You can do it manually. Make a new text-file named something.desktop and write this in there:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open



[Desktop Entry]

Version=1.0

Type=Application

Terminal=false

Exec=command to run here

Name=visible name here

Comment=comment here

Icon=icon path here

Dont forget to make the file executable (chmod +x something.desktop).

There is cooler way:

Arronax

Original picture taken from iloveubuntu.net which currently inaccessible

To install, type open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T and write:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diesch/testing 

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install arronax

nautilus -q

This is cooler because it has drag&drop and more functions with a GUI.

More about Arronax on ubuntugeek.com.

No longer works in latest version, desktop icons were completely removed.

This Is a solution to get it back on the right click menu In Gnome and Unity,

1- Install gnome-tweak-tool , if you don't already have it,
In terminal paste-

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool

2- Then type the following to launch it

gnome-tweak-tool

Or use the key shortcut Alt+F2 type gnome-tweak-tool then click "Run"

3- Navigate to the "Desktop" tab on the left pictured - And turn ON

"Have file manager handle the desktop"

4-Source for this part: 1 Now we are going to create a Script to put on the right click menu -

Open gedit either by terminal or Alt+F2, Paste the code

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/Desktop/ --create-new

put only this into the new text document and then save it as "Create New Launcher" no extension needed (you may need to use .sh as extension ex "Create New Launcher.sh", if you can't make it executable in the next step).

5- Now we need to make the file executable, Right click on the file go to > Properties > click Permissions tab > look for "Execute" and check "Allow executing file as program" then close out.

6- Open the file browser, go to > View > Show Hidden Files, now navigate to you home folder, and Place the file in ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts . Shown below -

7- Now we have Create new launcher on the right click menu! Right click on your desktop and go to > Scripts > Create New Launcher
Then fill in the comand information for the application you want,

Shown below-

If you forget what the app's launch command is click "Browse" then navigate to File System > usr > bin which is /usr/bin , these are the applications on your system, most should automatacally find the icon after you click "Open" , although they won't show up before.

If It dosn't show the icon when you get back to the "Create Launcher" box you can drag a icon in by finding the icon in /usr/share/icons .
There are default icons in the various theme folders or specific icons in the /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps or /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps, or if later you want to put an icon in you can right click > properties to drag and drop the icon in.

(This part only for gnome, alt+f2 is diffrent in unity) Another way to list known applications is to hit Alt+F2 and click on the app under "Show list of known applications", you can then copy the command text for that program to paste in to

Create New Launcher.

All this will make it extremely easier to make custom launchers, and once setup you can make them without the terminal.

1. 
   

   Create the .desktop file in /usr/share/applications/

   
   
   

   gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/give-any-name.desktop
   
   

   
   


2. 
   

   Paste the following text

   
   
   

   [Desktop Entry]
   
   Type=Application
   
   Terminal=false
   
   Icon=/path/to/icon/icon.png
   
   Name=give-name-here
   
   Exec=/path/to/file/executable
   
   Categories=Utility;
   
   

   
   

Give to Name the name you want.

As for Icon and Exec, use either a full path or a "system" name. For example, the VLC video player icon is either /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/vlc.png or simply vlc (without the .png extension).

For Categories, consult the XDG Standards list.

An easier way to create a launcher for a program:

If you can find the program in your dash, just click and drag the icon for the program in your dash onto your desktop or wherever else you would like it. :)

In 14.04 / 15.10 / 16.04 /17.04 / 17.10 To create a shortcut on the desktop to an existing application: the simplest solution (not found in the other answers as far as I can see) is to copy the application's desktop file to the Desktop: go to /usr/share/applications,right click on the application's desktop file >copy, go to your desktop, right click >paste. Don't forget to make it executable, its correct icon will appear after you made it executable.

Simply drag and drop the icon from Dash on to the Desktop does not work in 14.04.

Make a file called something.desktop, open it in gedit and type:

[Desktop Entry]

Name=Launcher Name

Comment=Launcher Comment

Exec=Command to Execute

Terminal=false

Type=Application

Icon=Path to Icon

Put this is /usr/share/applications and when you run it right click the app in the Unity Launcher and tick "Keep in launcher" (if you want it in the Unity Launcher), or just put it on your desktop if you want a Desktop launcher.

Put this file in ~/.local/share/applications if you want to apply this to your user.

Jurriaan has made a graphical python app to do all this for you, it can be downloaded here: http://jurschreuder.nl/UnityLaunchCreator.tar.gz

Considering previous answer by Scaine , the gnome-panel way installs dependencies, but at the very bottom of things - we don't really need those, we just need to have .desktop files created. Thus , I've put a small script that does exactly that, the graphical way, creating a named .desktop file in the ~/Desktop folder, readily available for use and pinning to the Unity launcher. Not the best scripting here, but does the job.

