How to open file with default application from command line?

170

In Nautilus, when you double click a file, it will open it with the default application associated with the file's extension. For instance, .html files will open in a web browser and .pdf will be opened with Document Viewer. Is there a way to reproduce the same behavior from within the command line (i.e. open path/filename)? I'm asking because I like to browse my file-system from the command line but sometimes don't remember which app. opens what.

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

There is a similar question regarding launching default browser from the command line: askubuntu.com/questions/8252/…

– kounryusui
Nov 29 '10 at 13:42

That's a brilliant question indeed! In almost 4 years of my bashing I hadn't thought about it :P

– John Strood
Jun 7 '16 at 9:40

add a comment |

170

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

There is a similar question regarding launching default browser from the command line: askubuntu.com/questions/8252/…

– kounryusui
Nov 29 '10 at 13:42

That's a brilliant question indeed! In almost 4 years of my bashing I hadn't thought about it :P

– John Strood
Jun 7 '16 at 9:40

add a comment |

170

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

command-line

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

edited Jun 21 '14 at 18:37

Radu Rădeanu

119k35252328

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

asked Nov 29 '10 at 12:07

Olivier Lalonde

21.2k51112141

There is a similar question regarding launching default browser from the command line: askubuntu.com/questions/8252/…

– kounryusui
Nov 29 '10 at 13:42

That's a brilliant question indeed! In almost 4 years of my bashing I hadn't thought about it :P

– John Strood
Jun 7 '16 at 9:40

add a comment |

There is a similar question regarding launching default browser from the command line: askubuntu.com/questions/8252/…

– kounryusui
Nov 29 '10 at 13:42

That's a brilliant question indeed! In almost 4 years of my bashing I hadn't thought about it :P

– John Strood
Jun 7 '16 at 9:40

There is a similar question regarding launching default browser from the command line: askubuntu.com/questions/8252/…

– kounryusui
Nov 29 '10 at 13:42

That's a brilliant question indeed! In almost 4 years of my bashing I hadn't thought about it :P

– John Strood
Jun 7 '16 at 9:40

add a comment |

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

221

I think xdg-open is the command you are looking for.

NAME

       xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application



SYNOPSIS

       xdg-open {file | URL}



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



DESCRIPTION

       xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a

       URL is provided the URL will be opened in the user's 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.

eg: xdg-open index.php

This will open index.php in gedit(if you are using gnome).

If you want to open a url in browser

xdg-open http://google.com

this will open google.com in your default browser.

xdg-open is a wrapper script - it will use the desktop environment's tool (gio open, gvfs-open, kde-open, gnome-open, dde-open, exo-open, and a host of other such tools). It is also installed by default, and very likely to work on past, current and future versions (on the other hand, gvfs-open and gnome-open have been deprecated, and may be unavailable in future releases).

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

3

wish I searched on google for this earlier

– JohnMerlino
Sep 25 '13 at 23:55

2

On Gnome: gnome-open and on KDE: kde-open works.

– Farahmand
Feb 21 '14 at 16:01

xde-open worked on xfce as well.

– Seven
Dec 13 '16 at 4:30

4

easy way to shorten this command is to use an alias. alias o='xdg-open'. Put this inside your .bash_aliases file to make the alias load on startup each time. nano ~/.bash_aliases and then paste inside nano using CTRL+SHIFT+V.

– anon58192932
Sep 21 '17 at 15:44

add a comment |

xdg-open and gnome-open

xdg-open is the most universal way (work also on KDE)

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

4

This answer was posted earlier.

– Kadir
Jan 15 '15 at 11:44

add a comment |

If you want to:

make an alias for this command (e.g. open)

hide output from the command

continue using this terminal after

You can use this .bashrc function:

function open () {

  xdg-open "$@">/dev/null 2>&1

}

edited Dec 14 '17 at 19:23

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

add a comment |

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3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

221

I think xdg-open is the command you are looking for.

NAME

       xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application



SYNOPSIS

       xdg-open {file | URL}



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



DESCRIPTION

       xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a

       URL is provided the URL will be opened in the user's 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.

eg: xdg-open index.php

This will open index.php in gedit(if you are using gnome).

If you want to open a url in browser

xdg-open http://google.com

this will open google.com in your default browser.

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

3

wish I searched on google for this earlier

– JohnMerlino
Sep 25 '13 at 23:55

2

On Gnome: gnome-open and on KDE: kde-open works.

– Farahmand
Feb 21 '14 at 16:01

xde-open worked on xfce as well.

– Seven
Dec 13 '16 at 4:30

4

easy way to shorten this command is to use an alias. alias o='xdg-open'. Put this inside your .bash_aliases file to make the alias load on startup each time. nano ~/.bash_aliases and then paste inside nano using CTRL+SHIFT+V.

– anon58192932
Sep 21 '17 at 15:44

add a comment |

221

I think xdg-open is the command you are looking for.

NAME

       xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application



SYNOPSIS

       xdg-open {file | URL}



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



DESCRIPTION

       xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a

       URL is provided the URL will be opened in the user's 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.

eg: xdg-open index.php

This will open index.php in gedit(if you are using gnome).

If you want to open a url in browser

xdg-open http://google.com

this will open google.com in your default browser.

