[SOLVED] "Desktop" folder stuck in Trash

[Sabretooth]

I did a clean install of Gutsy and everything seems to proceeding normally, except for this. I typically like my "Home" folder as empty as possible, so I deleted all the folders (including, accidentally the Desktop folder). All the other folders disappeared from the Trash normally, but the Desktop folder is stuck there. I delete it, and it reappears in the Trash bin within 10-20 seconds - Its annoying and creepy at the same time.

I can't seem to find a way to restore it, and the "Cut" and "Delete from Trash" options are grayed out. Like I've said before, if I Empty Trash, it reappears after some time. Also, in my Nautilus, if I click on "Desktop" in the left pane, it takes me to /home/(username)/.Trash/Desktop.

I'm no expert at sudoing and rooting my way around, so any help in getting rid of this ghostly folder will be appreciated!

Problem Solved!

Before we start, I think we should start with my problem in post #8. Read that and check the desktop_is_home_dir entry, log out and log in. Your home directory should have become your desktop, most likely. If not, I can't help.

1. First, enter this code into a Terminal:

sudo gedit ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs

2. Look for this entry: XDG_DESKTOP_DIR. Make it like this: XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"
3. Now log out and log back in. For me, this caused a Nautilus crash - i.e. the desktop disappeared and the nautilus browser wasn't working. So continue:
4. Open up System>Administration>System Monitor and in Processes, look for Nautilus. Stop it completely. If it does not exist, run Nautilus through Terminal (it should not have any effect, don't sudo it) and then stop it.
5. Run Nautilus via Terminal and it should be working furever.

[mikeyphi]

Two things to try!!

open your .trash folder-not the trashbin (view hidden folders!) right click/delete
if that fails - try opening the trash folder in a terminal and use the 'rm filename' command

[true_friend]

Another Idea try to restore it as a root.
open run box by Alt + F2 give this command
gksudo nautilus
go to your home and then trash try to restore that folder.
Regards

[duartemolha]

Well I no expert in linux or ubuntu but I do not think it is advisable to delete that folder... it is an important part of you home folder and everytime something is saved in your desktop the systems assumes the folder is where it should be.

I would advice you to open a terminal window and write:

1) cd /home/(username)/.Trash/
2) sudo mv Desktop /home/(username)


Hope this help.

Duarte

[Beggar]

sudo mv ~/.Trash/Desktop ~/

[Sabretooth]

Okay, I tried out the solutions, none of them are working:

mikeyphi: I deleted it from there, it reappears. I tried rmdir to take it out and it comes back later, again.

Rest: I went through root, but can't find a "Restore" option anywhere. Cut is available, and when pasted, creates a newfolder in my username folder, but it doesn't have the "Desktop" folder icon (check it out at your place). Moving does the same thing, obviously.

This is really getting at me. How do you restore things from Trash?

[khabarkhan]

Originally Posted by Sabretooth Okay, I tried out the solutions, none of them are working: mikeyphi: I deleted it from there, it reappears. I tried rmdir to take it out and it comes back later, again. Rest: I went through root, but can't find a "Restore" option anywhere. Cut is available, and when pasted, creates a newfolder in my username folder, but it doesn't have the "Desktop" folder icon (check it out at your place). Moving does the same thing, obviously. This is really getting at me. How do you restore things from Trash?

Hi
I have the same problem. I suddenly delete Desktop folder from (username) folder and then try to restore it but i can't. So when I try to copy some files to my Desktop I get some error that said : I can't copy file in trash..
Please help

[Sabretooth]

Update

I don't remember what I did, but things have changed since I booted the system some two minutes ago. My Trash is empty, thankfully, but a new problem has arrived.

Ubuntu is for some reason, detecting my home/username folder as the Desktop folder and all its contents are splashed across my desktop. Also, the "username" folder entry you have in Nautilus' explorer pane is missing, and clicking on the desktop folder takes me there.

The only thing I remember doing is disabling "volumes_visible" in the Nautilus entry in the Configuration Editor, to keep my actual desktop completely clear. So I'm guessing that the solution must be like this:

1. Create a Desktop folder in my username folder.
2. Configure Nautilus to handle that folder as the Desktop folder.

I believe that should work, now the question is, how?

Update 2

I tried both enabling and disabling "desktop_is_home_dir" in nautilus preferences in the Configuration Editor. No effect.

[khabarkhan]

2. Configure Nautilus to handle that folder as the Desktop folder.

Would you please explain more? How can I do that. (I have no knowledge about Linux (; )

[khabarkhan]

Originally Posted by khabarkhan 2. Configure Nautilus to handle that folder as the Desktop folder. )

Would you please explain more? How can I do that. (I have no knowledge about Linux (;