Remove duplicate icons from Gnome-shell application area

[Thinker]

By mistake I make some changes to important system files to bring transparency effects in Mint . I don't remember exactly what i did but due to this all the icons in application area of Gnome Shell were appearing twice. I have solved my problem by following these steps. I don't think this is a good tutorial but this can definitely solve problem for some people who face similar problems. I am posting easiest method (GUI) which I know. To improve this further, please comment or personally message me.

1. Open terminal and type

Code: Select all

gksudo nautilus

A new window will appear with administrative rights.
2. Open /var/lib/menu-xdg/applications/menu-xdg from that window. Files will have name something like this "X-Debian-Games-Toys-oclock.desktop"(This file will be shown as oclock application in Gnome shell). Delete the files having extension .desktop whose icons are displayed twice(In my case I deleted all files).
3. Open /usr/share/applications
4. Delete duplicate icons or unnecessary icons from here.

Hopefully this will solve your problem

Note: Instead of deleting files, move them to a new folder placed at different location as deleting files may cause problems or shortcuts may be needed in future.

Tags: Doubled doubling two times twice shortcuts get repeated