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

3

wish I searched on google for this earlier

– JohnMerlino
Sep 25 '13 at 23:55

2

On Gnome: gnome-open and on KDE: kde-open works.

– Farahmand
Feb 21 '14 at 16:01

xde-open worked on xfce as well.

– Seven
Dec 13 '16 at 4:30

4

easy way to shorten this command is to use an alias. alias o='xdg-open'. Put this inside your .bash_aliases file to make the alias load on startup each time. nano ~/.bash_aliases and then paste inside nano using CTRL+SHIFT+V.

– anon58192932
Sep 21 '17 at 15:44

add a comment |

221

I think xdg-open is the command you are looking for.

NAME

       xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application



SYNOPSIS

       xdg-open {file | URL}



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



DESCRIPTION

       xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a

       URL is provided the URL will be opened in the user's 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.

eg: xdg-open index.php

This will open index.php in gedit(if you are using gnome).

If you want to open a url in browser

xdg-open http://google.com

this will open google.com in your default browser.

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

I think xdg-open is the command you are looking for.

NAME

       xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application



SYNOPSIS

       xdg-open {file | URL}



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



DESCRIPTION

       xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a

       URL is provided the URL will be opened in the user's 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.

eg: xdg-open index.php

This will open index.php in gedit(if you are using gnome).

If you want to open a url in browser

xdg-open http://google.com

this will open google.com in your default browser.

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

edited Jun 16 '18 at 16:13

muru

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:13

aneeshep

22.4k115574

3

wish I searched on google for this earlier

– JohnMerlino
Sep 25 '13 at 23:55

2

On Gnome: gnome-open and on KDE: kde-open works.

– Farahmand
Feb 21 '14 at 16:01

xde-open worked on xfce as well.

– Seven
Dec 13 '16 at 4:30

4

easy way to shorten this command is to use an alias. alias o='xdg-open'. Put this inside your .bash_aliases file to make the alias load on startup each time. nano ~/.bash_aliases and then paste inside nano using CTRL+SHIFT+V.

– anon58192932
Sep 21 '17 at 15:44

add a comment |

3

wish I searched on google for this earlier

– JohnMerlino
Sep 25 '13 at 23:55

2

On Gnome: gnome-open and on KDE: kde-open works.

– Farahmand
Feb 21 '14 at 16:01

xde-open worked on xfce as well.

– Seven
Dec 13 '16 at 4:30

4

easy way to shorten this command is to use an alias. alias o='xdg-open'. Put this inside your .bash_aliases file to make the alias load on startup each time. nano ~/.bash_aliases and then paste inside nano using CTRL+SHIFT+V.

– anon58192932
Sep 21 '17 at 15:44

wish I searched on google for this earlier

– JohnMerlino
Sep 25 '13 at 23:55

On Gnome: gnome-open and on KDE: kde-open works.

– Farahmand
Feb 21 '14 at 16:01

xde-open worked on xfce as well.

– Seven
Dec 13 '16 at 4:30

easy way to shorten this command is to use an alias. alias o='xdg-open'. Put this inside your .bash_aliases file to make the alias load on startup each time. nano ~/.bash_aliases and then paste inside nano using CTRL+SHIFT+V.

– anon58192932
Sep 21 '17 at 15:44

add a comment |

xdg-open and gnome-open

xdg-open is the most universal way (work also on KDE)

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

4

This answer was posted earlier.

– Kadir
Jan 15 '15 at 11:44

add a comment |

xdg-open and gnome-open

xdg-open is the most universal way (work also on KDE)

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

4

This answer was posted earlier.

– Kadir
Jan 15 '15 at 11:44

add a comment |

xdg-open and gnome-open

xdg-open is the most universal way (work also on KDE)

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

xdg-open and gnome-open

xdg-open is the most universal way (work also on KDE)

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

answered Nov 29 '10 at 12:11

shellholic

4,63111916

4

This answer was posted earlier.

– Kadir
Jan 15 '15 at 11:44

add a comment |

4

This answer was posted earlier.

– Kadir
Jan 15 '15 at 11:44

This answer was posted earlier.

– Kadir
Jan 15 '15 at 11:44

add a comment |

If you want to:

make an alias for this command (e.g. open)

hide output from the command

continue using this terminal after

You can use this .bashrc function:

function open () {

  xdg-open "$@">/dev/null 2>&1

}

edited Dec 14 '17 at 19:23

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

add a comment |

If you want to:

make an alias for this command (e.g. open)

hide output from the command

continue using this terminal after

You can use this .bashrc function:

function open () {

  xdg-open "$@">/dev/null 2>&1

}

edited Dec 14 '17 at 19:23

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

add a comment |

If you want to:

make an alias for this command (e.g. open)

hide output from the command

continue using this terminal after

You can use this .bashrc function:

function open () {

  xdg-open "$@">/dev/null 2>&1

}

edited Dec 14 '17 at 19:23

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

If you want to:

make an alias for this command (e.g. open)

hide output from the command

continue using this terminal after

You can use this .bashrc function:

function open () {

  xdg-open "$@">/dev/null 2>&1

}

edited Dec 14 '17 at 19:23

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

edited Dec 14 '17 at 19:23

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

answered Dec 14 '17 at 15:29

Jesse Knight

21629

add a comment |

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