I installed bottles on Zorin 17. I can install and run a windows app, but it is not added to menu, so the next time I need the app, I have to reinstall it. As a test I installed Notepad++ and it works fine with an icon in the menu
Do you mean the Windows app doesn't show in Zorin's menu, or in Bottles' menu? Bottles' menu should work fairly automatically, and you can add it to Bottles' library for easier access. Adding an application to Zorin's menu takes an extra permission because Bottles is only distributed as a flatpak (unless you build from source).
To add something in Bottles to Zorin's menus:
- Run this command from a terminal:
flatpak override com.usebottles.bottles --user --filesystem=xdg-data/applications
. You only need to do this once ever, unless you remove Bottles. - Find the Windows program in the Bottles menus and click the three dot icon for that program, then choose "Add Desktop Entry."
If the program doesn't show on the main menu for its bottle, then you may need to manually add it by following the steps below first, but usually this entry is created automatically when the Windows program is installed.
If a program is missing from Bottles menus completely:
- Open the bottle you installed the Windows program in.
- Click "Add Shortcuts..."
- Navigate to where the bottle was actually created, and select the .exe file for the Windows program. This will add an entry for that executable to that bottle's list of programs.
The second set of instructions can also be useful to add additional executables for something you've installed. For example, Mihoyo's games have a launcher that handles updating those games. You can manually add the games to skip the launcher, and only run the launcher when the games need updating. (Be careful though, as other games such as Final Fantasy XIV and Blizzard games use the launcher for login, so it shouldn't be skipped for them.)
Yes, that did it, Thank you so much!
Happy to have helped.