanks!

  19. ctosagme commented on Feb 28, 2023

    @ctosagme

    here's some example some of them open but not the others like firefox, Root Terminal Emulator
    https://www.reddit.com/user/ctos123game/comments/11dvngi/linux_application_wont_open/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

  20. MrLuje commented on Nov 22, 2023

    @MrLuje

    Paranoid Developer (@Paranoid-Dev), I think that folder should be monitored, please let us know if it still doesn't work, thanks!

    microsoft/weston-mirror@7fd9ba2/rdprail-shell/app-list.c#L857

    It looks like some editors are using ~/.local/share/applications/ (or at least Jetbrains).

    $ ll ~/.local/share/applications/
    total 20K
    -rwxr--r-- 1 vince vince 407 Nov 22 21:03 jetbrains-fleet-6ec15a84-983d-477a-b83c-bd87d0796ae5.desktop
    -rwxr--r-- 1 vince vince 363 Nov 22 21:02 jetbrains-fleet.desktop
    -rwxr--r-- 1 vince vince 434 Nov 22 21:09 jetbrains-idea-ce-8f3949b8-85b3-4398-ac33-02f6178eff3f.desktop
    -rwxr--r-- 1 vince vince 441 Nov 22 21:01 jetbrains-toolbox.desktop

    Can it also be monitored or should we ask them to create them at another place ?

  21. trueuto commented on Jan 24, 2024

    @trueuto

    I have that problem on Windows 11 - even though .desktop files are being created under /usr/share/applications (and Start Menu shortcuts even appear after the app is installed) - shortcuts get removed after some time while .desktop files are still in their location.

    On WSL start I can see that some (two) apps are properly added to shortcuts. In my case these are firefox and audacity. In the weston.log I can see e.g.:

    [20:31:19.373] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/audacity.desktop
    [20:31:19.373]     Name[en_US]:Audacity (Debian)
    [20:31:19.373]     Exec:env GDK_BACKEND=x11 audacity
    [20:31:19.373]     TryExec:(null)
    [20:31:19.373]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [20:31:19.373]     Icon name:audacity
    [20:31:19.373]     Icon SVG :1
    [20:31:19.373]     Icon file:/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/audacity.svg
    [20:31:19.373]     Icon image:0x7f76a8036250
    [20:31:19.373] app list entry updated: Key:audacity, Name:Audacity (Debian)
    

    However for a lot of others I have these errors:

    [20:31:19.374] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    [20:31:19.374] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/pavucontrol.desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory
    [20:31:19.374] app list entry failed to update: Key:pavucontrol
    [20:31:19.374] free_app_entry(): (null): /usr/share/applications/pavucontrol.desktop
    [20:31:19.374] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    [20:31:19.374] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/sqlitebrowser.desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory
    [20:31:19.374] app list entry failed to update: Key:sqlitebrowser
    [20:31:19.374] free_app_entry(): (null): /usr/share/applications/sqlitebrowser.desktop
    [20:31:19.374] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    

    WSL version: 2.0.14.0
    Kernel version: 5.15.133.1-1
    WSLg version: 1.0.59
    MSRDC version: 1.2.4677
    Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
    DXCore version: 10.0.25131.1002-220531-1700.rs-onecore-base2-hyp
    Windows version: 10.0.22621.3007

  22. TheNavyBear commented on Jan 29, 2024

    @TheNavyBear

    I had Linux GUI apps listed in my start menu, then today I installed 4 new Linux GUI apps, and only one showed up in start menu. Rebooted and then the 4 new ones were in start menu, but some of the originals were missing. Ran 'wsl --update' and it got the newest version (2.0.14) and I rebooted. After reboot, no Linux GUI apps are in the start menu.

  23. TheNavyBear commented on Jan 29, 2024

    @TheNavyBear

    Is there a limit on how many apps the start menu will show? I had 18 Linux GUI apps installed before today, on 3 different Windows 11 systems, and all the apps showed in the start menu. Today I installed 4 more Linux GUI apps on each system, and got:
    System 1: All 4 new apps showed in start menu, but 4 original apps disappeared
    System 2: 1 new app showed in start menu, but one original app disappeared.
    System 3 (the system in previous comment): After another reboot, the apps showed up in start menu again, two of the new apps were there, and two of the original apps had disappeared.

    Is there a way to increase the number of Linux GUI apps displayed in the start menu?

  24. psynautic commented on May 30, 2024

    @psynautic

    i'm having the same problem as trueuto (@trueuto)

    here is an example of me renaming a file to coerce it into doing something.

    [03:06:39.099] app_list_monitor_thread: file created/updated (doom_emacs.desktop)
    [03:06:39.099] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    [03:06:39.107] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/doom_emacs.desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory
    [03:06:39.107] app list entry failed to update: Key:doom_emacs
    [03:06:39.107] free_app_entry(): (null): /usr/share/applications/doom_emacs.desktop
    
  25. remd commented on Jun 22, 2024

    @remd

    Hideyuki Nagase (@hideyukn88) I have installed emacs from source, which creates a file at /usr/local/share/applications/emacs.desktop. This doesn't show up in the Windows start menu.

