Changing Default Application To Open Directory

Note

How to prevent VS Code from being the default application for opening a directory in Linux

The OS chooses an application when opening a file (directory is a special file type, called inode/directory, in this case) is called "Default applications".

The OS determines the default application by reading the configuration from several files:

$HOME/.config/mimeapps.list
/usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache
$HOME/.local/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache

1. Check the default application for a specific file type¶

xdg-mime query default "inode/directory"

This will return the name of the application which is the default application for opening directories.

For the list of all available options to choose from, use

gio mime inode/directory

OR,

cat /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache | grep "inode/directory"

The output would be something like,

Registered applications:
    kitty-open.desktop
    org.kde.dolphin.desktop
    org.kde.filelight.desktop
    org.kde.gwenview.desktop
    org.kde.kate.desktop
    pcmanfm.desktop
Recommended applications:
    kitty-open.desktop
    org.kde.dolphin.desktop
    org.kde.filelight.desktop
    org.kde.gwenview.desktop
    org.kde.kate.desktop
    pcmanfm.desktop

2. Change the default application¶

Inorder to override the default edit a local configuration file ~/.config/mimeapps.list. Edit or create the above file if it doesn't exist and add the following line in the config file

[Default Applications]
inode/directory=org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop;code.desktop;

Source

DONE!!