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Olivier Lalonde
Asked: 2010-11-30 04:07:49 +0800 CST

How to open file with default application from command line?

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In Nautilus, when you double click a file, it will open it with the default application associated with the file's extension. For instance, .html files will open in a web browser and .pdf will be opened with Document Viewer. Is there a way to reproduce the same behavior from within the command line (i.e. open path/filename)? I'm asking because I like to browse my file-system from the command line but sometimes don't remember which app. opens what.

command-line

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I think xdg-open is the command you are looking for.

    NAME
       xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application

SYNOPSIS
       xdg-open {file | URL}

       xdg-open {--help | --manual | --version}

DESCRIPTION
       xdg-open opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application. If a
       URL is provided the URL will be opened in the user's preferred web
       browser. If a file is provided the file will be opened in the preferred
       application for files of that type. xdg-open supports file, ftp, http
       and https URLs.

    eg: xdg-open index.php

    This will open index.php in gedit(if you are using gnome).

    If you want to open a url in browser

    xdg-open http://google.com

    this will open google.com in your default browser.

    xdg-open is a wrapper script - it will use the desktop environment's tool (gio open, gvfs-open, kde-open, gnome-open, dde-open, exo-open, and a host of other such tools). It is also installed by default, and very likely to work on past, current and future versions (on the other hand, gvfs-open and gnome-open have been deprecated, and may be unavailable in future releases).

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  2. xdg-open and gnome-open

    xdg-open is the most universal way (work also on KDE)

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  3. If you want to:

    • make an alias for this command (e.g. open)
    • hide output from the command
    • continue using this terminal after

    You can use this .bashrc function:

    function open () {
  xdg-open "$@">/dev/null 2>&1
}
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