How to create a shortcut to start a Windows application with Wine?

Question

How do I create a shortcut to start a Windows application with Wine?

For example I have Notepad++:

/media/DATA/Progs/Notepad++/notepad++.exe

and I would like to have a shortcut to it on the desktop.

Solution 1

• Right click on your Desktop and then select Create Launcher.

• Then enter the name and in command box enter the path of your wine application.

• Now you can simply click the launcher in your Desktop to open your wine application.
• Also have a look at this link.

Solution 2

WLCreator is a Python program (script) that creates Linux desktop launchers for Windows programs (using Wine).

Usage

WLCreator will try to extract icons from exe file, and to search for all ico files in exe's directory and its subdirectories, and to convert them to png files. Additionally, it will search for png files in application's main directory. After that, the user is presented with a graphical interface where he/she can choose the icon and launcher's name.

The program can also be integrated in Nautilus (as nautilus-script). This makes easy creation of launchers even easier!

You’ll need to ensure you have python-qt4, icoutils, and imagemagick installed to get full use of the application.

Download .deb package from here and once you have deb package you need to double click on it to install.

Source and further information

Solution 3

"Create Launcher" isn't an option in the context menu anymore.

Here's what i do. It's not the easiest but once it's in place you can just duplicate/edit the existing files.

1. Open a terminal session

2. Create a storage folder for the launcher script

   mkdir $HOME/.bin
   

3. Create the launcher script

   nano $HOME/.bin/appname.sh
   

   Insert the following code without the quotes

   #!/bin/bash
   
   cd "$HOME/.wineprefix/drive_c/Program\ Files/programfolder/"
   
   WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wineprefix" wine exefilename.exe
   

   Press Ctrl+X
   Press Y to save changed
   Press Enter to confirm file name

4. Make the script executable

   sudo chmod +x ~/.bin/appname.sh
   

5. Create the desktop link

   nano /Desktop/appname.desktop
   

   Insert the following code. Don't use ~/<path> to indicate home directory, it does not work in .desktop files. I made a subdirectory in .bin for icons. If you don't have an icon you can leave the line blank.

   [Desktop Entry]
   
   Name=<Appname>
   
   Comment=Wine Program
   
   Exec=$HOME/.bin/appname.sh
   
   Icon=$HOME/.bin/ico/icofilename.ico
   
   Terminal=false
   
   Type=Application
   
   Categories=Game;
   
   GenericName=appname
   

   Press Ctrl+X
   Press Y
   Press Enter

Now your done.

To create additional launchers just copy the existing file and edit it in terminal

cp $HOME/.bin/appname.sh $HOME/.bin/newappname.sh

nano $HOME/.bin/newappname.sh

Edit and Close

cp $HOME/Desktop/appname.desktop $HOME/Desktop/newappname.desktop

nano $HOME/Desktop/newappname.desktop

Edit and Close

Solution 4

I want a shortcut for Fox, so here's what I did:

$ touch "$HOME/Desktop/fox.desktop"
$ sudo touch "/opt/fox.sh"

$ chmod +x "$HOME/Desktop/fox.desktop"
$ sudo chmod +x "/opt/fox.sh"

$ editor "$HOME/Desktop/fox.desktop"  # Add the data
$ editor "/opt/fox.sh"  # Add the data

$ cat "/opt/fox.sh"
#!/bin/bash

WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.wineprefix" wine "$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/firstobject/foxe.exe"

$ cat "$HOME/Desktop/fox.desktop"
[Desktop Entry]
GenericName=Fox
Exec=/opt/fox.sh
Icon=/home/<username>/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/firstobject/foxe.exe_14_128_1033_1_32x32x4.png
MapNotify=true
Type=Application
Name=Fox

EDIT: If you want to grab the icon from the exe; follow this guide or use the "gExtractWinIcons" GUI (available with apt-get install).

View more solutions

Comments

[Mittenchops]

Right-clicking my ubuntu desktop does not present a create launcher menu, only create new folder, create new document.

[comrademike]

this does not work with 13.10 at least - there is no such right-click option.

[gene_wood]

For new versions of Ubuntu which no longer have the Create Launcher option, instructions on how to create a launcher can be found here : askubuntu.com/a/139530/14601

[Scott P.]

github.com/konarev/wine-launcher-creator