How to Install Ulauncher in Ubuntu 20.04

In Linux, a launcher is an application using which you can launch installed applications, browse and open system files.

Usually, every desktop environment includes one, but for many users, it may be insufficient. That’s why we have several applications that try to fill this need.

From experience, we can tell you that with a well-made Launcher, the fluidity in the use of the system is increased.

Introducing to ULauncher

Ulauncher is an alternative application launcher available for almost all Linux distributions. It is open-source, free, and written in the Python programming language, which also uses few hardware resources. This means that you can install it on almost any computer and distribution.

Some features of ULauncher are:

  • Fuzzy search: Type in an application name without worrying about the spelling.
  • Customizable: You can choose between 4 themes or create your own.
  • You can create a shortcut for web search or your scripts
  • Open Source: So, you can use it without license problems.
  • Support for Third-party extensions.
  • ​Browse files and directories with ease.

And many more…

The truth is that using ULauncher it is possible to optimize the workflow with Ubuntu 20.04 so it is one of the best apps for this.

Install ULauncher on Ubuntu 20.04

Unfortunately, ULauncher is not in the official Ubuntu 20.04 repositories but this does not prevent us from installing it easily. All these thanks to the PPA repository that the developers put at our disposal. You have to simply add the PPA repository and use apt to install ULauncher.

Below are the installation steps,

Open a terminal, and first update Ubuntu.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Then add the ULauncher PPA repository.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:agornostal/ulauncher

Refresh APT again:

sudo apt update

And install ULauncher by running the command given below.

sudo apt install ulauncher

After the installation is finished you can run it from the main menu.

Using ULauncher

As soon as you start it from the main menu, you will be notified that the Hotkey is CTRL + Space to invoke it.

When you press this key combination, a box will appear in the middle of the screen. This is the application itself.

ULauncher running
ULauncher running

From there you can type and start the search that you can also do on the internet.

Ulauncher can search from Google
Ulauncher can search from Google

Or you can search for installed applications and launch them from there or with the suggested key combination.

Searching for installed apps
Searching for installed apps

Also, an icon will be displayed on the tray where you can end the application or access the preferences.

Icon tray of ULauncher
Icon tray of ULauncher

In the preferences, you can change many things like the theme or the shortcuts.

Preferences Windows
Preferences Windows

Uninstall ULauncher on Ubuntu 20.04

If you get tired of ULauncher you can easily remove it from your system. Everything will be done with the terminal and APT.

First, uninstall the ULauncher package.

sudo apt remove ulauncher

Then remove the PPA from the system as well. To do this run:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:agornostal/ulauncher

And with this, you will have neither the ULauncher nor the repository in the system.

Conclusion

Applications such as ULauncher are proof that in Linux we can customize almost the entire operating system. This from lightweight applications where we can further extend the functionality of the system or make it more productive.

Did you know ULauncher? Did you like it? Leave us a comment and share the post.

Thanks for reading.

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