(With Desktop Icon & Dock Fix)

AppImage is one of the best formats on Linux — portable, no root required, and works on any distro.
But most people just double-click it and face problems like:

• No icon in dock
• Duplicate icons
• No menu entry
• App doesn’t remember permissions

This guide shows the correct and clean way to install AppImage apps like a real Linux program.

Step 1 – Create an Applications Folder

First, create a proper place to store AppImages:

mkdir -p ~/Applications

Move your AppImage files there:

mv *.AppImage ~/Applications/

This keeps your home directory clean and avoids broken shortcuts.

Step 2 – Make AppImage Executable

Go to the Applications folder:

cd ~/Applications
chmod +x MyApp.AppImage

Now the app is runnable.

Step 3 – Run the App Once

./MyApp.AppImage

This allows Linux to:

• Register permissions
• Create cache
• Let you extract icons later

If any chance App does't open try to install and open!

sudo apt install fuse
or
sudo apt install libfuse2

Step 3 – Add Icon Properly

Create a icons folder if not present:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/icons

So now for App Icon you can download any (custom) .png icon from internet and move it to ~/.local/share/icons

mv icon.png ~/.local/share/icons

Step 4 – Create Desktop Entry

Create a desktop file:

nano ~/.local/share/applications/myapp.desktop

Paste this: (Ctrl+Shift+V)

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=MyApp
Comment=My Application
Exec=/home/USERNAME/Applications/MyApp.AppImage
Icon=/home/USERNAME/.local/share/icons/myapp.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;Development;
StartupNotify=true

StartupWMClass=Exactly name as app name

Replace:

• USERNAME
• MyApp.AppImage
• myapp.png
• StartupWMClassmust exactly match the app name shown when the window opens

Must all paths are correct (verify again)

Save and exit. (Write: Ctrl + O, Save: Press Enter, Exit: Ctrl + X )

Step 5 – Refresh App Menu

update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications

or just logout and login again

Now it will work! 🚀