I’m using Lubuntu as my operating system. It uses pcmanfm as the default file system. For most tasks this is ok, but when I want to connect to shares on both windows and other linux pc’s, I have to use Nautilus.

Here’s how I setup a desktop shortcut in Lubuntu:

Open Terminal (on Lubuntu, it’s called LXTerminal, but any terminal will do).

Verify that you have lxshortcut installed by entering this into Terminal (enter your root password when prompted):

sudo apt-get install lxshortcut

Now to create the desktop shortcut, enter this in Terminal:

lxshortcut -o ~/Desktop/nautilus.desktop

A GUI window will pop up and you can enter the details as you like. I wanted a desktop shortcut to launch Nautilus file browser only, so I entered where it says Command:

nautilus --browser --no-desktop

NOTE: Those are double dashes in front

Finish customizing the name and icon for your new shortcut and Save. Now you will have a desktop shortcut to use Nautilus within Lubuntu.