This can be saved as file named makeLauncher.sh , change permissions from Right Click -> Properties -> Permissions -> Allow executing file as program, and it's ready to go.

#!/bin/bash



FORM=$(zenity --forms  --title="Simple shortcut maker" --text="Create new .desktop file" 

        --add-entry="Program Name" 

        --add-entry="Command or path to file" 

        --add-entry="Terminal app(true/false)" 

        --add-entry="Icon (path)") 



[ $? == 0 ] || exit 1



awk -F'|' -v home="$HOME" '{ 

    FILE = home"/Desktop/"$1".desktop"

        print "[Desktop Entry]" >> FILE

        print "Type=Application" >> FILE

        print "Name="$1 >> FILE

        print "Exec="$2 >> FILE

        print "Terminal="$3 >> FILE

        if ($4 !~ /^[ ]*$/)

            print "Icon="$4 >> FILE ;

    system("chmod 755 " FILE);



}' <<< "$FORM"

And here's how it looks

Side note: sadly, zenity's form field doesn't have checkbox for a forms widget, so the true/false for Terminal app option has to be typed. I am considering rewriting this script in PyQt.

please be aware of this wiki page I've made, because I've noticed that questions on desktop and unity launchers are very often :) https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles

This can be easily be achieved using nautilus-action & gnome-desktop-item-edit.

STEPS:

• 
  

  Install nautilus-action by running following command in terminal:

  
  
  

  sudo apt-get install nautilus-action
  
  

  
  



• Launch Nautilus-Actions and create a new action.




• Under the Action tab, check on "Display item in location context menu", then in Context label, enter this: Create Launcher.

• 
  

  Open now the Command tab and enter the following details:

  
  
  

  Label: Create Launcher

  
  
  

  Path: gnome-desktop-item-edit

  
  
  

  Parameters: --create-new %f

  
  
  

  Working directory: Click Browse and select your Desktop folder.

  
  
  

  

  
  


• 
  

  Leave rest of the tabs as it is.Save now your command and exit:

  
  
  

  

  
  


• 
  

  Restart Nautilus:

  
  
  

  nautilus -q
  
  

  
  


• 
  

  You can add shortcuts from the context menu by selecting Create Launcher

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  

The shortcut is added in your current directory you right-click on

DONE!

Install "Create Launcher" from the Ubuntu Software Center. You can search this name to find it there. See also:
Link - Ubuntu apps directory

I've noticed that both gnome-panel and gnome-tweak-tool need a load of dependencies, even with --no-recommends.

The method I've used so far is to choose an arbitrary icon from the Dash, such as Firefox, and drag it to the desktop. You can't drag a icon from the Launcher, it doesn't let you. So it has to be the Dash, so press the Super (or Windows) key on your keyboard to launch the Dash, make sure it's not fullscreen (toggle it with the button at the top-left), then drag any icon at all onto your desktop.

Then right-click on the new desktop icon and change the path, description, icon (and comment if you like). Then drag this new launcher to somewhere like /home/yourname/Misc/Apps and finally, from there, drag it to the Launcher.

Note : If you drag the file from the Desktop to the Launcher directly, then delete the Desktop file, the Launcher entry will stop working, even though it looks fine. I assume it makes some kind of shortcut to the original which you've just deleted.

I have developed a little command line program for launchers creation. Example:

iconize -n "Sublime Text" -p /home/marco/Desktop/sublime/sublime -i /home/marco/Desktop/sublime/Icon/256x256/sublime_text.png

It will create a corresponding desktop entry inside ~/.local/share/applications:

[Desktop Entry]

Type=Application

Name=Sublime Text

Exec=/home/marco/Scrivania/sublime/sublime %U

Icon=/home/marco/Scrivania/sublime/Icon/256x256/sublime_text.png

You can then move it to your desktop like this:

mv ~/.local/share/applications/sublime-text.desktop ~/Desktop

More powerful alternatives are Alacarte and MenuLibre (they have more functions and a graphical user interface).

How to create both a Desktop shortcut AND a Unity Dash ("start menu") icon option using one .desktop file and two symlinks

In this example we will make a launcher for Arduino v1.8.5. The executables were previously extracted into this folder: "~/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5". The main executable file to launch the application is stored at "~/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5/arduino".

Follow my example below, updating all steps as necessary for your application, including modifying the .desktop file contents as required.

My strategy will be to create a single .desktop file to act as the "master" launcher for the program, then we will create two symbolic links (symlinks) to this file to allow us to launch the program (1) via an icon on your Desktop, and (2) using the Unity Application launcher search menu.