    As soon as I create a symlink in /usr/share/applications everything works.

    $ pwd
    /usr/share/applications
    $ sudo ln -s /usr/local/share/applications/emacs.desktop emacs.desktop
    
  26. sohan23 commented on Jul 21, 2024

    @sohan23

    I am raising an issue here

    The main thing that I saw in this thread is that everyone is having some sort of issue regarding the GUI apps rendering in the Linux Distro folder in WSLg.

    When I tried to install gedit in Linux Ubuntu 24.04. The shortcut created in the $HOME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ubuntu-24.04 folder and also the fact that the <app_name>.desktop are placed in /usr/share/applications rather /usr/local/share/applications

    This type of issue I didn't see for the first time when I installed WSL linux Ubuntu 24.04. It's only prevalent in the subsequent installation when I tried to uninstall the WSL and the distro itself and then again installing it.

  27. sohan23 commented on Jul 21, 2024

    @sohan23

    I am raising an issue here

    The main thing that I saw in this thread is that everyone is having some sort of issue regarding the GUI apps rendering in the Linux Distro folder in WSLg.

    When I tried to install gedit in Linux Ubuntu 24.04. The shortcut created in the $HOME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ubuntu-24.04 folder and also the fact that the <app_name>.desktop are placed in /usr/share/applications rather /usr/local/share/applications

    This type of issue I didn't see for the first time when I installed WSL linux Ubuntu 24.04. It's only prevalent in the subsequent installation when I tried to uninstall the WSL and the distro itself and then again installing it.

    The issue is solved by using this -

    Aha! Yes, that seems to have been the issue. Permissions on /usr/local/share/applications had no "other" permissions, only user and group. Adding "o+rx" made the shortcuts appear.

    This has to be done by sudo chmod o+rx /usr/local/share/applications and then you have to do wsl -install, wsl -update and wsl-shutdown and again starting wsl.exe. and then test it with a simple sudo apt-get install <app> command.

    I hope this helps most of the people. I was also frustrated by the bug like everyone else!

  28. andreaxhearts commented on Aug 20, 2024

    @andreaxhearts

    I get so many desktop file: /usr/share/applications/ .desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory errors. There are a lot of .desktop files in /usr/share/applications (for some gui apps, some not), but I'm only getting three shortcuts in the Start menu. I'm not seeing a reason why it shouldn't work.

    WSL version: 2.2.4.0
    Kernel version: 5.15.153.1-2
    WSLg version: 1.0.61
    MSRDC version: 1.2.5326
    Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
    DXCore version: 10.0.26091.1-240325-1447.ge-release
    Windows version: 10.0.19045.4780

    (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS)
    /usr/share/applications
    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Aug 20 11:25 applications

    Let's take some examples of shortcuts that are successful, and ones that fail to load:

    weston.log

    [10:36:08.096] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/com.gexperts.Tilix.desktop
    [10:36:08.096]     Name[en_US]:Tilix (Ubuntu)
    [10:36:08.096]     Exec:tilix
    [10:36:08.096]     TryExec:(null)
    [10:36:08.096]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [10:36:08.096]     Icon name:com.gexperts.Tilix
    [10:36:08.096]     Icon SVG :1
    [10:36:08.096]     Icon file:/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/com.gexperts.Tilix.svg
    [10:36:08.096]     Icon image:0x7f1254027550
    [10:36:08.096] app list entry updated: Key:Tilix, Name:Tilix (Ubuntu)
    [10:36:08.104] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/net.sapples.LiveCaptions.desktop
    [10:36:08.104]     Name[en_US]:Live Captions (Ubuntu)
    [10:36:08.104]     Exec:/usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=livecaptions net.sapples.LiveCaptions
    [10:36:08.104]     TryExec:(null)
    [10:36:08.104]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [10:36:08.104]     Icon name:/usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/net.sapples.LiveCaptions.png
    [10:36:08.104]     Icon SVG :0
    [10:36:08.104]     Icon file:/usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/net.sapples.LiveCaptions.png
    [10:36:08.104]     Icon image:0x7f125400c540
    [10:36:08.104] app list entry updated: Key:LiveCaptions, Name:Live Captions (Ubuntu)
    
    . . .
    
    [10:36:08.169] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/audacity.desktop
    [10:36:08.169]     Name[en_US]:Audacity (Ubuntu)
    [10:36:08.169]     Exec:env UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0 GDK_BACKEND=x11 audacity 
    [10:36:08.169]     TryExec:(null)
    [10:36:08.169]     WorkingDir:(null)
    [10:36:08.169]     Icon name:audacity
    [10:36:08.169]     Icon SVG :1
    [10:36:08.169]     Icon file:/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/audacity.svg
    [10:36:08.169]     Icon image:0x7f125401b820
    [10:36:08.169] app list entry updated: Key:audacity, Name:Audacity (Ubuntu)
    
    audacity.desktop
    [Desktop Entry]
    Name=Audacity
    GenericName=Sound Editor
    GenericName[ar]=محرر أصوات
    GenericName[ca]=Editor d'àudio
    GenericName[da]=Lydredigeringsprogram
    GenericName[de]=Audio-Editor
    . . . localization . . .
    Comment=Record and edit audio files
    . . . localization . . .
    
