cinnamon-menu-editor

cinnamon-menu-editor [OPTION...]

-h, --help
    Displays a help message with command-line options.

--version
    Shows the version information of the menu editor.

--display=DISPLAY
    Specifies the X display to use for the graphical application.

cinnamon-menu-editor is the official graphical tool for managing the Cinnamon desktop environment's application menu. It provides a user-friendly interface to customize application launchers, categories, and their properties. Users can easily add new applications, modify existing ones (changing their name, command, icon, or category), or remove unwanted entries. It also allows reorganizing the menu by creating new submenus or moving applications between categories. The editor directly interacts with standard .desktop files located in the user's home directory (primarily ~/.local/share/applications/) and configuration files in ~/.config/menus/, ensuring compliance with the FreeDesktop.org Desktop Entry Specification. This tool is essential for personalizing the Cinnamon desktop experience, allowing users to tailor their menu to their specific needs and workflow.

As a graphical application, cinnamon-menu-editor is not designed for command-line scripting or batch operations. It requires a running Cinnamon desktop environment and X server to function correctly. Modifications made via this editor primarily affect the current user's menu and do not alter system-wide application installations. Incorrectly editing or deleting crucial menu entries can potentially lead to missing or broken application launchers in your menu.

This editor primarily manages application launchers by creating or modifying .desktop files in your user's local applications directory (typically ~/.local/share/applications/). It also manages menu categories and structure through XML configuration files located in ~/.config/menus/.

cinnamon-menu-editor is an integral component of the Cinnamon desktop environment, which originated as a fork of GNOME 3. It was developed to provide a familiar and robust menu editing experience, reminiscent of earlier GNOME versions (like alacarte, the GNOME 2 menu editor). Its primary goal is to empower users with simple, visual control over their application launchers and menu structure, adhering to FreeDesktop.org standards for .desktop files. Its development parallels the evolution of Cinnamon itself, focusing on stability and user-friendliness.

xdg-desktop-menu(1), desktop-file-validate(1), update-menus(8)