How to Hide Specific Applications from the Ubuntu Dash

This short guide shows how to hide applications in the Ubuntu Dash by working with their .desktop launcher files, which are simple text files that act as shortcuts.

.desktop files are typically stored in one of three directories:

/usr/share/applications

/usr/local/share/applications

~/.local/share/applications

For example, listing the global directory on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS: $ ls /usr/share/applications/ Viewing the contents of a specific launcher, such as VLC, reveals its configuration: $ cat /usr/share/applications/vlc.desktop To hide VLC (or any other app) from the Dash, follow these steps:

Copy the original .desktop file to the local directory so that a user‑specific copy overrides the system one:

$ sudo cp /usr/share/applications/vlc.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/

Edit the copied file with a text editor (e.g., nano):

$ sudo nano ~/.local/share/applications/vlc.desktop

Locate the [Desktop Entry] section and add the line Hidden=true (or change it if it already exists). Save and close the file.

Log out of the session and log back in so the change takes effect.

After logging back in, typing “vlc” in the Dash will no longer show the VLC icon.

To make the application visible again, simply delete the local copy of the .desktop file: $ rm ~/.local/share/applications/vlc.desktop Be careful to remove the file from the ~/.local/share/applications directory, not from the system directory /usr/share/applications, to avoid affecting other users.