Adding a new application shortcut to the panel in Lubuntu, LXQt desktop environment

ID: 304

Category: Lubuntu

Added: 25th of June 2022

Updated On: Tutorial updated and rechecked on 23rd of July 2025

Views: 7,469

As I could not find an option to add an application to the bottom panel in Lubuntu, you first need to create a new desktop shortcut.

Open the main menu in Lubuntu, right click on the application and select Add to Desktop



Once the icon has been added to your desktop, right click on the icon and check Trust this executable




Drag the desktop shortcut over the bottom panel. Make sure the green + sign is visible before releasing the mouse.



If everything works correctly, your application shortcut will be added to the bottom panel



If you are having trouble adding application icons to the panel, you can add this manually.

Right click on the desktop shortcut you created earlier and select properties. Make a note of the name, in my case filezilla.desktop



Next you need to edit the panel.conf file. The file is located in the .config/lxqt folder under your home directory. The .config folder is hidden, so press ALT + h to view hidden files

Right click on panel.conf and open the file in featherpad which is default text editor in Lubuntu



Or open panel.conf in featherpad using the following command in the terminal

Once panel.conf has opened we need to add a new line under the quicklaunch section of the configuration file, using the name of the shortcut

You also need to set the size number. I now have four quicklaunch icons, so set apps\size=3 to apps\size=4




Save the panel.conf file, then logout of Lubuntu.
Once you have logged back on your new icon should be visible in the panel.