Contrary to popular belief, it is very easy to create a shortcut to a file or directory in Ubuntu. No, you do not need to go into terminal and type up a symbolic link. There’s an easier way.
Let’s assume that we want to make a shortcut on the Desktop:
- Drag desired file onto desktop
- Without letting go of the mouse, press Shift and Ctrl simultaneously
- Ta-da!
It just works 
This was so cool!
it does’nt work for me xd…
it’s just like normal copy and paste, because when i open the shorcut folder, it’s not open the original folder like in windows…
What do you mean it doesn’t open the original folder? What happens when you double-click on the shortcut?
Lets say you Drag the Documents folder from your Home Folder to the desktop, and hold Shift+Ctrl to create a link.
If you then open that link on the Desktop – it doesn’t link, it opens, and the path is actually shown as /home/user/Desktop/Documents/
So the folders might be the same on the underlying filesystem but the path isn’t.
Symbolic links work like Junction Points on Windows – not shortcuts.
It would be nice to create a ShortCut as in some instances it is good to actually see where the target actually is – and sometimes I want to go to the parent folder to do things (rarely) but at the moment I have to browse to it manually lol
Not working for me either – the original file is not edited when I edit the one that is supposed to be a shortcut.
Here is how I made a shortcut on my desktop to a folder in my file system: Right Click on the folder, choose “Send To”, choose “Desktop (Create Link)
You call that EASY !? How ’bout a right click option on the desktop, or, even better, a right click option on the folder button in Gnome ?
I’m sorry, but Ubuntu is still EONS away from Windows regarding ease-of-use. And I say that despite being an (occasional (but frequent)) Ubuntu user.
Not to say anything about when you need to configure something more complicated inside its guts. Then, it is bye-bye GUI !
It seems that the Ubuntu developers just don’t seem to be able to learn from mistakes and shortcomings (their own & others’, including Windows). Small wonder that, despite being no-cost, Ubuntu only has a market share of 1,7% (or something ?) on the market.
But thanks for the tip!
Super!