    Keywords=audio;sound;alsa;jack;editor;
    
    Icon=audacity
    
    Type=Application
    Categories=AudioVideo;Audio;AudioVideoEditing;
    
    Exec=env UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0 GDK_BACKEND=x11 audacity %F
    StartupNotify=false
    Terminal=false
    MimeType=application/x-audacity-project;audio/aac;audio/ac3;audio/mp4;audio/x-ms-wma;video/mpeg;audio/flac;audio/x-flac;audio/mpeg;audio/basic;audio/x-aiff;audio/x-wav;application/ogg;audio/x-vorbis+ogg
    
    tilex.desktop
    [Desktop Entry]
    Version=1.0
    Name=Tilix
    Comment=A tiling terminal for Gnome
    Keywords=shell;prompt;command;commandline;cmd;
    Exec=tilix
    Terminal=false
    Type=Application
    StartupNotify=true
    Categories=System;TerminalEmulator;X-GNOME-Utilities;
    Icon=com.gexperts.Tilix
    DBusActivatable=true
    Actions=new-window;new-session;preferences;
    X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=tilix
    
    [Desktop Action new-window]
    Name=New Window
    Exec=tilix --action=app-new-window
    
    [Desktop Action new-session]
    Name=New Session
    Exec=tilix --action=app-new-session
    
    [Desktop Action preferences]
    Name=Preferences
    Exec=tilix --preferences
    

    weston.log

    [10:36:08.169] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    [10:36:08.169] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory
    [10:36:08.170] app list entry failed to update: Key:firefox
    [10:36:08.170] free_app_entry(): (null): /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop
    [10:36:08.170] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    [10:36:08.170] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/pavucontrol.desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory
    [10:36:08.170] app list entry failed to update: Key:pavucontrol
    [10:36:08.170] free_app_entry(): (null): /usr/share/applications/pavucontrol.desktop
    [10:36:08.170] attach_app_list_namespace failed Invalid argument
    [10:36:08.170] desktop file: /usr/share/applications/spotify.desktop is failed to be loaded: No such file or directory
    [10:36:08.170] app list entry failed to update: Key:spotify
    [10:36:08.170] free_app_entry(): (null): /usr/share/applications/spotify.desktop
    
    firefox.desktop
    [Desktop Entry]
    Version=1.0
    NoDisplay=true
    Name=Firefox Web Browser
    Name[ar]=متصفح الويب فَيَرفُكْس
    Name[ast]=Restolador web Firefox
    . . . localization . . .
    Comment=Browse the World Wide Web
    . . .
    GenericName=Web Browser
    . . .
    Keywords=Internet;WWW;Browser;Web;Explorer
    . . .
    Exec=firefox %u
    Terminal=false
    X-MultipleArgs=false
    Type=Application
    Icon=firefox
    Categories=GNOME;GTK;Network;WebBrowser;
    MimeType=text/html;text/xml;application/xhtml+xml;application/xml;application/rss+xml;application/rdf+xml;image/gif;image/jpeg;image/png;x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https;video/webm;application/x-xpinstall;
    StartupNotify=true
    StartupWMClass=firefox
    Actions=new-window;new-private-window;
    
    [Desktop Action new-window]
    Name=Open a New Window
    . . . localization . . .
    Exec=firefox -new-window
    
    [Desktop Action new-private-window]
    Name=Open a New Private Window
    . . .
    Exec=firefox -private-window
    

    Something as simple as this fails! :

    spotify.desktop

    [Desktop Entry]
    Type=Application
    Name=Spotify
    Icon=/usr/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/spotify-client.png
    Exec=/usr/bin/spotify
    Terminal=false
    Categories=Audio;Music;Player;AudioVideo;
    
    ls "C:\Users\Andrea\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ubuntu"
    
        Directory: C:\Users\Andrea\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Ubuntu
    
    Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
    ----                 -------------         ------ ----
    -a---           8/20/2024 11:24 AM           1844 Audacity (Ubuntu).lnk
    -a---           8/20/2024 11:24 AM           1962 Live Captions (Ubuntu).lnk
    -a---           8/20/2024 11:24 AM           1746 Tilix (Ubuntu).lnk

    A pretty simple solution is to create your own .lnk file. Just don't do it in the folder above though, because if you do, Weston will sync the shortcuts and delete the one you make. You can put it elsewhere.

  29. Croydon commented on Mar 24, 2025

    @Croydon

    On my Fedora 42 Beta WSL distro I had to create a symlink as the following so that user-installed Flatpaks show up in the Windows start menu:

    sudo ln -s /home/user/.local/share/flatpak/exports/ /var/lib/flatpak/exports

    See also #974

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    bugSomething isn't workingstart-menu-integrationWindows Start Menu integration

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

      Milestone

      No milestone

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions