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I would like to open .txt files with Text Editor by default but .tex files with Texmaker. However, if I change the default programme for .tex files to Text Editor by editing the properties of the file, Ubuntu apparently sets this as the default to open ALL plain text files, including .tex files with Text Editor.

Does anyone know how to solve this issue?

I am using Ubuntu 18.04

Pentaquark
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1 Answers1

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You can try manually modifying the mimeapps.list file which contains all custom file associations.

This file can be found in ~/.local/share/applications or ~/.config (I'm using Ubuntu 20.04 and the file is in ~/.config. I'm not sure about 18.04, though).

Here is how you can proceed:

  1. Find the name of the desktop entry for your Texmaker program:

    Run this command in a terminal:

    ls /usr/share/applications | grep -i tex

    Look at the output and find something like:

    texmaker.desktop

  2. Open the mimeapps.list file with a text editor. You will see something like this:

    [Default Applications]  
audio/mpeg=vlc.desktop
image/jpeg=qView.desktop

    [Added Associations]
audio/ogg=vlc.desktop;celluloid.desktop;

  3. Add the following line to the [Default Applications] part:

    text/x-tex=texmaker.desktop

    The part would then look like this:

    [Default Applications]  
audio/mpeg=vlc.desktop
image/jpeg=qView.desktop
text/x-tex=texmaker.desktop

  4. Save the file and you're done (remember to change texmaker.desktop to the name that you found).

For reference, the line for .txt files will be something like:

text/plain=org.gnome.gedit.desktop
Calico Cat
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