I accidentally used xkill on my desktop

I accidentally used xkill on my desktop - how can I get it back?

up vote
9
down vote

favorite

I ran xkill to force quit Chrome, and I clicked my desktop. The icons disappeared.

Is there a command that will get them back? I'd rather not restart.

I'm using GNOME and GDM.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:50

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

add a comment |

up vote
9
down vote

favorite

I ran xkill to force quit Chrome, and I clicked my desktop. The icons disappeared.

Is there a command that will get them back? I'd rather not restart.

I'm using GNOME and GDM.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:50

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

add a comment |

up vote
9
down vote

favorite

I ran xkill to force quit Chrome, and I clicked my desktop. The icons disappeared.

Is there a command that will get them back? I'd rather not restart.

I'm using GNOME and GDM.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:50

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

I ran xkill to force quit Chrome, and I clicked my desktop. The icons disappeared.

Is there a command that will get them back? I'd rather not restart.

I'm using GNOME and GDM.

command-line icons xkill

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:50

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:50

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:50

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

asked Dec 5 '15 at 19:27

Tim

19.5k1483138

add a comment |

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
11
down vote

accepted

The desktop icons are managed by file browser, on regular running try

$ ps ax | grep nautilus

 2464 ?        Sl     0:11 nautilus -n

 6390 pts/2    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto nautilus

From man nautilus

   -n

   --no-default-window

          Only create windows for explicitly specified URIs.

In this mode nautilus will not show a window, and it run like a daemon. So for you case use:

nautilus -n & disown

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

1

In Unity instead of Gnome Desktop, it also works without the -n flag and opening a normal Nautilus window just starts the separate daemon in background as well.
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:50

add a comment |

up vote
9
down vote

It turns out this can be fixed with Gnome Tweak Tool.

Using xkill on the desktop sometimes turns off the "Icons on Desktop" setting:

Turning this back on fixed it:

If the setting is not turned off, then just turning it off and on again brings them back.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:42

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

Wut ? xkill toggles show icons settings ? That's quite weird. Desktop should be managed by file browser not gsettings . . . Or maybe Gnome is just werid
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg I guess it's weird :p
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

1

@Serg, this should work too, as all it does it stops nautilus -n which is running in the background when off, and launch it if is on. this handled by gnome-settings-daemon or unity-settings-daemon.
– user.dz
Dec 5 '15 at 20:42

add a comment |

up vote
2
down vote

All you have to do is open Nautilus and all will be back.

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

1

That does not work.
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

1

I don't know how this is on Gnome, but simply launching Nautilus from the launcher or nautilus & disown from the terminal solves this problem perfectly well on Unity! @Sneetsher and @Tim
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:49

@ByteCommander , Excuse me Doug you deserve my up vote. I judged your answer on my own experience using an older release, However I confirm that your answer work as supposed on Ubuntu 15.10 for both Unity & Gnome Shell. Thank you ByteCommander for correcting me.
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:24

@Tim , Could you please review this because it seems to depend on the release. If you can mention here in a comment in which release did not work for you. It will be helpful for other users as the question is not for specific release, I think it does not deserve a down vote at least .
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:34

@sne the question says gnome, do you mean version?
– Tim
Dec 9 '15 at 9:53

|
show 6 more comments

up vote
0
down vote

The previous answers did not work for me, but this command does for Kubuntu 18.04

kstart plasmashell

I hope this could helps others!

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

add a comment |

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4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
11
down vote

accepted

The desktop icons are managed by file browser, on regular running try

$ ps ax | grep nautilus

 2464 ?        Sl     0:11 nautilus -n

 6390 pts/2    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto nautilus

From man nautilus

   -n

   --no-default-window

          Only create windows for explicitly specified URIs.

In this mode nautilus will not show a window, and it run like a daemon. So for you case use:

nautilus -n & disown

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

1

In Unity instead of Gnome Desktop, it also works without the -n flag and opening a normal Nautilus window just starts the separate daemon in background as well.
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:50

add a comment |

up vote
11
down vote

accepted

The desktop icons are managed by file browser, on regular running try

$ ps ax | grep nautilus

 2464 ?        Sl     0:11 nautilus -n

 6390 pts/2    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto nautilus

From man nautilus

   -n

   --no-default-window

          Only create windows for explicitly specified URIs.

In this mode nautilus will not show a window, and it run like a daemon. So for you case use:

nautilus -n & disown

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

1

In Unity instead of Gnome Desktop, it also works without the -n flag and opening a normal Nautilus window just starts the separate daemon in background as well.
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:50

add a comment |

up vote
11
down vote

accepted

The desktop icons are managed by file browser, on regular running try

$ ps ax | grep nautilus

 2464 ?        Sl     0:11 nautilus -n

 6390 pts/2    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto nautilus

From man nautilus

   -n

   --no-default-window

          Only create windows for explicitly specified URIs.

