Various types of link files

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Microsoft .URL

This article/section is a stub — probably a pile of half-sorted notes and is probably a first version, is not well-checked, so may have incorrect bits. (Feel free to ignore, or tell me)

In windows, saved internet shortcuts are often .URL files on the filesystem - though Explorer and various windows apps try to treat them transparently as what they point to (similar to LNK files).


.URL files are simple text files, specifically INI files. The minimal content is:

[InternetShortcut] 
URL=http://url.example.com/

This is also the most interesting content. Even if the file stores more metadata, this is still usually the URL you want to open.


In file browsers in linux, you may not be able to directly use these files. It's not very hard to associate .URL with a simple script (doesn't need to parse INI, could just look for the line starting with URL=) and hands it to xdg-open, firefox, (or perhaps gnome-open, kfmclient openURL, or whatever other browser or generalized opener applies best).



See also:

Microsoft .LNK ('shell link', 'shortcut')

This article/section is a stub — probably a pile of half-sorted notes and is probably a first version, is not well-checked, so may have incorrect bits. (Feel free to ignore, or tell me)

A binary file format that includes a link target and various metadata about itself and the link target. Can point to various types of things, but usually points to (localish) filesystem locations, so isn't always interesting to be able to open in anything else than Windows, which handles it anyway.


See also:

.desktop (freedesktop)

INI-like text file mostly used for application launchers, directory links, or URL links

Various of its entries (name, icon) can exist in localized form.

See also:

See also