Q: Why do it this way?

A: Well, it allows you to only have to edit a single .desktop file to make changes to the shortcuts in both places at once.

Q: Why not just do the .desktop file directly on the Desktop and then make a single symlink for the Unity application launcher?

A: because this way the .desktop file sits safely in a different folder where you and your kids won't accidentally delete it from the Desktop, so you know it won't get accidentally modified or deleted.

STEPS:

1. Make a launcher (.desktop file), using a text editor of your choice, editing it as required. Store it in "~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop".

Here are the commands, with me using the "leafpad" GUI text editor:

mkdir ~/Desktop_launchers

sudo apt update && apt install leafpad

cd ~/Desktop_launchers

leafpad Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Copy and paste the following into the "Arduino_1_8_5.desktop" file you just created.

• Note that my home ("~") directory is "/home/gabriels". Modify it below for your username.


• Also note that for Exec paths with spaces, you must use the single quotes (') around the path name below, or else you will get an "error launching the application" when you click on the run link.


• For the Icon path, however, even if it has spaces in the path, you must not use the single quotes around the path or else the icon won't properly show up on the link.

Arduino_1_8_5.desktop file contents:

[Desktop Entry]

Name=Arduino 1.8.5

Comment=

Exec='/home/gabriels/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5/arduino'

Icon=/home/gabriels/Downloads/Install_Files/Arduino/arduino-1.8.5/lib/arduino.png

Terminal=false

Type=Application

StartupNotify=true

Save and exit.

2. Make it executable.

Note: this step is important! You must do this BEFORE creating the symbolic link in the next step below or else the symbolic link you're about to create won't work properly as a shortcut to launch the program from your Desktop.

chmod +x Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

3. Make a symbolic link to your above .desktop launcher on the Desktop so you can launch it from there:

Command Format: "ln -s /path/to/file /path/to/symlink_to_make"

ln -s ~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop ~/Desktop/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Note that ending your symlink with ".desktop" is mandatory or else it won't display or work properly as a Desktop shortcut.

4. Make a symbolic link to it on the Unity Applications menu so you can launch it from there too:

sudo ln -s ~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop /usr/share/applications/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop

Notes:

• Unity application .desktop files are stored in: "/usr/share/applications"


• Side note to add to your general knowledge: the .desktop files in the applications directory, unlike on the Desktop, don't need to be marked executable to work.

5. Done!

• Now if you ever need to update the desktop file, update it directly in only one place: "~/Desktop_launchers/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop", and the changes will automatically be recognized by the symlinks on the Desktop and in "/usr/share/applications".


• If the Desktop icon doesn't update after changing it, click on the Desktop then hit either F5 or Ctrl + R to refresh the Desktop icons.


• To remove the shortcuts simply delete the symlinks from the Desktop and from "/usr/share/applications" as follows:
  
  
  
  
  • rm ~/Desktop/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop
  
  
  • sudo rm /usr/share/applications/Arduino_1_8_5.desktop
  
  
  
  

Screenshots:

My Desktop with the newly-created shortcut:

The Unity Launcher menu with the newly-created shortcut:

Additional Reading:

For additional knowledge and alternate techniques, see the Official Ubuntu Documentation on "UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles" here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UnityLaunchersAndDesktopFiles

These launchers have one problem: you can't use them from the web browser, for example to attach archives to email messages or to upload files to sites like http://2shared.com/

There is an easy solution:

1. Open a terminal window


2. Run ln -s /destination/directory ~/Desktop/nameofshortcut
   

for example: ln -s /data/music ~/Desktop/good_music

This way an icon appears at the desktop, with the image of a folder with an arrow below it, that represents a shortcut, instead of the spring or rocket of the launchers.

In 14.04, you can right-click on the executable and choose Make Link, then you can drag and drop that link onto your desktop.

To attach this program to your launcher, simply start the program and then while it's running, right-click the icon on your launcher bar and choose Lock to Launcher.

Note: adding programs to your launcher bar in this way does not work with WINE applications, however you can still add WINE apps to your desktop this way.

1. Start the terminal application. (Hotkey: Ctrl+Alt+T)


2. Use the command sudo nautilus to launch the file manager as super user (admin level of your account). (*)


3. Browse Computer > usr > share > applications and scroll down to the application you want to use.


4. Drag from the Nautilus file manager window to the desktop. (Make sure the nautilus window is not maximized.)


5. Close Nautilus and exit from the terminal.


6. Drag the new launcher around the desktop to the place you want it.

(*) You will get an error if you just try to drag/drop with Nautilus as a normal level user. That error was what made me figure out the six steps listed here. It's another example of "failure" being a step on the path to success.