# App doesn't show up in app drawer or on desktop

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [10 December 2022 20:01 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602 "2022-12-10T20:01:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![syberon](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/syberon/32/15681_2.png) [@syberon](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/syberon)\
**Post date:** [10 December 2022 20:01 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/1 "2022-12-10T20:01:40Z")

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**Joplin version:**  
You already have the latest version 2.8.8 installed.  
**linux version:**  
pop\_os 22.04  
**kernel version:**  
uname -r  
6.0.6-76060006-generic  
**shell**  
zsh --version  
zsh 5.8.1 (x86\_64-ubuntu-linux-gnu)

some info the install script checks:  
`echo "$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP"`  
`pop:GNOME`

`echo $(echo "${XDG_DATA_DIRS}" | sed 's/.*\(xfce\|kde\|gnome\).*/\1/')`  
`gnome`

`❱ lsb_release -is`  
`Pop`  
`❱ lsb_release -rs`  
`22.04`  
`❱ lsb_release -cs`  
`jammy`

Hi

i don't think this is a bug, more a local issue, as, when reading the forum, people using pop\_os managed to install it, hence i first ask it here before heading to github.

i installed joplin using the following command (from the website) `wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laurent22/joplin/dev/Joplin_install_and_update.sh | bash`

it tells me the install was successful and indeed, i find the  
~/.joplin  
~/.config/Joplin  
~/.config/joplin-desktop  
directories  
as well as the  
~/.local/share/applications/appimagekit-joplin.desktop

content of the last file:

```auto
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Joplin
Comment=Joplin for Desktop
Exec=/home/syberon/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage %u
Icon=@joplinapp-desktop
StartupWMClass=Joplin
Type=Application
Categories=Office;
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/joplin;
X-GNOME-SingleWindow=true // should be removed eventually as it was upstream to be an XDG specification
SingleMainWindow=true

```

The problem i have is that there is no desktop icon, (which i don't mind, my desktop is empty), but when i hit the `super` key and type 'joplin' i don't get any hits. When looking in my application drawer, i can't find Joplin in there either.

For completeness, i can run the app, if i go to ~/.joplin and run Joplin.AppImage, both from gui as from cli.

```auto
❱ ./Joplin.AppImage                                          
xdg-settings: invalid application name
Try 'xdg-settings --help' for more information.
[27620:1210/204308.791439:ERROR:sandbox_linux.cc(374)] InitializeSandbox() called with multiple threads in process gpu-process.
(node:27579) electron: The default of nativeWindowOpen is deprecated and will be changing from false to true in Electron 15. See https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/28511 for more information.
(Use `@joplinapp-desktop --trace-warnings ...` to show where the warning was created)

```

followed by the application starting.

running `journalctl -d`

```auto
Dec 10 20:30:21 bancroft systemd[989]: Started dbus-:1.5-org.gnome.Nautilus@1.service.
Dec 10 20:30:21 bancroft gnome-shell[1252]: Ignoring length property that isn't a number at line 4, col 20
Dec 10 20:30:21 bancroft systemd[1]: Starting Hostname Service...
Dec 10 20:30:21 bancroft systemd[1]: Started Hostname Service.
Dec 10 20:30:28 bancroft nautilus[25163]: xdg-settings: invalid application name
Dec 10 20:30:28 bancroft nautilus[25163]: Try 'xdg-settings --help' for more information.
Dec 10 20:30:29 bancroft nautilus[25180]: [25180:1210/203029.319412:ERROR:sandbox_linux.cc(374)] InitializeSandbox() called with multi>
Dec 10 20:30:29 bancroft nautilus[25139]: (node:25139) electron: The default of nativeWindowOpen is deprecated and will be changing fr>
Dec 10 20:30:29 bancroft nautilus[25139]: (Use `@joplinapp-desktop --trace-warnings ...` to show where the warning was created)
Dec 10 20:30:31 bancroft nautilus[25250]: xdg-settings: invalid application name
Dec 10 20:30:31 bancroft nautilus[25250]: Try 'xdg-settings --help' for more information.
Dec 10 20:30:32 bancroft systemd[1]: tmp-.mount_Joplin2DnfRN.mount: Deactivated successfully.
Dec 10 20:30:36 bancroft systemd[1]: tmp-.mount_JoplinZWJw6x.mount: Deactivated successfully.
Dec 10 20:30:51 bancroft systemd[1]: systemd-hostnamed.service: Deactivated successfully.