In this mode nautilus will not show a window, and it run like a daemon. So for you case use:

nautilus -n & disown

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

The desktop icons are managed by file browser, on regular running try

$ ps ax | grep nautilus

 2464 ?        Sl     0:11 nautilus -n

 6390 pts/2    S+     0:00 grep --color=auto nautilus

From man nautilus

   -n

   --no-default-window

          Only create windows for explicitly specified URIs.

In this mode nautilus will not show a window, and it run like a daemon. So for you case use:

nautilus -n & disown

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

edited Dec 5 '15 at 20:55

kos

25.1k869117

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:38

user.dz

34.3k1190175

1

In Unity instead of Gnome Desktop, it also works without the -n flag and opening a normal Nautilus window just starts the separate daemon in background as well.
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:50

add a comment |

1

In Unity instead of Gnome Desktop, it also works without the -n flag and opening a normal Nautilus window just starts the separate daemon in background as well.
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:50

In Unity instead of Gnome Desktop, it also works without the -n flag and opening a normal Nautilus window just starts the separate daemon in background as well.
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:50

add a comment |

up vote
9
down vote

It turns out this can be fixed with Gnome Tweak Tool.

Using xkill on the desktop sometimes turns off the "Icons on Desktop" setting:

Turning this back on fixed it:

If the setting is not turned off, then just turning it off and on again brings them back.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:42

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

Wut ? xkill toggles show icons settings ? That's quite weird. Desktop should be managed by file browser not gsettings . . . Or maybe Gnome is just werid
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg I guess it's weird :p
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

1

@Serg, this should work too, as all it does it stops nautilus -n which is running in the background when off, and launch it if is on. this handled by gnome-settings-daemon or unity-settings-daemon.
– user.dz
Dec 5 '15 at 20:42

add a comment |

up vote
9
down vote

It turns out this can be fixed with Gnome Tweak Tool.

Using xkill on the desktop sometimes turns off the "Icons on Desktop" setting:

Turning this back on fixed it:

If the setting is not turned off, then just turning it off and on again brings them back.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:42

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

Wut ? xkill toggles show icons settings ? That's quite weird. Desktop should be managed by file browser not gsettings . . . Or maybe Gnome is just werid
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg I guess it's weird :p
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

1

@Serg, this should work too, as all it does it stops nautilus -n which is running in the background when off, and launch it if is on. this handled by gnome-settings-daemon or unity-settings-daemon.
– user.dz
Dec 5 '15 at 20:42

add a comment |

up vote
9
down vote

It turns out this can be fixed with Gnome Tweak Tool.

Using xkill on the desktop sometimes turns off the "Icons on Desktop" setting:

Turning this back on fixed it:

If the setting is not turned off, then just turning it off and on again brings them back.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:42

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

It turns out this can be fixed with Gnome Tweak Tool.

Using xkill on the desktop sometimes turns off the "Icons on Desktop" setting:

Turning this back on fixed it:

If the setting is not turned off, then just turning it off and on again brings them back.

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:42

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

edited Dec 5 '15 at 19:42

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 19:38

Tim

19.5k1483138

Wut ? xkill toggles show icons settings ? That's quite weird. Desktop should be managed by file browser not gsettings . . . Or maybe Gnome is just werid
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg I guess it's weird :p
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

1

@Serg, this should work too, as all it does it stops nautilus -n which is running in the background when off, and launch it if is on. this handled by gnome-settings-daemon or unity-settings-daemon.
– user.dz
Dec 5 '15 at 20:42

add a comment |

Wut ? xkill toggles show icons settings ? That's quite weird. Desktop should be managed by file browser not gsettings . . . Or maybe Gnome is just werid
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg I guess it's weird :p
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

1

@Serg, this should work too, as all it does it stops nautilus -n which is running in the background when off, and launch it if is on. this handled by gnome-settings-daemon or unity-settings-daemon.
– user.dz
Dec 5 '15 at 20:42

Wut ? xkill toggles show icons settings ? That's quite weird. Desktop should be managed by file browser not gsettings . . . Or maybe Gnome is just werid
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg I guess it's weird :p
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 19:40

@Serg, this should work too, as all it does it stops nautilus -n which is running in the background when off, and launch it if is on. this handled by gnome-settings-daemon or unity-settings-daemon.
– user.dz
Dec 5 '15 at 20:42

add a comment |

up vote
2
down vote

All you have to do is open Nautilus and all will be back.

