xdg-open

Open the current directory in the default file explorer

$ xdg-open .

Open a URL in the default browser

$ xdg-open [https://example.com]

Open an image in the default image viewer

$ xdg-open [path/to/image]

Open a PDF in the default PDF viewer

$ xdg-open [path/to/pdf]

Display help

$ xdg-open --help

xdg-open {file | URL}

xdg-open {--help | --manual | --version}

xdg-open opens a file or URL in the users preferred application. If a URL is provided the URL will be opened in the users preferred web browser. If a file is provided the file will be opened in the preferred application for files of that type. xdg-open supports file, ftp, http and https URLs.

xdg-open is for use inside a desktop session only. It is not recommended to use xdg-open as root.

--help

Show command synopsis.

--manual

Show this manual page.

--version

Show the xdg-utils version information.

An exit code of 0 indicates success while a non-zero exit code indicates failure. The following failure codes can be returned:

1

Error in command line syntax.

2

One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.

3

A required tool could not be found.

4

The action failed.

xdg-open http://www.freedesktop.org/

Opens the freedesktop.org website in the users default browser.

xdg-open /tmp/foobar.png

Opens the PNG image file /tmp/foobar.png in the users default image viewing application.

Kevin Krammer

Author.

Jeremy White

Author.

Copyright © 2006

1.

MIME applications associations specification

http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/mime-apps-spec/

xdg-mime(1), xdg-settings(1), MIME applications associations specification[1]