Delete leftover wine programs in Linux

If you uninstall a Windows program in Wine, but the program remains in your Linux application menu.

Some Windows programs come with an uninstaller:

If you don't know, Wine is a compatibility layer, which allows you to run Windows programs on Linux.

Using the Windows uninstaller, you can launch this and the idea is that it removes the entire program and all menu entries. It doesn't always work in practice. It may remove the Windows program but leave the program in the Linux program menu.

This is logical if you think about it - The Windows uninstaller isn't instructed to remove Linux settings. It wasn't programmed with this scenario in mind.

It's a shame Wine doesn't take more of a proactive role in managing missing Windows program entries, but here's how to remove the entries manually.

Normally in Linux, the start menu is created by combining two sources of information.
The entries inside /usr/share/applications.
Any user entries inside /home/yourusername/.local/share/applications/

If you want to remove these program menu entries, navigate to:
/home/yourusername/.local/share/applications/

Delete the unwanted items. They are just text files, so you can tell which one is which if the labelling isn't clear just by opening each file in a text editor of your choice.

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