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

1

That does not work.
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

1

I don't know how this is on Gnome, but simply launching Nautilus from the launcher or nautilus & disown from the terminal solves this problem perfectly well on Unity! @Sneetsher and @Tim
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:49

@ByteCommander , Excuse me Doug you deserve my up vote. I judged your answer on my own experience using an older release, However I confirm that your answer work as supposed on Ubuntu 15.10 for both Unity & Gnome Shell. Thank you ByteCommander for correcting me.
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:24

@Tim , Could you please review this because it seems to depend on the release. If you can mention here in a comment in which release did not work for you. It will be helpful for other users as the question is not for specific release, I think it does not deserve a down vote at least .
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:34

@sne the question says gnome, do you mean version?
– Tim
Dec 9 '15 at 9:53

|
show 6 more comments

up vote
2
down vote

All you have to do is open Nautilus and all will be back.

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

1

That does not work.
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

1

I don't know how this is on Gnome, but simply launching Nautilus from the launcher or nautilus & disown from the terminal solves this problem perfectly well on Unity! @Sneetsher and @Tim
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:49

@ByteCommander , Excuse me Doug you deserve my up vote. I judged your answer on my own experience using an older release, However I confirm that your answer work as supposed on Ubuntu 15.10 for both Unity & Gnome Shell. Thank you ByteCommander for correcting me.
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:24

@Tim , Could you please review this because it seems to depend on the release. If you can mention here in a comment in which release did not work for you. It will be helpful for other users as the question is not for specific release, I think it does not deserve a down vote at least .
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:34

@sne the question says gnome, do you mean version?
– Tim
Dec 9 '15 at 9:53

|
show 6 more comments

up vote
2
down vote

All you have to do is open Nautilus and all will be back.

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

All you have to do is open Nautilus and all will be back.

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

edited Nov 21 at 16:10

Tim

19.5k1483138

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

answered Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

Doug

411

1

That does not work.
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

1

I don't know how this is on Gnome, but simply launching Nautilus from the launcher or nautilus & disown from the terminal solves this problem perfectly well on Unity! @Sneetsher and @Tim
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:49

@ByteCommander , Excuse me Doug you deserve my up vote. I judged your answer on my own experience using an older release, However I confirm that your answer work as supposed on Ubuntu 15.10 for both Unity & Gnome Shell. Thank you ByteCommander for correcting me.
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:24

@Tim , Could you please review this because it seems to depend on the release. If you can mention here in a comment in which release did not work for you. It will be helpful for other users as the question is not for specific release, I think it does not deserve a down vote at least .
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:34

@sne the question says gnome, do you mean version?
– Tim
Dec 9 '15 at 9:53

|
show 6 more comments

1

That does not work.
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

1

I don't know how this is on Gnome, but simply launching Nautilus from the launcher or nautilus & disown from the terminal solves this problem perfectly well on Unity! @Sneetsher and @Tim
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:49

@ByteCommander , Excuse me Doug you deserve my up vote. I judged your answer on my own experience using an older release, However I confirm that your answer work as supposed on Ubuntu 15.10 for both Unity & Gnome Shell. Thank you ByteCommander for correcting me.
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:24

@Tim , Could you please review this because it seems to depend on the release. If you can mention here in a comment in which release did not work for you. It will be helpful for other users as the question is not for specific release, I think it does not deserve a down vote at least .
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:34

@sne the question says gnome, do you mean version?
– Tim
Dec 9 '15 at 9:53

That does not work.
– Tim
Dec 5 '15 at 20:54

I don't know how this is on Gnome, but simply launching Nautilus from the launcher or nautilus & disown from the terminal solves this problem perfectly well on Unity! @Sneetsher and @Tim
– Byte Commander
Dec 8 '15 at 12:49

@ByteCommander , Excuse me Doug you deserve my up vote. I judged your answer on my own experience using an older release, However I confirm that your answer work as supposed on Ubuntu 15.10 for both Unity & Gnome Shell. Thank you ByteCommander for correcting me.
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:24

@Tim , Could you please review this because it seems to depend on the release. If you can mention here in a comment in which release did not work for you. It will be helpful for other users as the question is not for specific release, I think it does not deserve a down vote at least .
– user.dz
Dec 9 '15 at 0:34

@sne the question says gnome, do you mean version?
– Tim
Dec 9 '15 at 9:53

|
show 6 more comments

up vote
0
down vote

The previous answers did not work for me, but this command does for Kubuntu 18.04

kstart plasmashell

I hope this could helps others!

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

add a comment |

up vote
0
down vote

The previous answers did not work for me, but this command does for Kubuntu 18.04

kstart plasmashell

I hope this could helps others!

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

add a comment |

up vote
0
down vote

The previous answers did not work for me, but this command does for Kubuntu 18.04

kstart plasmashell

I hope this could helps others!

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

The previous answers did not work for me, but this command does for Kubuntu 18.04

kstart plasmashell

I hope this could helps others!

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

answered Nov 21 at 16:09

Jason Angel

add a comment |

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