Pop Shell (Gnome Shell) Apps Locations

App Folders

Here are the folders where the Pop Shell (Gnome Shell) looks for applications:

Type	Path
System	/usr/share/applications/
System (Local)	/usr/local/share/applications/
User	$HOME/.local/share/applications/
Flatpak (System)	/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/
Flatpak (User)	$HOME/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications/
Snap (System)	/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications

Any .desktop files in those folders will be found by the shell as an application.

Array

Bash

appFolders=("/usr/share/applications/" "/usr/local/share/applications/" "$HOME/.local/share/applications/" "/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/" "$HOME/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications/" "/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications")

List

for i in ${appFolders[@]}; do echo $i ; done

The Pop Shell

About

The information comes from the source-code

/// Search paths for finding applications
const SEARCH_PATHS: Array<[string, string]> = [
    // System-wide
    ["System", "/usr/share/applications/"],
    ["System (Local)", "/usr/local/share/applications/"],
    // User-local
    ["User", HOME_DIR + "/.local/share/applications/"],
    // System-wide flatpaks
    ["Flatpak (System)", "/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/"],
    // User-local flatpaks
    ["Flatpak (User)", HOME_DIR + "/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications/"],
    // System-wide Snaps
    ["Snap (System)", "/var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/"]
];

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It may be an interesting idea to make a little script that searches automagically for an app in all those folders.

No promises, but it could be…

Cheers!
Gus