```

Any help would be appreciated, if required, i will head over to github.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dpoulton](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/dpoulton/32/29723_2.png) [@dpoulton](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/dpoulton)\
**Post date:** [10 December 2022 20:22 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/2 "2022-12-10T20:22:34Z")

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Admittedly I never suffered this with Pop\_OS but some distros never showed the app / app icon until the user had logged out and logged back in again. It's probably not what is happening here but have you tried it?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![syberon](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/syberon/32/15681_2.png) [@syberon](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/syberon)\
**Post date:** [10 December 2022 20:45 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/3 "2022-12-10T20:45:34Z")

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Hi

unfortunately i already tried this, even a complete reboot didn’t make joplin appear in my app drawer.

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**Author:** ![roman\_r\_m](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/roman_r_m/32/3297_2.png) [@roman\_r\_m](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/roman_r_m)\
**Post date:** [10 December 2022 20:48 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/4 "2022-12-10T20:48:04Z")

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The missing icon might be related to this: [[Desktop, Linux] Fix AppImage icon when installing using Joplin\_install\_and\_update.sh by roman-r-m · Pull Request #7346 · laurent22/joplin · GitHub](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/pull/7346)

I tried to fix it (by changing the icon name) but looks like it didn't help. Could be because the icon had incorrect size. This has been fixed but I don't think it's been released yet.

You could try running appimagelint to check for any other issues.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![syberon](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/syberon/32/15681_2.png) [@syberon](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/syberon)\
**Post date:** [12 December 2022 20:14 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/5 "2022-12-12T20:14:10Z")

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The problem isn't that the icon isn't showing;it's that it isn't even shown in my app drawer or anywhere else.  
I have to launch it from cli.

i checked the link you suggested, i don't think this is relevant to me; the icon already is 'at'joplin-desktop and i also don't use appimage launcher. I only used the recommended script.

I ran the update-desktop-database with verbosity, maybe this helps someone?

> [[`command -v update-desktop-database`]] && update-desktop-database -v ~/.local/share/applications && update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/icons -v  
> Search path is now: [/home/{{user}}/.local/share/applications]  
> File "/home/{{user}}/.local/share/applications/appimagekit-pcloud.desktop" lacks MimeType key  
> File "/home/{{user}}/.local/share/applications/userapp-Firefox-EYMFW1.desktop" lacks MimeType key  
> Search path is now: [/home/{{user}}/.local/share/icons]

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![syberon](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/syberon/32/15681_2.png) [@syberon](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/syberon)\
**Post date:** [13 December 2022 11:55 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/6 "2022-12-13T11:55:15Z")

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I managed installing it, the way it should be, with appimagelauncher (meaning: registered in applications and application drawer)  
i can now hit the super key, type 'jop' and select the application.  
But preferably, i would use the installscript, as it is the recommended method.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![roman\_r\_m](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/roman_r_m/32/3297_2.png) [@roman\_r\_m](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/roman_r_m)\
**Post date:** [13 December 2022 13:22 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/7 "2022-12-13T13:22:21Z")

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You could compare the .desktop file created by appimagelauncher against the one generated by the script to see if there are any obvious differences.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![syberon](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/syberon/32/15681_2.png) [@syberon](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/syberon)\
**Post date:** [14 December 2022 20:18 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/8 "2022-12-14T20:18:46Z")

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i found the issue; joplin doesn't adhere to the `freedesktop xdg` standard.  
i configure these to keep a clean home folder, but joplin ignores these. I confirmed this by placing the files in the folder my os expects and voila, it shows up.

> export XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME='$HOME/.config'  
> export XDG\_DATA\_HOME='$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/local/share'  
> export XDG\_CACHE\_HOME = '$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/'

once i knew this was the issue, i found following github and forum posts:

> <https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/issues/6959>
>
> On Linux, \`Joplin\` currently creates a \`.config/joplin-desktop/\` sub-directory w…thin the user's home directory. Most applications/programs make use the \`Freedesktop XDG\` standard – found here: http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html.
> 
> Using this standard:
> \- \`$XDG\_CACHE\_HOME\` says "temporal/non-essential" files go to \`$HOME/.cache/\`
> \- \`$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME\` says "configuration files" go to \`$HOME/.config/\`
> \- \`$XDG\_DATA\_HOME\` says "data files" go to \`$HOME/.local/share/\`
> 
> This is just a request to consider using the defined variables for this standard. It makes a lot of sense; it is easy for the user to understand, makes it easier to backup / locate / restore / manage / clear user's data, and creates less clutter in the user's home directory.
> 
> Thanks in advance...and thanks so much for your hard work on this – it's amazing!
> 
> \## Environment
> 
> Joplin version: \`2.8.8 (Flatpak)\`
> Platform: \`Linux\`
> OS specifics: \`Linux uplink 5.15.74-1-lts #1 SMP Sat, 15 Oct 2022 06:43:47 +0000 x86\_64 GNU/Linux\`

