Your guide to the Launcher in Ubuntu 11.04

Unity's Launcher makes things easy.

The Launcher gives you everything you need, right at your fingertips. It provides quick access to pinned applications and has features like keyboard shortcuts for power users.

The Launcher also replaces the standard Window List for managing running applications and open windows.

While it may look like a regular dock to the untrained eye, it has a wide feature set with many that aren't immediately obvious or learnable.


Here are a few Launcher behaviours you may not know about:

Drag and drop applications from the Dash

1. Open up the Unity dash by clicking the Ubuntu logo in the left corner.

2. Find the application you're looking for.

3. Drag the application icon from the Dash to a position on the Launcher.

Middle mouse click to create a new window

If you've already got an application open and want to open a new window, middle mouse click on the application's icon.

If you're on a laptop and don't have a middle mouse button, tap the touchpad with two fingers or press both mouse 1 and mouse 2 at the same time.

Click application icon to show all windows

If you've got an application running with multiple windows, simply click the application icon to show all windows for that application.

From there, you can select which window you want as the focus for you to work with.

Change between workspaces by clicking the workspace switcher

Ubuntu has support for multiple workspaces. To try workspaces out, click on the workspace switcher icon near the bottom of the launcher.

You can also drag windows between workspaces. To fast switch between workspaces, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + arrow keys.

Use keyboard shortcuts to speed up your multitasking

You can switch between applications quickly by using keyboard shortcuts.


1. Hold down the Super key (sometimes known as the Windows key)

2. The Unity launcher will appear with numbers for each application

3. Press the number on your keyboard to switch to that application

Right click running applications to pin them to the launcher

If you open an application and want to keep it in the Launcher for quick in the future, simply right click on the application's icon and click Keep in Launcher.

Move your cursor to the top left corner or left edge to reveal the Launcher

When an application is fullscreen, the Launcher automatically hides to give you more screen space for focusing on the task at hand.

To make the Launcher appear again, move your cursor to the left edge of the screen and hold it there for a second, or you can throw your cursor to the top left corner of the screen for the Launcher to appear instantly.

Drag things you don't need into the Trash

You can drag any files into the trash at the bottom of the launcher to delete them.

To empty the trash, just right click and choose Empty Trash.

The blue triangle shows an application wants attention

When an an application wants your attention (for example,you may have recieved a new instant message or email), a small blue triangle will appear in the corner of the Ubuntu button.

Drag files onto launcher applications

Certain file types (such as music files, video files and text documents) can be dragged onto the launcher and then onto the relevant application.

For example, if you had a music file called "song.mp3," you'd be able to drag that onto Banshee Media Player on the launcher.

Banshee would then play "song.mp3".

Rearrange items in the Launcher

To rearrange items in Unity’s Launcher, you first need to click and hold on the icon you want to move, then drag it out to the right first to free it from the Launcher.

Now you can move it up or down and change its position by dropping it where you want it and letting go of the mouse button.

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