Question: I know, I just can hit `Super`+`A` to see all installed apps in Ubuntu, but I need a command to list their names. The command

```
dpkg --get-selections | awk '{print $1}'

```

is also not an option because it shows all installed packages and it contains drivers, kernels and libraries.

Answer: 
Run the below command to see all the installed applications,

```
ls /usr/share/applications | awk -F '.desktop' ' { print $1}' -

```

If you want to get the list of all installed applications, then run the below command,

```
ls /usr/share/applications | awk -F '.desktop' ' { print $1}' - > ~/Desktop/applications.txt

```

It will stores the above command output to `applications.txt` file inside your `~/Desktop` directory.

### OR

Also run the below command on terminal to list the installed applications,

```
find /usr/share/applications -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec basename {} .desktop \; | sort

```

To get the list in text file, run the below command

```
find /usr/share/applications -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec basename {} .desktop \; | sort > ~/Desktop/applications.txt

```

Desktop entries for all the installed applications are stored inside `/usr/share/applications` directory, where file names are in the format of `application-name.desktop`.Removing the `.desktop` part from the file names will give you the total list of installed applications.

**Update:**

[As @Radu suggested](https://askubuntu.com/questions/433609/how-can-i-list-all-applications-installed-in-my-system/433761?noredirect=1#comment566116_433619), you can also find desktop entries for your additional installed applications inside `~/.local/share/applications` directory.

```
find /usr/share/applications ~/.local/share/applications -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec basename {} .desktop \;

```
The questioner wants to list the names of all installed "apps".

**Regarding apps with .desktop files**: 

* [the answer by Danatela](https://askubuntu.com/a/433621/248158) deals with apps that have .desktop files in `/usr/share/applications`
* as [pointed out by Radu](https://askubuntu.com/a/433761/248158), apps with .desktop files may also be found in `~/.local/share/applications`
* at this point, it may be noted that apps with .desktop files can have *two* names
	+ one "name" is available by querying the Dash in Unity or from menus in Xubuntu (for example). This name is derived from the `Name=` line in the respective .desktop file. One example is "Character Map".
	+ the other "name" is the one to be used when running the app from the terminal and is the first word after `Exec=`. In the case of "Character Map", that would be `gucharmap`.
* the two names (and the .desktop file) [could be related](http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2124743&p=12554337#post12554337) using:
	+ `sed -ns '1F;/^\[Desktop Entry\]/,/^\[/{/^Name=/p;/^Exec=/h};${z;x;G;p}' /usr/share/applications/*.desktop`
	+ and
	+ `sed -ns '1F;/^\[Desktop Entry\]/,/^\[/{/^Name=/p;/^Exec=/h};${z;x;G;p}' $HOME/.local/share/applications/*.desktop`

**Regarding apps without .desktop files**: 

Depending on how one defines "app", some don't have .desktop files. 

* would something like `conky`, `poppler-utils`, `qpdf`, `xdotool` and `wmctrl` be considered "apps"? How are these to be identified and listed by their names (assuming one has installed them)?
* What about `awk`, `find`, `grep`, `ls` and `sed` to name some more? Are they apps or are they not?

If *anything* that has a command is thought of as an app, then [Linux command to list all available commands and aliases](https://stackoverflow.com/q/948008) and [this answer there](https://stackoverflow.com/a/949006) will help identify them.