> [@Adherence to XDG Base Directory Specification](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/adherence-to-xdg-base-directory-specification/26725):
>
> Personally I think there is a good reason for Joplin to fully support the [XDG Base Directory Specification](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html). There was a previous PR raised for this but it was closed ([Desktop: Resolves #6085 Add initial support for XDG Folder Specs by BeatLink · Pull Request #6152 · laurent22/joplin · GitHub](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/pull/6152)) as well as a number of other GH "issues" and a forum post that gained no traction so this isn't a new topic by any means, I'm most certainly not the first who has brought this up or thought about it. It ha…

for now, i will leave this as is, but i don't know if i'll be able to update joplin from within the app, now it's not in the expected directory.  
should i not be able to update it, i'll use appimagelauncher.

but tbh, i do think, programs should adhere to this as it wouldn't break anything. everybody has these defined by default; i just changed the location of these variables.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CalebJohn](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/calebjohn/32/356_2.png) [@CalebJohn](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/CalebJohn)\
**Post date:** [14 December 2022 23:54 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/9 "2022-12-14T23:54:11Z")

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It seems like the fix for this is pretty small, currently Joplin [hardcodes](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/dev/Joplin_install_and_update.sh#L205) the desktop file location as `~/.local/share/applications`. If that is instead changed to use `$XDG_DATA_HOME` (with .local/share as a fallback) then this should solve your issue without breaking for anyone else. I'll make a PR with this change.

Fully conforming to the freedesktop standard is more challenging because it requires moving the Joplin database (which should be under `$XDG_DATA_HOME`).

edit: [Desktop, Linux: Use XDG\_DATA\_HOME for the .desktop file on linux by CalebJohn · Pull Request #7456 · laurent22/joplin · GitHub](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/pull/7456)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![syberon](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/syberon/32/15681_2.png) [@syberon](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/syberon)\
**Post date:** [15 December 2022 07:46 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/10 "2022-12-15T07:46:06Z")

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@CalebJohn

- the developer marked the github bug (of october 2022) as "won't fix", so not sure he will pull it in.

as as @Daeraxa mentioned in his post (ideally, if you follow standards):

- ~/.config/Joplin should be in $XDG\_CACHE\_HOME
- ~/config/joplin-desktop should be in $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME (for most people, this is .config)
- ~/.joplin should be in ~/.local/bin

I just make this comment, in the hope @laurent22 sees this and the concept gains traction.

tbh, i've uninstalled Joplin and am exploring other tools, as i like the idea of "1 app, 1 file" but if standards are not followed and i want to change/remove something, I'm stuck in the same boat as now: I'll be running find on my laptop to search for files i need to remove.

it could be I'm returning as i can't find a better tool, but I'll try first.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tomasz86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/96bed5/32.png) [@tomasz86](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tomasz86)\
**Post date:** [15 December 2022 12:08 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/11 "2022-12-15T12:08:05Z")

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> [@syberon](#):
>
> as as @Daeraxa mentioned in his post (ideally, if you follow standards):
> 
> - ~/.config/Joplin should be in $XDG\_CACHE\_HOME
> - ~/config/joplin-desktop should be in $XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME (for most people, this is .config)
> - ~/.joplin should be in ~/.local/bin
> 
> I just make this comment, in the hope @laurent22 sees this and the concept gains traction.

Just a comment, but this isn't a Linux-only problem, e.g. the paths used by Joplin in Windows are also all over the place 😉. For example, `%USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop` should be `%APPDATA%\Joplin`, the current `%APPDATA%\Joplin` should be `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Joplin` (or even `%TEMP%\Joplin` as these are just Electron files created automatically on start), etc.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/cozic/original/3X/1/c/1c948e33314e232a0927789508474d8624f4270b.png) [@system](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [14 January 2023 12:08 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/app-doesnt-show-up-in-app-drawer-or-on-desktop/28602/12 "2023-01-14T12:08:49Z")

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