On installation instructions in Zotero webpage [Solved]

iagogv
edited August 10, 2025
In https://www.zotero.org/support/installation it is claimed for Linux installation:
For Ubuntu, the tarball includes a .desktop file that can be used to add Zotero to the launcher:

1. Move the extracted directory to a location of your choice (e.g., /opt/zotero).
2. Run the set_launcher_icon script from a terminal to update the .desktop file for that location. .desktop files require absolute paths for icons, so set_launcher_icon replaces the icon path with the current location of the icon based on where you've placed the directory.
3. Symlink zotero.desktop into ~/.local/share/applications/ (e.g., ln -s /opt/zotero/zotero.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/zotero.desktop)
It seems that the 3 steps only apply for Ubuntu, but they apply to a general Linux distribution. At least, they work for OpenSuse in the same way, and if I'm not wrong, using these desktop files in such locations is generic through any (?) Linux distributions
  • dstillman
    I'm sure not any, but I've updated the sentence to reflect that it applies to other distros that support .desktop files.
  • dm29
    Hi! Last step did not work for me either in Ubuntu or Zorin (Ubuntu based) because 'target file or directory does not exist', and its true that zotero.desktop file is not there at ~/.local/share/applications/ path. What should I do?
    Thank you.
  • iagogv
    Does exist the path ~/.local/share/applications/? If not, create the lacking directories.

    Once it exists, and existing the file /opt/zotero/zotero.desktop, last step should work.
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