desktop icon position

404error · 2015-12-18 00:18:20

When I drag and drop a file on to the desktop using the file manager, the icon appears at a random position on the desktop instead of at the location where I dropped the file. This can be rather annoying, since I then have to hunt around the desktop to find the file I just moved there. Is this the intended behavior?

I've been ignoring this for months, but it is really starting to agitate me. Any advice on how to fix this would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Last edited by 404error (2015-12-18 00:18:39)

ToZ · 2015-12-18 11:31:36

Hello and welcome.
What version of Thunar and xfdesktop do you have installed?

In Thunar 1.6.10 & xfdesktop 4.12, dragging and dropping an icon from Thunar to the desktop gets placed in the first available icon grid location on the left side of the screen. Are you seeing this same behaviour, or does it just end up in some random location?

404error · 2015-12-22 18:41:29

Thanks for replying. I am using xfdesktop 4.10 and nautilus 3.8.2. After double-checking, I believe your are correct. I assumed it was random, but it is the first open space going from top-to-bottom then left-to-right. Wouldn't it make more sense to put the icon in the unoccupied spot that is closest to the drop cursor position? That seems more intuitive to me, and is also is consistent with the behavior of other desktops (mac os x, windows 7, etc).

ToZ · 2015-12-23 01:05:56

As far as I know, this is how xfdesktop works. Reviewing the bug tracker, there are a couple of bug/enhancement requests in there already regarding this issue:

- https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11094
- https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12201

Plus this long-standing one to change the desktop from a grid layout to a free-standing layout.

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#1 2015-12-18 00:18:20

desktop icon position

#2 2015-12-18 11:31:36

Re: desktop icon position

#3 2015-12-22 18:41:29

Re: desktop icon position

#4 2015-12-23 01:05:56

Re: desktop icon position

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