Recently I deleted the folder Desktop from my $HOME directory. When I logged in again all files and directories in $HOME were shown on the desktop. So I wanted to get the folder back. What is the recommended way to achieve this? I edited ~/.config/xdg-user-dirs.dir and added the correct variable. But I guess there must be some other (more easy?) way.
Create a new folder that you want to use as your folder.
For example, type mkdir ~/Desktop in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T to open one) to create a folder named Desktop in your home directory.
Edit your configuration.
Edit the file ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs. You can do this by opening a terminal, then enter:
gedit ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs
Change the entry for XDG_DESKTOP_DIR to your new desktop folder, or add it, if the entry does not exist. After your edit, the file should look like this:
XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Download"
XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates"
XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public"
XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents"
XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music"
XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/Pictures"
XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos"
Log out and then log in again and your desktop should show the specified folder.
